Anybody here spend much time in the phillippines?
A friend of mine from there has been talking it up and I'm thinking of checking it out, but I've read online that the rainy season lasts till October and isnt the best time to go.
Anyone have experience travelling there during the summer months?
1) It is miserable there during our summer - heavy rain daily starting in late May, all the way to October like you said. If you can only travel during the summer, basically forget the Philippines altogether unless you're a pluviophile.
2) there are nicer and less-dangerous countries in Southeast Asia if you're committing the travel dollars to get to that part of the world.
3) if you are traveling based on climate,
JUNE: don't go anywhere in SE Asia in June except maybe Indonesia, which is just starting it's dry season at that point.
JULY: peak travel season for Malaysia. Vietnam is ok (some rain, some sun). Indonesia still dry.
AUGUST: peak Vietnam travel season. Still peak season for Malaysia. Indo still dry, rain starts near the end of the month.
That's your Southeast Asia climate guide. If I didn't mention a country, assume that it's basically monsoon season and you'd better bring lots of rain gear. Our summer is their wet season for the most part. Philippines is basically THE wettest country out of all of them during this time. Indonesia is the dryest.
If you want to see SE Asia other than the countries I mention above, and want to stay relatively dry, don't go until at least November.