At Dive Into Philippines, we often review attractions, hotels, products, tours and other travel services and products. We understand that with these reviews comes a responsibility to be honest, thorough and reliable.

How much you enjoy your trip to the Philippines will be partly determined by the travel services you choose to book, and we take our recommendations very seriously as we want you to have a great trip.

For this reason, we have the highest standards possible when we review and make recommendations. We are travelers ourselves that have traveled widely and frequently and we use this experience to help guide us.

If you are interested in knowing how we select the products we review and recommend, these guidelines are for you.

We Do…

✔️ Extensively read user reviews

Just like we read many reviews to decide on a hotel to book for ourselves, we do the same for every recommendation.

Even bad hotels/tours/etc can have one great room or guide. If we only relied on our own personal experience, we wouldn’t have the full picture of what it is like for the majority of people who book the travel experience in question.

For this reason, we extensively read many reviews of the places we recommend, both positive and negative, to ensure we get the full picture of what it is like to experience the travel service. We want to ensure anything we recommend results in a great experience for the vast majority of travelers.

✔️ Extensively research and understand what brands offer

In addition to relying on reviews and our personal experience, we research what individual brands offer and make sure we cover all the pertinent points.

For example, if a hotel has a pool, gym, restaurant, etc we want to ensure we write about this. Sometimes, travel services don’t do the best job of letting you know what they offer when you are there and researching beforehand ensures we don’t miss anything.

We also study the brand’s history to make sure there is nothing that we should be aware of that isn’t ideal when recommending them.

✔️ Travel extensively in the Philippines

While it’s sadly not possible for us to experience every town, every form of transport in every city, every hotel, every attraction, every tour, etc, we do the best we can to travel as extensively and frequently in the Philippines as possible to ensure accurate and up-to-date information on Dive Into Philippines.

We are also actively involved in the Philippines travelers’ community and love learning from other travelers.

✔️ Understand the product/service’s pricing and positioning

There are travel services and products for all budgets and requirements. When we are writing reviews, especially ones that compare options, we try to ensure that there is a range of products on offer.

For example, in a best hotels in x guide, we will try to list hotels that are different price points so you can find a great budget hotel, mid-range hotel or luxury hotel. We also try to have a range of hotels that are great for different needs. For example, at least one great hotel for families, at least one for couples, people who want to self cater, etc.

So our recommendations aren’t just based on the best reviews/our experiences, but also about trying to find a range of great options, so there will be something to suit your personal situation.

We also take into account the general situation in the Philippines. Travel services aren’t always as smooth as ones in countries with better developed infrastructure. We compare products with other similar products in the place in question and not to what they may be like in other countries.

We Don’t…

❌ Take sponsorship fees

We could accept money from brands to place their travel service or product higher on our pages or to promote them as the best option. However, we don’t ever accept these offers.

We always have complete editorial control and always feature what we think are the best options.