Cebu: It stands for ‘Come Enjoy Breathing Underwater’, right?

Mabuhay Philippines, let’s do this! Our first stop was Cebu, including Cebu City, Moalboal and Malapascua Island. Our Dream Team also grew by 1 here, so now there were 4 of us to take on the Philippines. Here’s what we got up to...

Cebu City:

Now, from our experience this city isn’t the nicest. It’s pretty grubby and there’s not a whole lot to do. We used it for transit and extending our visa...

Visa run

When we landed in Cebu we stayed in Mandaue so that we could extend our visa straight away. J Centre Mall which is home to the Bureau of Immigration Office (amongst other shops and restaurants) was a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. You need your passport, 3030PHP and a whole lot of patience. We spent 2 hours sat in the grey drab room as it sucked the life from our souls. But, we did end up getting our visas that same day and we rewarded ourselves with pizza. You can also get SIM cards relatively cheap here, so it’s a worthwhile trip when you arrive if you’re staying in the Philippines for a good while like us.

Airport and bus stations

Cebu was basically a transit centre for us. We flew into here (via Manila) as we arrived, took the bus from the South Terminal to Moalboal, and the bus from the North Terminal to Maya Port for the Malapascua ferry. We also flew out of here heading to Puerto Princesa. (That’s very boring info if you’re not travelling in the Philippines. Apologies. But if you are, you’re welcome.)

Moalboal:

A 3 hour 150PHP bus ride south from Cebu City takes you to Moalboal for these fun adventures...

Osmena peak

“Let’s do the peak early so that the weather’s good” said Arnold Smallzenegger our driver. And he was right, the weather was great the entire 2 hour drive to the peak. We opened the car doors ready to do the climb and it ABsolutely bucketed it down. Great.

Not ones to be deterred by a spot of bad weather we donned the raincoats and began a rather muddy climb past hundreds of cauliflowers. We got to the top and the views were just...well, they were just clouds to be honest. Could’ve easily been in Wales completing our Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

In conclusion, the climb’s relatively easy and I’m sure the views are banging if you aren’t stood literally inside a cloud.

Kawasan Falls

Kawasan Falls is famous for its canyoneering. 2 out of 3 of us in the group are not a fan of heights, so canyoneering probably would’ve resulted in several breakdowns at the edge of a cliff overlooking the water, and a monumental waste of money. So we gave it a miss. But, we’d heard the falls were meant to be beautiful so decided we’d go and walk up the various levels instead, and you can definitely still get in and lounge in the (very chilly!) pools. The water is powder blue and the falls are set in amongst the trees, which is pretty nice.

Lots of people seem to have had a problem with being charged for different things throughout their time there e.g guides or life jackets but we managed to get all the way to the top of the falls without being charged a penny more than the entry fee (45PHP/67p). You’re not obliged to pay anymore, so if someone asks, just say no.

Overall impression: great for canyoneering- they all seemed to be having a whale of a time. But it does mean it’s very busy. Aesthetically, I’ve been spoilt by the likes of Erawan and Kuang Si in Thailand and Laos which have the same powder blue water but much quieter, prettier levels and better for swimming.

Sardine run

You’ve got to go to Moalboal for this alone. Head to Panagsama beach, rent a snorkel (we got ours from Cebu Dive Centre, who were super friendly and let us use their showers afterwards before we got on our bus) and literally just walk off of the beach into the water. When we went, the best time to catch the sardine run was around 10am because of the tide- so check this before you go. You swim out to the edge of a wall of coral where lots of fish are busy going about their day, the drop on the other side is 45m, and that’s where the sardines like to hang out. A short swim down the beach and we were rewarded with thousands of sardines, all changing direction simultaneously or creating a whirlwind of little moving bodies. They all move as if they’re one huge creature. I’ve never seen a school of fish that large, and it was so, so cool, I could’ve watched them all day. The current carries you down the beach, but the sardines feature pretty much all the way along, and then you can just hop out at the end. Please, please don’t be like the ignorant people we watched trample all over the coral though, it’s not rock or a plant, it’s a living animal and when you step on it you’re killing it. So don’t touch it, and swim the whole way to the beach before you put your feet or hands down.

Malapascua:

Take a bus from the North Terminal in Cebu City to Maya Port and then a large banca (they like to call it a ‘ferry’) to get yourself to this little gem. It’s tiny. There’s no cars, and just sandy paths for ‘roads’. Island life was back on.

Diving

Malapascua is best known for its diving because of the *almost* guaranteed chance of seeing Thresher Sharks. And that is why we were there. Having completed our PADI Open Water Course 3 months ago in Koh Tao, Thailand, we’d got the diving bug and knew we wanted to do more. We did our PADI Advanced Open Water Course and our Nitrox Course with Thresher Shark Divers, and were so excited to see the sharks. The shark dive heads out on the 5am boat before the sun has risen. We didn’t mind the crazy early start too much because we were hyped about the sharks. But like I said, it’s only *almost* guaranteed, and on that first dive, we didn’t even see one. We felt pretty deflated.

The next morning, we got up at 4:33am again ready for a double dive- two before 10 am-but didn’t hold high hopes for seeing the sharks, because the instructors were saying that the sharks were turning up to the cleaning station late this week. Were we going to miss them again?

A few minutes into the first dive, a long shape came out of the deep blue. And our first Thresher Shark came gracefully swimming towards us. I grinned so hard my regulator nearly fell out of my mouth. And it wasn’t our last shark. Over the two dives we must have seen about 15- I lost count at 10. The coolest experience. If we weren’t addicted to diving before, we certainly are now.

Langob Beach

When you’re not diving, Malapascua offers quiet beach chills. We were staying along Bounty Beach where the sunset views were incredible. A 30 minute walk from the south of the island to the north (told you it was small!) brought us to Langob Beach. There’s barely anyone there so it’s super peaceful. The sand is white and the water is the most beautiful shades of blue. The only down side is that the water is full of rocks and spiky creatures, so it’s not great for swimming. It is great for chilled out post-dive sunbathing though. Dreamy.

Sleep:

Cebu City:

Cebu R Hotel Mabolo- our favourite of the hotels we stayed in in Cebu City. Hot water, clean rooms, and the Disney Channel. And I repeat, The Disney Channel. We’ve not turned on a tv in 5 months, but that was a game changer.

La Maria Pension and Tourist Inn Hotel- what a very odd place. Convenient for the Bureau of Immigration, but if you don’t need that, I wouldn’t bother.

South Pole Central Hotel- No hot water, ants in our room, a shower that didn’t even reach me, and ignorant staff. Give it a swerve.

Moalboal:

Sea Turtle House- you can see the ocean as you eat your breakfast and they’re the loveliest family. They also cook a banging curry.

Malapascua:

Mabuhay Thresher Dive Resort- super well placed cute little bungalows if you’re diving here. The tap and shower water is salty, but what else do you expect from an island that is 2km by 0.5km.

Eat:

Cebu city:

Reel Pizza- your reward for surviving the Bureau of Immigration. Congrats.

Pizza Hut- because there’s not a lot else to do in the city. Sensing a theme here?

Moalboal:

The Three Bears-super tasty veggie burgers and deserts with a quirky theme. Within walking distance to Panagsama beach to catch the sunset.

Malapascua:

Villa Sandra- Our dive instructor tipped us off about this place, and what a place it was. The entire menu is vegetarian/vegan which meant we could eat everything- so exciting! We sampled a lot of it because we ate there 3 nights in a row- and it was all amazing. Each night between 7-10 there’s live music, and these people are seriously talented. Particularly 2 local boys who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old, but had the most soulful voice and some skillz on the ukulele and bongos. The best place to spend your evenings on Malapascua.

Drink:

We were pretty busy during our stays around Cebu and when we’re diving we don’t drink; but San Miguel have their own brewery in the Philippines, so rock up pretty much anywhere and they’ll get you a cold one.

Thanks for the underwater adventures Cebu, next stop: Palawan for Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron!