Cebu or Puerto Princesa?

These two are broadly level on beaches, and in neither can you swim in town: Cebu faces a port and Puerto Princesa a muddy, mangrove-lined bay. Cebu's sand is on Mactan, half an hour to an hour across the bridges, where small coral beaches sit in front of resorts and are mostly reached with a day pass. Staying at one of those resorts puts the water at your door, and outriggers run from there to the sandbars of Nalusuan, Hilutungan and Pandanon. The postcard beaches of Moalboal and Malapascua take a trip of three hours or more.

Puerto Princesa has nothing like Mactan, so swimming is always a day out: island hopping in Honda Bay, the drive over the hills to the long, quiet sweep of Nagtabon, or the beach at Sabang. From June to October rougher seas sometimes keep the boats in. Anyone who wants beach life on the doorstep moves on north to El Nido or Port Barton.

Cebu is the better place to eat. Its lechon is held to be the best in the country, and around it sit puso rice pouches, ngohiong spring rolls, evening skewer grills, and the sutukil restaurants of Mactan, where you choose your fish from the ice.

Puerto Princesa has honest provincial cooking: grilled seafood on the baywalk, kinilaw, chao long noodle soup left by the Vietnamese refugee community, and tamilok mangrove worms for the curious. Beyond that the choice soon runs out, and no one plans a trip around it.

As the oldest Spanish settlement in the Philippines, Cebu has a compact historic core worth a full day. It includes Magellan's Cross, the Basilica del Santo Niño with its daily crowds of worshippers, Fort San Pedro, the ancestral houses of the Parian and the hilltop Taoist Temple.

Puerto Princesa's sights take a morning: the blue Gothic-style cathedral, the wartime ruins of Plaza Cuartel, the small Palawan Museum, and the open prison farm at Iwahig as an unusual extra. Sightseeing in the town is something to fill a gap between nature outings.

Cebu has a proper night out, though a casual one. There are open-air bars and beer gardens in IT Park that stay busy into the early hours, longer-running clubs around Mango Avenue and a few smarter lounges in Banilad. In January, Sinulog turns the whole city into a street party.

In Puerto Princesa, evenings mean a sunset walk along the baywalk and perhaps a cover band in one of a few bars on Rizal Avenue. With early tour pickups the next morning, most visitors are in bed long before midnight.

This is where Puerto Princesa pulls clearly ahead. The underground river runs for kilometres through limestone caves inside a national park where jungle-covered karst meets the sea. Around it are mangrove paddles, dolphin boats, Honda Bay reefs and firefly canoes on the Iwahig River, all within reach of town.

Cebu's nature closest to the city is gentler: the cool Busay and Sirao hills, the reefs off Mactan and the shorebirds of Olango. Its headline experiences, the canyoneering at Kawasan Falls, the sardine shoals at Moalboal and the whale sharks at Oslob, lie about three hours south.

Cebu has real places to visit for the day. The fast ferry reaches Bohol in about two hours for Baclayon church and the river towns. The road south leads to the colonial houses of Carcar and the coral-stone churches of Argao and Boljoon, although traffic can double the journey times.

From Puerto Princesa, the outings are to rivers, reefs and islands rather than to other towns. Port Barton and El Nido are too far for a return trip in a day, so people move on to them instead.

Both are equally welcoming to children, but the days look different. Cebu works best from a Mactan resort with a pool and calm water, adding a boat day around the islets. Cebu Ocean Park and the large air-conditioned malls give you somewhere to go in the midday heat.

Puerto Princesa is the more adventurous option: paddling into the underground river cave, seeing the crocodiles at the rescue centre, and the firefly canoe trips. The town is calmer than Cebu, but the long, winding van rides to Sabang make for early starts and tiring days.

Getting around is hard work in both, for different reasons. Cebu is a large city with no rail and gridlocked roads, especially on the bridges to Mactan and the airport. Visitors rely on taxis and ride-hailing apps, and IT Park and Ayala are walkable only within themselves.

Puerto Princesa is small. The airport is almost in town, and tricycles cover short hops easily. Beyond the centre, though, nothing runs for visitors, so every outing depends on a tour van or a hired driver.

Cebu offers far more shopping. The large malls around Ayala Center, SM City and SM Seaside cover chains and Filipino brands. Carbon Market and the Taboan dried-fish stalls show the local side, and the family workshops on Mactan make guitars and ukuleles from local wood.

Puerto Princesa's shopping is mostly gifts to take home: cashews, dried fish, South Sea pearls of varying quality and woven grass baskets, sold along the main roads and on the baywalk. Ordinary malls cover anything else you need.

Both are cheap for the basics, with low-cost rooms, local food and short rides costing little. The difference is where the money goes. In Cebu, a stay in the city with mostly free historic sights stays modest, and costs only climb once you choose a Mactan resort, private boat hire or trips south.

In Puerto Princesa, the outings themselves are the main spending. Underground river tours, island-hopping boats, permits and environmental fees are hard to avoid, because they are the reason for being there.

Neither city has a cultural season to plan around, but Cebu has more. It has the Sinulog in January, when costumed groups dance the traditional prayer dance through the streets, and strong Filipino singers in bars all year, plus the occasional show at a university venue.

In Puerto Princesa, live performance is limited to cover bands in restaurants and the odd cultural dance show staged for tour groups.

Cebu is slightly the better choice for a restful stay, as long as you base yourself on Mactan. The large resorts there have full spas and quiet pool decks, and hilot massage is easy to find throughout the city.

Puerto Princesa has cheap massage parlours, resort spas and a calmer town than Cebu's traffic-heavy centre. However, the early pickups and long drives of its tour circuit make a stay tiring, so rest here usually means a pool day between outings.