Bohol or Palawan?

Bohol's beaches are close at hand. Most are on Panglao, a short ride from the airport, and you can walk straight from your room into the sea. Alona is narrow and turns shallow and weedy at low tide, so the wider sand at Dumaluan and Bikini Beach or the quiet of Doljo is often the better swim. Anda on the main island has long empty stretches.

Palawan's beaches are in a different class. The coves of Bacuit Bay, hidden between limestone islands, and the long palm-backed sweeps of Nacpan and Duli are the reason most people come. The catch is that you reach the best sand by banca rather than on foot, and the town waterfronts at El Nido and Coron are not for swimming.

The food is much the same on both islands: grilled fish and squid, simple Filipino eateries, and international menus for visitors at Alona and in El Nido. Neither is a reason to go. What differs is the local detail. Bohol has kinilaw, the market canteens of Tagbilaran and sweets such as calamay to take home. Palawan has chao long noodle soup and tamilok, the mangrove woodworm, in Puerto Princesa, and seafood lunches on the sand during island-hopping days.

Bohol has more history to see, and it is easy to reach. A one-day loop covers the Spanish coral-stone churches at Baclayon, Loboc, Dauis and Loon, some still showing damage from the 2013 earthquake, along with the Blood Compact monument outside Tagbilaran.

Palawan's sights are spread thinly across a long island. The Tabon Caves matter to the country's prehistory, but they take a long trip south and their best finds are in Manila. The more rewarding stops are Culion's museum about the old leper colony and Plaza Cuartel in Puerto Princesa, and most visitors skip all of them.

Palawan has the livelier evenings, almost all of them in El Nido. In the dry season its bars fill with backpackers for reggae and acoustic nights, the odd beach party goes past midnight, and sunset drinks at Las Cabanas are a daily habit.

Bohol's nights happen on the sand at Alona Beach, with tables by the water and sometimes a fire show. The crowd is mostly divers and couples who have an early boat to catch, so things wind down sooner. Neither island has real clubs.

Bohol's best scenery is inland, and you can see it in a day. The grassy Chocolate Hills around Carmen, the tarsiers in the forest near Corella, the Loboc River and the mahogany forest at Bilar are all on one road. Offshore there are the coral walls of Balicasag and dolphin trips to Pamilacan.

Palawan's landscapes are on a grander scale. You can kayak among the black limestone islands of Bacuit Bay, swim in Kayangan and Barracuda lakes and dive the Japanese wrecks off Coron. There is also the Underground River near Puerto Princesa, liveaboard trips to Tubbataha Reef from March to June, and rainforest trekking on Cleopatra's Needle.

From Bohol you can actually go somewhere else for the day. Fast ferries from Tagbilaran reach Cebu City's old Spanish quarter or the university town of Dumaguete in about two hours, Siquijor makes a long day by boat, and Anda is a pleasant drive.

Palawan's outings are boat trips to lagoons and reefs rather than visits to other towns. Coron is too far for a day trip, and Port Barton is better as a place to stay, so travellers move between bases instead.

Some things are the same on both islands. Filipinos are warm with children, neither island has much built for them, the heat never eases and hospitals are basic away from the provincial capitals. The real difference is how much a family has to move. Bohol's airport is a short ride from Panglao, and you can stay at one resort for the whole trip. The water at Dumaluan and Doljo is calm and shallow enough for small children, unlike busy Alona. Outings inland, to the tarsiers near Corella or the zipline at Danao for teenagers, bring you back to the same room each night.

On Palawan the best days are spent on open bancas, snorkelling and kayaking in shallow lagoons. That suits older children who swim confidently but is harder with toddlers. Reaching each base means a long van ride on winding roads or a ferry, often more than once. Apart from Honda Bay and the crocodile conservation centre near Puerto Princesa, there is little aimed at children.

Bohol is the simpler island to get around. The airport sits on Panglao a short ride from the beaches, the roads are paved and quiet, and a van with a driver reaches the Chocolate Hills in about an hour and a half.

Palawan is long and thin, and travel eats into the trip. The shared van from Puerto Princesa to El Nido takes five to six hours on winding roads. Coron is a ferry of about four hours further on, and the crossing can be cancelled in rough seas, unless you pay for the small airports. On both islands, local trips mean tricycles, scooters and boats.

Neither island is a place to shop, and both offer mainly souvenirs. Bohol's best buys are the woven baskets and mats from Antequera and the boxed calamay and peanut kisses. Palawan has cashews, dried fish and woven goods in the Puerto Princesa markets, plus South Sea pearl jewellery, which is the one thing here worth spending money on.

Both islands are cheap for everyday things such as local meals, tricycles, massages and simple guesthouses, and Bohol comes out a little cheaper overall. Its bill rises mainly on Panglao's beachfront and with diving, and staying a few streets back from Alona brings it down again.

Palawan has more costs that are hard to avoid. There are internal flights or private boats to cover the distances, conservation fees for the lagoons and the Underground River, and El Nido rooms that fill and climb in the dry season. Its private-island resorts are also among the most expensive in the country.

There is almost nothing to attend on either island, so this should not decide the trip. Bohol has a little more that is its own: the Loboc Children's Choir singing in its home town and the street dancing of Tagbilaran's yearly Sandugo festival. In Palawan, live music means a cover band in an El Nido bar or an occasional folk dance show in Puerto Princesa.

Bohol is a little better for unwinding. The whole island moves slowly, cheap hilot massage with coconut oil is everywhere from huts at Alona to resort spas, and Anda and Doljo suit long, quiet days.

Palawan offers different kinds of rest. It has the Maquinit hot spring near Coron, best after dark, and the over-water spas of its private-island resorts. Villages like Port Barton have patchy power and early nights, but El Nido town is too noisy to relax in.