The Philippines had long been one of my top bucket list destinations when the time came for me to finally plan a trip there last year. I had high expectations, but had heard a variation of conflicting reports from travellers about their experience in this South East Asian country, thankfully almost immediately after arriving into the tropical islands it fast became my favourite destination I've ever been to! It's of course, not without its challenges (the food gets a large 'MEH' from me..) but somehow the charm and beauty of the country and its people still wins you over. For this post I'm going to focus primarily on the island of Cebu, going through the basic's, the main areas, the best activities and important information about swimming with whale sharks.
THE BASICS:
Currency: Across the Philippines they use the Philippine Pesos, if you think it sounds Spanish well that's because it is! The Philippines was once colonized by Latin America, but I'll save you the history lesson and just say you'll see a lot of Spanish influences while in the Philippines. Currently 1 euro is about 60 pesos. In terms of cost, we found Cebu to be very reasonable compared to more touristy areas such as El Nido, Boracay or Panglao.
Accommodation: Comparing to other S.E.A countries, I found the Philippines to not only have slightly higher prices for accommodation but also the quality of some of the places definitely didn't match the price! However there ARE still great budget friendly hotels and hostels to be found but I would recommend booking somewhat in advice to ensure the best deals. We found the average private room, with a bathroom usually set us back around 15 euro each per night.
Transport: Now I honestly feel this is where the cost of someone's trip gets driven up! As the Philippines is made up of over 7000 islands (often very far apart) flying is sometimes the only option. Thankfully where ferries and boats do run, the cost is normally extremely cheap however we learnt the hard way, on more than one occasion, that these boats can be cancelled frequently due to rough seas, so its always worth factoring extra time into your plans. Buses and jeepneys (weird mad max style public run jeeps) are also super cheap but again, I once did a 4 hour journey in a bus overflowing with people and where my 'seat', actually had no seat so take these experiences for what they are.. haha
Food: Ok so how can I put this politely? The food isn't the best.. In fact by the end of our trip we were somewhat of McDonald connoisseurs able to detect even the slightest change made in the 'crispy chicken mayo sandwich', but seriously we did find some tasty places to eat (House Of Lechon in Cebu city for example) and when we did we stuck with them! The local food when cooked right, is delicious and flavourful but a lot of the time we found the meals to be really bland and not to mention, food poisoning IS a very real problem there, especially in El Nido where cross contamination with sewage pipes and water has made a lot of tourists really ill. My advice is to read up on restaurants on Trip Adviser and stick to any of the good ones you find! The average meal cost about 4 to 6 euro but higher in touristy areas. If all else fails, throw in the towel and get McFat like we did.. just stay away from the McSpaghetti, its a thing of nightmares.
Alcohol: For anyone who enjoys a couple of beers at the end of a day you'll be happy to know a beer usually costs between 1 to 3 euro, however you'll be even happier to know a lot of bars, run 'happy hour' which weirdly lasts pretty much all day! ha So you can get a few in for incredibly cheap! The local beer is called Red Horse and it's got that "unregulated" style strength going on (roughly 7%) but rumour has it each batch varies in strength, so sit back and enjoy whats likely to become an unpredictable evening with a couple of big bottles of 'the Stallion'.
CEBU ISLAND:
One of the most popular islands in the Philippines and a tourist hot spot is Cebu. The island itself has plenty to see and a host of activities that draws many people to the island, the airport is also one of the countries main hubs so connecting to other islands is incredibly easy. Below I'm going to give a brief outline of the main areas, as well as some of the best activities and sites in each.
Cebu City:
Undoubtedly most travellers first port of entry, Cebu city hits you in the face with chaos, noise and a couple of unnerving stares. Now I must admit, it wasn't the most relaxing first impression of the island as the sight of child beggers and armed guards made us feel a bit freaked out after departing from Malaysia. Ultimately nothing sinister happened, but we decided to only spend one night and instead departed early the next morning in search of the topical paradise we envisioned. There is some interesting historical sites in the city or if that's not your thing, then there's also a cool 'Sky Experience Adventure' which includes a roller coaster at the top of a skyscraper and a terrifying walk around the edge of the building.
Moalboal:
The most popular tourist area in Cebu is definitely Moalboal which is a town down the south of the island. Panagsama Beach is the main central area that people usually stay and its also where you'll find the restaurants, bars, shops and dive centers. On the whole, despite it being a bit of a rough-round-the-edges touristy spot, we absolutely loved it! during the day you're free to explore the beautiful 'White Beach' or rent a snorkel and go join the famous Sardine run, where you can experience what its like to be engulfed by thousands of tiny fish and if you're lucky you can swim along side a green sea turtle! Things only get better at night, we spent most nights hopping door to door of each beach bar, drinking red horse and playing intense pool tournaments with the locals. Its a place we never seemed to get bored of.
*Restaurants we loved in Panagsama:
Taco Bar - delicious Mexican Tapas.
Cockonuts - Decent local dishes (try the sizzling pork with garlic rice)
Badian:
Arguably the best thing about Cebu is Badian, or more specifically whats IN Badian. Roughly about an hour south from Panagsama you'll find the quiet and rural area of Badian, where tourists flock to take part in Canyoneering, which is where you hike down the valley of a canyon till you get to the rushing water at the bottom, from there its a series of cliff jumps, natural slides and swings until you finally reach a massive 14 meter jump off a waterfall. Its a heart pumping experience and you'll definitely end up with a few bumps and bruises but the canyon is utterly breathtaking, the water is the colour of blue Gatorade and you'll even see wild monkeys overhead as you float down the canyon. Truly unforgettable but do your research and see what tour will bring you at the crack of dawn before anyone else, although the water was a little colder at that time, having the canyon to ourselves made the experience so much better.
*tours can be organised directly in Panagsama. DON'T book online, unless you want to pay five times the price.
Kawasan Falls:
In the same location as canyoneering and at the very end of the route you'll eventually end up at Kawasan falls, known as the 'Gatorade factory', its easy to see why as the water is a colour so vibrant and blue it almost looks photoshopped! The falls are quite big and with a large area to swim however it does get very crowded, especially in the afternoon so its advised to come early in the morning to beat the crowds.
Mantayupan Falls:
While in Cebu you have to take a day trip to visit Mantayupan falls in Barili. The drive from Moalboal took about an hour and a half and at times felt challenging, as we had to try to avoid numerous potholes and roadworks but what greeted us at the end was the most impressive waterfall I've ever seen to date! We couldn't quite believe how beautiful the falls were, but also that we had it nearly entirely to ourselves (definitely a hidden gem). We spent a few hours swimming and jumping off the bamboo raft before heading back but it was definitely a highlight for us during our time in Cebu.
Oslob:
If you've researched Cebu chances are you've heard about Oslob, a small fishing village now made famous for a place to go and swim along side the giant whale shark, a harmless migration creature known as the largest shark in the ocean, its understandable why so many people dream of getting the chance to swim with these amazing animals. We were no exception when we first arrived in Cebu eager to have that 'up close' experience with the whale sharks, however when we arrived we were met with the very sad reality of this tourist attraction, like the tiger temples and elephant trekking camps in Thailand, this was yet another harmful practice for the animal with the sole benefit going towards the tour companies, making money off tourists. We thankfully didn't take part after researching and speaking to other backpackers, but we did happen to watch from ashore as groups of thrashing tourists were circled in by boats, with the poor whale sharks stuck in the middle of the chaos. We learned that not only is it physically harmful for the sharks to be touched or bumped by boats but the routine of constantly feeding them to keep them coming back each day has upset their migration patterns, resulted in them not getting all the regular nutrients from their natural varied diet and basically threatening an already endangered species.
As a visitor to a country, I feel its our responsibility to educate ourselves on attractions, especially ones involving animals as most, unfortunately are not always ethical. Apart from the whale sharks, the town of Oslob is fairly sleepy and more of a passing through destination for people.
RECOMMENDED LENGTH OF STAY:
For us Cebu (pretty much like every island in the Philippines) had so much to see and do each day, as well as a fun nightlife that could have kept us entertained for weeks! However for most people I'd recommend anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks to explore the island and see all that it has to offer.
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