Cebu Island or Palawan?

The water is equally warm and clear around both islands. The difference is what surrounds it. Palawan has the more beautiful coast. In Bacuit Bay, small white coves and shallow lagoons sit between sheer limestone islands, Nacpan and Duli are long, empty, palm-backed beaches, and around Coron the sand lies on islets below cliffs. The catch is that most of it is reached by banca, and the town fronts are not for swimming.

Cebu's best sand is just as far off the main routes, at Bantayan and Malapascua on the northern tip. Mactan, the easy option by the airport, has short, groomed resort beaches that are pleasant rather than striking. Moalboal makes up for having little sand with reef snorkelling straight from the shore.

Cebu is a real food destination by Philippine standards, and Palawan is not. Cebu's lechon, roasted whole with crackling skin and lemongrass, is famous across the country and is best in Cebu City and Carcar. Grilled skewers with puso rice parcels, ngohiong rolls and the sutukil fish stalls on Mactan make cheap street eating easy, and Lahug and IT Park add modern restaurants.

In Palawan the high point is grilled seafood on a beach during an island-hopping day. Puerto Princesa adds chao long noodle soup and raw tamilok for the brave. In El Nido and Coron, meals mostly mean pizza and smoothie bowls for travellers.

Neither is a cultural destination, but Cebu at least has a historic centre worth a morning or two. Magellan's Cross, the Basilica del Santo Niño and Fort San Pedro sit within a short walk of each other in the city where Spanish rule began. Carcar's old houses and the coral-stone churches at Boljoon and Argao are good extras on a drive south.

Palawan's most important site, the Tabon Caves, is a long trip to mostly empty chambers, because the burial jars found there are in Manila. Puerto Princesa's cathedral and Plaza Cuartel and the leper colony museum on Culion are interesting but minor. Most visitors to Palawan skip culture entirely.

Cebu's nightlife is urban: bar rows in IT Park and Lahug full of young office workers and students, the rougher Mango Avenue, and clubs in the malls, all running late at weekends. Sinulog in January turns the whole city into a street party. Its beach coasts, though, are as quiet at night as Palawan's.

Palawan's version is a traveller scene in El Nido: reggae and acoustic nights, cheap rum, sunset drinks at Las Cabanas and the odd beach party. It is sociable but small, and the rest of the island goes to bed early before the morning boats.

Palawan's scenery is in another league, both above and below the water. You can kayak through the black limestone channels of Bacuit Bay, swim in the cliff-ringed Kayangan and Barracuda lakes, dive the Japanese wrecks off Coron and take a boat into the Underground River near Puerto Princesa. For serious divers, the liveaboards to Tubbataha Reef open from March to June.

Cebu's natural highlights are particular encounters rather than landscapes. Moalboal has its huge sardine shoal and turtles a few metres from shore, Malapascua its dawn thresher sharks, and Badian its canyoneering through the turquoise pools near Kawasan Falls. Inland, the green hills offer only modest walks such as Osmeña Peak.

Cebu has the one excursion of real weight between these two islands: a fast ferry of about two hours to Bohol. There, one long day with a driver covers the Chocolate Hills, the tarsiers, the Loboc river and Baclayon church. Closer by, Carcar and the south-coast churches fill an easy half day, and Olango and the sandbars make a day on the water.

In Palawan, the outings are the boat tours themselves. There are few towns to visit beyond Taytay's small fort, and Coron is too far away to see in a day.

Cebu is the easier island with young children. A Mactan resort near the airport means a short transfer, pools, calm shallow water and gentle sandbar trips, and the safari park and water parks give a few days built for children. Heat and traffic are the main drawbacks.

Palawan rewards families with older children who swim well and enjoy kayaking and snorkelling in the lagoons. The long winding van rides, open boats and basic medical care away from Puerto Princesa make it harder going with toddlers.

Both are slow, and on both the answer is to choose one or two bases and stay put, but the problem is different on each. On Cebu it is congestion. Metro Cebu has no rail and very heavy traffic, so even short hops crawl, but buses, vans, ride-hailing and hired drivers reach every coast without a sea crossing, except to the northern islands.

On Palawan it is distance and water. A shared van from Puerto Princesa to El Nido takes five to six hours on a winding road, and Coron means a ferry of about four hours or a flight, with crossings that rough weather can cancel.

Cebu has far more to offer here, though mostly in the form of very large air-conditioned malls, welcome on a hot afternoon but not distinctive. Its local finds are Carbon Market and the guitar workshops of Mactan, where instruments are built by hand from local wood.

Palawan has South Sea pearls, cashews and woven baskets in Puerto Princesa, and in the beach towns, sarongs and souvenirs. Nobody should plan time for shopping there.

Both are cheap by most standards, and Cebu is cheaper. Street barbecue, jeepneys, massages and guesthouses cost little, and the diving at Moalboal and Malapascua is very reasonable. Only the big Mactan resorts and private drivers raise the bill.

Palawan's extra costs come built into the trip: internal flights, private boats, conservation fees for the lagoons and the Underground River, and El Nido rooms that fill quickly in the dry season. The private-island resorts there are among the most expensive in the country.

Neither island is somewhere to plan evenings around performances, but Cebu has one great event. During Sinulog in January, costumed troupes dance the Santo Niño dance through the city streets. Otherwise there are bar bands and the occasional touring show. Palawan offers little beyond a cover band in El Nido and folk dance put on for visitors in Puerto Princesa.

The two are about equal for unwinding, and on both it means cheap hilot massage and a slow pace away from the main towns. On Cebu the calmest bases are car-free Malapascua and the quiet roads of Santa Fe on Bantayan, while Mactan's large resorts have sea-facing spas.

Palawan has one thing Cebu lacks, a real place to bathe: the warm Maquinit spring by the mangroves near Coron, best after dark. Its private-island resorts also offer over-water treatment pavilions and sunrise yoga. Avoid El Nido town and Metro Cebu alike if rest is the aim.