Bicol Region is located at the southeast of the Luzon Island, the same island where the capital Manila is. The main attraction of the area is the Mayon Volcano (2,463 meters), one of the most attractive tourist spots in the Philippines, thanks to its very symmetrical cone making a stunning postcard landscape in the area. The “perfect cone” volcano is active and it is surrounded by a Natural Park (Mayon Volcano Natural Park), a very nice destination for trekking, strolling and explorations.
Once you reach the top of the volcano, you can have an amazing view on Pacific Ocean, surrounding lakes, villages and several other mountains.

Moving to the sea-side, we have high quality beaches, where many resorts are being developed. The area is having a good growth in terms of tourism arrivals, being anyway still not too crowded. Here the most famous attraction is probably the Whale Shark. You can interact with this amazing sea creature in Donsol, the “whale shark capital of the world”: here you can try to swim with these giant but friendly animals that positively interact with locals and visitors. This extraordinary destination is being featured, during the last years, on newspapers and magazines all over the world.

Other activities include scuba diving to wrecked galleons (only for experts) or exploration of caves (the Pototan Cave is located 10 feet above the beach lines and an underground river flows into it). The firefly adventure in the Donsol River is another very interesting activity: the mangroves are lightening up with the fireflies and you can be there and observe the natural show from your boat.

Let’s not forget also one very famous culinary attraction, the Bicol Express. Named after a passenger train service going from Manila to Bicol, it has been spread in Manila, but it is made with the typical style of Bicol cuisine. As how a typical  Bicol cuisine is, it is quite spicy (but don’t worry, it is possible to find also different options in the Region) and almost always cooked with coconut milk. The ingredients of Bicol Express are (stewed) long chilies, coconut milk, pork, shrimp paste, garlic and onion.