Bicol, and what to know before you come

There are enough listicles about Bicol. This section carries the things a travel blog leaves out: the volcano alert level today, the festival that was cancelled this year, and a straight answer about where we do not have data.

Mayon

Alert Level 2 · moderate unrestAlbay

Downgraded from Alert Level 3 on 5 August 2026. Level 3 had been in place since 6 January 2026. PHIVOLCS recorded lava collapse rockfalls falling from an average of 278 a day to 12 a day after 23 July, and volcanic earthquakes from 57 a day to 13. Sulphur dioxide emission peaked at 13,128 tonnes a day on 11 July.

Permanent Danger Zone: 6 km. The 6 kilometre Permanent Danger Zone is off limits at any alert level. Communities along the river channels draining the Mi-isi, Bonga and Basud gullies were told to stay vigilant for lahars.

Alert level set 5 August 2026 · verified 17 August 2026 · PHIVOLCS via Manila Bulletin, 5 August 2026

Bulusan

Alert Level 1 · low-level unrestSorsogon

Bulusan has moved twice this year. PHIVOLCS lowered it to Alert Level 0 on 9 February 2026, then raised it back to Alert Level 1 on 22 March 2026. It was still at Level 1 in the 24-hour bulletin of 6 August 2026, which recorded 70 volcanic earthquakes.

Permanent Danger Zone: 4 km. The 4 kilometre Permanent Danger Zone stays off limits even at Alert Level 0, because phreatic eruptions at Bulusan happen without warning.

Alert level set 6 August 2026 · verified 17 August 2026 · PHIVOLCS 24-hour bulletin, 6 August 2026

Alert levels verified 17 August 2026. PHIVOLCS changes them without notice, so check the live bulletin before you travel: phivolcs.dost.gov.ph and HazardHunterPH.

The sections

What is here

Things to do

Eight places, each with the caveat that actually applies to it.

Festivals and fiestas

Six festivals with 2026 dates where they exist, and one marked cancelled.

Bicolano food

Coconut milk and chilli, and why laing is the dish that defines the region.

Beaches and islands

Pink sand at Matnog, whale sharks at Donsol, manta rays off Ticao.

Mayon and the volcanoes

Current alert levels, danger zones, and the 1814 eruption that buried a town.

Getting around

Four airports, the Maharlika Highway, the ferries, and weather as timetable.

Where to stay

The honest answer: we do not run an accommodation directory. Here is why.

History of Bicol

A sourced chronology, with the dates we could not confirm marked as open.

Why a transparency site has a tourism section. Tourism is a large part of the Bicol economy and it runs on local government decisions: which festival gets funded, which road gets built, whether the city website works well enough to answer a visitor. The same LGUs we score on disclosure are the ones running the tourism offices. It is one subject.