Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu

Punta Engaño is the northern tip of Mactan and where the island's oldest resort strip sits. This is the largest single stretch of it, and one of the few with a protected house reef — unusual on a coast where most of the sand is reclaimed.

The airport is twenty minutes away, which is why this and its neighbours turn up as the first or the last night of most Cebu itineraries rather than the middle.