Cebu Island or Siargao?

The sand is equally good on both islands, but you get to it differently. On Cebu, the powder-white beaches of Bantayan and Malapascua lie at the northern tip, and you stay right on them. Mactan has neat resort strips with reefs offshore, and Moalboal has little sand but excellent snorkelling straight off the shore.

On Siargao, the best beaches are a boat ride away. Naked Island, Daku and Guyam have white sand and shallow turquoise water. Along General Luna the shore is mostly reef flat, and you have to time your swims around the tide.

Cebu Island has the deeper Filipino food culture. Its lechon is famous across the country, and around it there's street barbecue with puso rice parcels, ngohiong spring rolls, and the sutukil stalls on Mactan where you pick your own fish. Cebu City's Lahug and IT Park districts add a broad mix of modern restaurants.

Siargao's eating happens along one stretch of General Luna and the Cloud 9 road. There are surfer cafés with smoothie bowls, pizza and poke, kinilaw to try, and grilled fish on the sand on boat trips. It's easy and pleasant, but there's less of it, and the choice drops off quickly once you leave town.

Here Cebu Island is well ahead. Spanish rule in the Philippines began in Cebu City, and Plaza Independencia, the Basilica del Santo Niño, Magellan's Cross and Fort San Pedro all lie within a short walk of each other. Old houses in Carcar and coral-stone churches at Boljoon and Argao add a second morning.

Siargao has almost no sightseeing. Its sights are the Cloud 9 boardwalk, a few plain town churches and stilt villages you see from a boat. On a rainy day there is nothing to visit.

The two are about level on nightlife, but they offer different kinds of night out. On Cebu you go out in the city, not by the sea: IT Park and Lahug have rows of bars full of call-centre workers and students, Mango Avenue is the rougher strip, and the malls have a few clubs. The beach bases are quiet after dark.

On Siargao the party is right by the surf. General Luna has a different spot each night of the week, with open-air dance floors under the palms and reggae and house nights for a sunburnt young crowd. There are no clubs in the city sense.

Cebu is an island for diving, and Siargao is an island for surfing. At Moalboal the sardine shoal and the turtles are a few kicks from the shore, and Malapascua has thresher sharks at dawn. On land, Kawasan Falls in Badian is the place for canyoneering.

Siargao has Cloud 9 and the other reef breaks along the east coast. You can also go by boat or paddleboard through the Del Carmen mangroves to the jade-green Sugba Lagoon, and visit the caves of Sohoton Cove. Neither island has mountains or serious hiking.

Cebu Island gives you far more choice for days out. The fast ferry to Bohol takes about two hours and opens up the Chocolate Hills, the tarsier sanctuaries and the Loboc river. Closer to base, Carcar and the churches of the south coast make easy outings by road.

On Siargao, nearly every outing is a boat trip to a sandbar or lagoon. The island's small towns are fine for a stop on a scooter loop, and Surigao City over the water is a port you pass through, not somewhere to spend a day.

Cebu Island is the more practical choice with children. Mactan resorts are close to the airport and have pools, calm shallow water and short boat trips. Cebu Safari and Adventure Park and a few water parks fill the gaps, although the heat and the traffic make days tiring.

Siargao works for a family that's happy to spend its time in the water. Children enjoy the sandbars and the rock pools at Magpupungko, and teenagers can learn to surf. There are no attractions made for children, though, the roads have no pavements and medical care is basic, so it suits older children better than toddlers.

Both islands are hard work to get around, in different ways. On Cebu, the long, narrow shape and Metro Cebu's heavy traffic make every transfer slow, and buses and vans take a few hours to reach Moalboal or Oslob. The upside is that the airport sits on Mactan, right by the resorts.

Siargao is small, and most people rent a scooter for its quiet roads. The lagoons and islands you came for are only reachable by boat, though, and getting to the island at all means a domestic flight or a ferry.

Handmade guitars are the souvenir that sets Cebu Island apart. Workshops on Mactan build them from local wood, and Carbon Market downtown shows what everyday local shopping looks like. The huge air-conditioned malls are more useful as a cool refuge in the afternoon than for anything you couldn't find at home.

Siargao's shopping is the surf shops and a few small linen and jewellery boutiques on General Luna's main strip, enough to replace a forgotten sarong and little more.

Cebu Island is the cheaper place to spend a week or two. Street barbecue, jeepneys, buses and massages cost little, and the guesthouses and dive shops in Moalboal and Malapascua are good value. The big Mactan resorts are the only place where costs rise to international levels.

Siargao is still inexpensive by Western standards but costs more than most of the Philippines. In General Luna, the cafés, the boutique stays near Cloud 9 and private boat charters can cost close to what you'd pay at home, and room rates climb in the peak surf months.

Neither island is a place to plan a trip around live performance. Cebu comes out ahead because of Sinulog in January, when dance troupes in feathered costumes fill the city streets, and it also gets occasional concerts and touring shows. On Siargao, live entertainment means an acoustic set or fire dancers at a beach party.

The two are equally good for unwinding. On Cebu that means hilot massage, full seafront spas at the Mactan resorts, and the car-free footpaths of Malapascua, as long as you stay out of the city.

Siargao relaxes you through yoga and routine. Open-air shalas sit among the palms, massage huts wait for you after the surf, and the days follow the tides, but there are few proper spas.