Fantastic Experience! About a 3 hour journey outside of Manila but well worth it. You'll be offered a package to take a donkey or horse to the top of the volcano. I wish I would've not been so cheap and take the ride up because it was an hour and 15minute walk in the blistering sun and stepping over poo... nonetheless it was a great experience. Once you reach the top you can buy many cold beverages and take lovely pictures! Highly Recommended!
The Taal Volcano is a great trek after a short boat ride. Sad to see that the locals have over commercialised it by having things like gold swings at the pinnacle and things like that
We stayed overnight in Tagaytay, so had enough time to take it easy. We decided to walk down (~600 m elevation) to Talisay and paid 2500 pesos for a boat to take us to the western part of Taal Vulcano Island (most boats go to the northern part for around 1500 pesos). From there, we walked for ~45 min to the crater lake, where my wife took a swim. We did not take the offers of a guide or a horse ride and that turned out to be a good decision as it is easy and short neough to walk (bringing some water is a good idea though).
Please do not leave your garbage on the island as others before us did!
Take a trip to Taal Volcano if you feel the need to get out of Metro Manila. An easy day trip, we left about 7:00 am and arrived about 2 hours later (it was Holy Week, so the highways were busy). Once you get to Talisay, there are many people hawking all-in packages (boat, lunch, guide), so shop around for the best price. It is best to visit in the morning, as it will get more hot and humid in the afternoon.
Once you take your boat to the island crater, you will need to do 4 things: buy a cowboy type hat, a handkerchief, a bottle of water, and finally MAKE SURE you rent a horse for your trek! The humidity and sun are merciless, and you will be on a dusty path in the blazing sun for 45 minutes (by horseback). I am in decent shape and I am glad I rented horses at my friend's urging. Boy, was he right!
Once you're at the summit, you can get fresh coconut, bottled water and soft drinks, etc. There is also souvenirs available as well. Take a break in the shelter, sip your drink, then begin your photo ops. The crater itself, Tall Lake, and the surrounding areas are lovely. And BTW, the people in Talisay were really, really nice!
All in all, you will bring back some nice memories of going up the summit of a live (yet sleepy) volcano.
Taal is a volcano within a lake within a volcano on an island within an island. It is also the smallest volcano in the world. It is located approx. 40 miles outside metro Manila. I was part of a tour from Manila. Our first stop was at the Taal Vista Hotel where we had a great view of the volcano/lake complex from the hotel's large patio. Refreshments at the hotel were delicious! From there, we traveled to the nearby Tagaytay Highlands, a country club/residential community for Manila's rich and famous. The view of the Taal complex was even better here, but our bus was required to go through a security checkpoint. Taal is an active volcano, and is unusual for a variety of reasons. The day we were there was cloudy and misty. The view was still good, but a sunny day would have added to the attraction.
What an amazing place to visit, I was going to follow some advice on here of how to get there reference trikes, bus etc but we stayed in makati avenue and did a deal with a driver for 2200 pesos for the whole drive there, wait and back, this will save you around 2-3hours of your day, which is important if you are traveling the Philippines as it get exhausting travelling, especially on a tight schedule.
The boat across is a standard 2500peso, in a group would be less but you would have up travel in a group as there aren't really people hanging around for others people to arrive.
The boat takes 20-30mins
You have to pay an entrance fee, I walked and loved it, my wife had a horse and loved it, so entirely up to you. But it's a steep climb so take a water for the walk and pack very light with good foot wear. A horse and guide was a thousand pesos. Please if you are very overweight do not use a horse as you would be torturing it. They are small horses not underfed. I am a 15st athlete and my personal horse is twice the size of these.
When you reach the top you will be amazed by the walk and views, it's still smoking up there.
Be sure to pack sunscreen, and maybe a little tip for your guide as they earn very little indeed.
There is a cock fight stadium I would recommend but that again up to the individual.
Enjoy Taal.
