http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17642
Beaches are shallow and muddy, with a huge tidal range; I can't recommend them for anything. We camped a few miles along the coast at Blue Anchor Bay, which also has little to recommend it (except for the picture-postcard steam trains of the West Somerset Railway, which pointlessly and uselessly goes almost all of the way into Taunton) - and more muddy beaches.

The nearby Quantocks are great for walking and more fantastic sea views where the line of steep hills hit the coast.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17642 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13554
Best to go on a Saturday to enjoy visiting the one of the most amazing farmers' markets in the UK. Buy loads of seriously good food here!

Also a fantastic castle (11th to 15th Century), to explore as well!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13554 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13552
Rather hidden, right down in a spectacular river valley in the South of France.

Choose to swim in the river Ceze, or in their two good-sized pools.

Very relaxed atmosphere, beautiful surroundings, immaculate facilities including sauna, cafe, bar, etc.

Outside, there's fantastic food in local village restaurants.

Come with your own tent, or rent a comfortably equipped woden beach-hut onsite from just 350 Euros/week.

It's really perfect for all families and kids!

But remember, it's a “camping naturiste”: there's one strict rule - no wearing clothes allowed on site. So you’ll have no laundry at all for a whole, lovely, lazy week!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13552 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13550
They still start with raw iron ore and make everything else from it, all on one gigantic industrial site.

There's no organised way to make a visit, but you can look around if you want to. It's a whole other world there!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13550 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13549
White water rafting down the Cagayan river is becoming quite popular.

One of the nicest places to stay in the area is Lauremar Beach Resort Hotel in the village of Opol, about 7km out of town by a beautiful white sand beach.

The hotel rooms are all comfortable, air-conditioned and clean. Service is excellent and the hotel restaurant is good, although the food maybe lacks any real "wow" factor.

At Php 2,300 per night it's maybe not the cheapest, but really a bargain. There is a beautiful swimming pool - open to non-residents for a Php100 fee - and the beach is great.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13549 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13548
Getting there is really quite hard work. Small native pump-boats run from the end of the road, Cebu-City bus terminal, at a very small place called Maya. Many taxi drivers will be willing to take you there, direct from Cebu City, but it's so little known, that not many of the local taxi drivers really know the right way to go! The bus takes 4+ hours from Cebu City.

When you finally reach Maya, there's no pier, so expect to get your feet wet! Last pump boat leaves at 5pm. Later than that - you must pay lots for a special boat trip.(PhP1500+ or negotiate with the captain!)

Dano Beach resort is at the far end of the white beach. Bungalows cost Php 1,200 - which is not a lot UK£12 / US$25 but service was appaling. I requested a chair to sit on, on the verandah, and was bluntly told none were available. Simple plastic chairs can easily be purchased locally for less than Php200. I tore a hole in my new shorts sitting on a homemade table of nailed bamboo strips as there was nothing else to sit down on.

In the morning the resort's water pump stopped and wasn't fixed, so no way to wash; the beach resort owners just shrugged and said to wash in the sea.

A few bigger resort places on Malapasqua have better facilities at maybe double the nightly price. Try Blue Water or Cocobana if you want to stay here. Ging-gings is a good place to eat. Greedy local owners have been overbuilding on the beach (which is public, govement-owned property) and a lot of illegal constructions have been marked with big painted red Xs to signal their demolition, if less than 30 metres from the high-tide line.

Will this really go ahead, or will the often lazy and corrupt Philippine bureauracy allow one of the world's finest beaches to be destroyed by greed and over-development?]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13548 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13546
I booked on the internet; I was surprised to get an automatic extra 5% discount off their already low price of €36.

We arrived well after midnight, via the Eurotunnel, but their reception was still open, as was the bar.

Our room was clean and fresh; bed a bit firm, but that's what I like anyway. There was an extra bunk bed sideways over our double bed, perfect for our 7-year-old boy, who loved it.

The self-service buffet breakfast was really great value for only €5 extra each (children seemed to be free), with a big choice of fruits, breads, toast, cereals yoghurt etc - much better than most French breakfast offerings.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13546 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13545
All the other hotels near the airport are more than double this price (double room with bathroom about £35/night), so even with a taxi each way (HK$130 - £10) it's still better to stay at Silvermines.

If you have time, there's also the A35 bus from HK's impressive, gigantic, iconic airport. The bus gets there in the end, but a very slow and infrequent service.

Book on the internet (Expedia etc) for the best prices; book in directly at the hotel and you could pay 50% more! Make sure your internet booking includes their big buffet breakfast, which is really well worth having!

Great eating places all around the ferry terminal; foods are all traditional Cantonese style, fast vanishing elsewhere in the booming city. You will eat very well here for HK$30 or less per person. Steamed basket dim sum less than HK$10!

Remember that you have to walk a short distance along a pedestrians-only roadway to get there, so not good if you have a tonne of luggage. So travel light.

The very best thing is you can get into HK Central by direct ferry, in 30 minutes, a most memorable experience for a bargain HK$12.

Like New York, Venice Italy, and just a very few other cities in the world, HK should be first approached by water, in order to get the true flavour and best experience into the very heart of the place.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13545 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12720 Since opening, the hotel has received next to no maintenance or further investment, but the air-con rooms are all huge and still luxurious - if you overlook the cracked bathroom fittings and the crumbling plasterwork everywhere.

The setting, on Dapitan's Sunset Boulevard, is spectacular, facing a huge 5 mile long white sand beach, with the South China Sea stretching in front of you; it feels like you've reached the end of the world (which you have, in a way...)

Grand luxury and elegance - at Php 1,650 per night (about £17) it's an unmissable bargain. Get there by overnight ferry from Cebu, Negros or Manila to the nearby Dapitan/Dipolog pier, or by plane to Diploog airport. Local motor tricycles will take you the last km or two for Php50 each. My wife and I spent our quite perfect honeymoon there 9 years ago, and we've been back a few times more since then!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12720 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12719
The white sand beach right next to the camping is mostly nude, but very relaxed and family-friendly. The camping offers some pre-erected tents and other shelters, as well as lots of private pitches all well shaded by groves of spreading olive trees and living fences of bamboo. Our family of 3 paid about 10 Euros per night in Sept 2006. Amazing bargain - we wanted to stay forever!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12719