CEBU – SNORKELING IN CLEAR BLUE SEA
Author’s Note: My impression of Cebu is not exactly deep and it has been sometime since I went there. It took me quite awhile to recall the place but as I continue writing, it reminded me of this great & beautiful place that I have been to.
The cheapest flight to Cebu from Singapore is probably Silkair which sometimes offers promotional air fares! Check it out at http://www.silkair.com.sg/. Before I begin, I know of many friends who are still confused between Cebu and Sibu. So, for your info: Cebu is located in the Philippines and Sibu is situated in Johor, Malaysia.
Lapu Lapu city is the most urbanized region in Cebu and covers most of Mactan Island.
Mactan Island City is the most popular area with numerous beach resorts along its coastline. The availability of resorts on Mactan Island will probably spoil you but unfortunately reviews of most 3-4 stars resorts are pretty bad. I settled with Cebu White Sand Resort at Maribago beach on Mactan for my 4 days stay which looked the best yet affordable to me. Room was pretty old but facilities were great. There are 2 swimming pool in the resort, the smaller pool with tanning bench inside the pool is just below my room. Beach is not as great though so the coast is occupied by the boats and you cannot swim in the sea. It was quite disappointing for me for such a beach resort. Most beach resorts are Mactan Island are probably similar as I glanced over the rows of boats at other resorts.
There is a grill nice restaurant located in Maribago beach, 5 minutes walk away from the resort. If I remember correctly, the place is known as Maribago Grill. Nice outdoor setting and serves pretty nice grilled food and wide variety of alcoholic selection. The only con is that there are many Korean tourist groups there!
The best activity in Cebu is snorkeling & diving. I went snorkeling definitely (Diving shall be attempted some day…). Most resorts offer snorkeling package which includes the equipments and a boat ride to the snorkeling “Park” (there is an allocated open sea area where has been assigned for snorkeling and they call it a park). I paid about S$80 for the package and spent about 4 hours in the sea. The experience was great as this was the 2nd time I tried snorkeling and the guide cum instructor was very helpful and “saved” me several times when I almost floated away. My 1st snorkeling experience was in Sibu Island, Malaysia but it was raining heavily that day and the guide slept in the boat! I still recalled that I was given several bread crumbs to amuse the fish on my own. How silly that 1st snorkeling experience was. Anyway, the Cebu snorkeling package includes the life-vest, so that explained how weird it was that I could still “float” away. The wave was pretty huge and I had no control of myself in the water when I got down from the boat. I drank quite a lot of sea water in the 1st ten minutes too. My kind snorkeling guide put on the goggle and a pair of cardboard flippers and he was able to swim like a fish! Very impressive to poor swimmer like me! I got used to the awkward goggle and tube after awhile and begun to enjoy the sea! There was a time where I was too engrossed with the colorful fishes under the sea; swam far away from the boat and had to be pulled back by my guide. I stayed in the boat for 2 hours before going back to the boat for a drink. I feel cheated as I paid about S$10 for a coconut drink! I was dehydrated then so didn’t comment much, plus I am in the open sea with these guys! I continued my snorkeling for additional 2 hours before going back to the resort. You can imagine how burned I am after 4 hours in the sun and without much sun-screen lotion on my body (At the age of 28, I finally realize the importance of sun-screen lotion after freckles start appearing on my arms. I am still fortunate that I have applied consistently on my face since young. I regret ignoring the importance of it on my body! I have been under the sun & beaches for about 10 years … so remember, Sun-Screen is IMPORTANT!)
The biggest & latest shopping mall in Cebu is Ayala mall which offers many boutiques; souvenirs stalls and a pretty huge departmental store with men/women/children’s wear and accessories. There is a particular store to recommend – Island which sells trendy and affordable Cebu Polo-Tee & Tee-shirts, material of their shirts are of good quality too. The easiest way to get to Ayala Mall is by taxi but be sure that the drivers turn on their meter before boarding.
The most irritating experience in these developing countries is that taxi drivers do not want to turn on their meter or pretend to turn it on then charge you a fixed price after he starts the taxi moving. I have once experienced a driver who was reluctant to turn on the meter and finally did as the hotel staff and myself insisted him to. He drove for 5 minutes and told me that he will not charge by meter and quoted me a fixed price! I was fuming and told him to align me although I have no idea where I was. He refused to stop the taxi and begged me to pay him that price as he has no customer in a day. I finally negotiated on a lower, but fixed price. Fortunately, I arrived at the venue safely! Hence, my advise is: always request the driver to turn on the meter before you board the taxi. If his expression shows that he is frustrated or irriated or reluctant; move on to the taxi. It may be dangerous for you to board such taxi too in case the negotiation fails along the way.
Going back to shopping in Cebu, the second largest mall in Cebu is SM Mall. There are about 5-6 levels in this older mall but stuffs are cheaper here, as compared to Ayala Mall.
Since this city is named after Mr Lapu Lapu, it seems like there is no reason to miss the Lapu Lapu Monument. He is apparently a native chief who defeated the Spanish soldiers. The amusing thing is there is no one in the monument park when I went down on a weekend morning! Beside the road-sweeper; my taxi driver, the stall holders; I was alone there. In this park, you can find the statue of Mr Lapu Lapu and of course, take as many pictures as you wish with “him”. There are also many souvenirs stalls in this park selling keychains; magnets and great variety of tee-shirts. The tee-shirts here are cheaper than the ones at Ayala Mall but the quality is compromised as well.
There is a famous church known as Santo Nino Basilica, dated back to the Spanish Colonial period. Due to bad planning on my end, I missed the visit to this church. I passed by the church in the night on my taxi just to catch a glimpse of it. It looks grand and the place is huge. The tall gates were securely locked and I read from review that security is tight there and bag checks will be conducted.
http://basilicadelsantoninodecebu.org.ph/
So, if you are looking for a affordable yet unique short getaway, do consider Cebu! The open sea is really one of the cleanest and bluest that I have been to so far.
The cheapest flight to Cebu from Singapore is probably Silkair which sometimes offers promotional air fares! Check it out at http://www.silkair.com.sg/. Before I begin, I know of many friends who are still confused between Cebu and Sibu. So, for your info: Cebu is located in the Philippines and Sibu is situated in Johor, Malaysia.
Lapu Lapu city is the most urbanized region in Cebu and covers most of Mactan Island.
Mactan Island City is the most popular area with numerous beach resorts along its coastline. The availability of resorts on Mactan Island will probably spoil you but unfortunately reviews of most 3-4 stars resorts are pretty bad. I settled with Cebu White Sand Resort at Maribago beach on Mactan for my 4 days stay which looked the best yet affordable to me. Room was pretty old but facilities were great. There are 2 swimming pool in the resort, the smaller pool with tanning bench inside the pool is just below my room. Beach is not as great though so the coast is occupied by the boats and you cannot swim in the sea. It was quite disappointing for me for such a beach resort. Most beach resorts are Mactan Island are probably similar as I glanced over the rows of boats at other resorts.
There is a grill nice restaurant located in Maribago beach, 5 minutes walk away from the resort. If I remember correctly, the place is known as Maribago Grill. Nice outdoor setting and serves pretty nice grilled food and wide variety of alcoholic selection. The only con is that there are many Korean tourist groups there!
The best activity in Cebu is snorkeling & diving. I went snorkeling definitely (Diving shall be attempted some day…). Most resorts offer snorkeling package which includes the equipments and a boat ride to the snorkeling “Park” (there is an allocated open sea area where has been assigned for snorkeling and they call it a park). I paid about S$80 for the package and spent about 4 hours in the sea. The experience was great as this was the 2nd time I tried snorkeling and the guide cum instructor was very helpful and “saved” me several times when I almost floated away. My 1st snorkeling experience was in Sibu Island, Malaysia but it was raining heavily that day and the guide slept in the boat! I still recalled that I was given several bread crumbs to amuse the fish on my own. How silly that 1st snorkeling experience was. Anyway, the Cebu snorkeling package includes the life-vest, so that explained how weird it was that I could still “float” away. The wave was pretty huge and I had no control of myself in the water when I got down from the boat. I drank quite a lot of sea water in the 1st ten minutes too. My kind snorkeling guide put on the goggle and a pair of cardboard flippers and he was able to swim like a fish! Very impressive to poor swimmer like me! I got used to the awkward goggle and tube after awhile and begun to enjoy the sea! There was a time where I was too engrossed with the colorful fishes under the sea; swam far away from the boat and had to be pulled back by my guide. I stayed in the boat for 2 hours before going back to the boat for a drink. I feel cheated as I paid about S$10 for a coconut drink! I was dehydrated then so didn’t comment much, plus I am in the open sea with these guys! I continued my snorkeling for additional 2 hours before going back to the resort. You can imagine how burned I am after 4 hours in the sun and without much sun-screen lotion on my body (At the age of 28, I finally realize the importance of sun-screen lotion after freckles start appearing on my arms. I am still fortunate that I have applied consistently on my face since young. I regret ignoring the importance of it on my body! I have been under the sun & beaches for about 10 years … so remember, Sun-Screen is IMPORTANT!)
The biggest & latest shopping mall in Cebu is Ayala mall which offers many boutiques; souvenirs stalls and a pretty huge departmental store with men/women/children’s wear and accessories. There is a particular store to recommend – Island which sells trendy and affordable Cebu Polo-Tee & Tee-shirts, material of their shirts are of good quality too. The easiest way to get to Ayala Mall is by taxi but be sure that the drivers turn on their meter before boarding.
The most irritating experience in these developing countries is that taxi drivers do not want to turn on their meter or pretend to turn it on then charge you a fixed price after he starts the taxi moving. I have once experienced a driver who was reluctant to turn on the meter and finally did as the hotel staff and myself insisted him to. He drove for 5 minutes and told me that he will not charge by meter and quoted me a fixed price! I was fuming and told him to align me although I have no idea where I was. He refused to stop the taxi and begged me to pay him that price as he has no customer in a day. I finally negotiated on a lower, but fixed price. Fortunately, I arrived at the venue safely! Hence, my advise is: always request the driver to turn on the meter before you board the taxi. If his expression shows that he is frustrated or irriated or reluctant; move on to the taxi. It may be dangerous for you to board such taxi too in case the negotiation fails along the way.
Going back to shopping in Cebu, the second largest mall in Cebu is SM Mall. There are about 5-6 levels in this older mall but stuffs are cheaper here, as compared to Ayala Mall.
Since this city is named after Mr Lapu Lapu, it seems like there is no reason to miss the Lapu Lapu Monument. He is apparently a native chief who defeated the Spanish soldiers. The amusing thing is there is no one in the monument park when I went down on a weekend morning! Beside the road-sweeper; my taxi driver, the stall holders; I was alone there. In this park, you can find the statue of Mr Lapu Lapu and of course, take as many pictures as you wish with “him”. There are also many souvenirs stalls in this park selling keychains; magnets and great variety of tee-shirts. The tee-shirts here are cheaper than the ones at Ayala Mall but the quality is compromised as well.
There is a famous church known as Santo Nino Basilica, dated back to the Spanish Colonial period. Due to bad planning on my end, I missed the visit to this church. I passed by the church in the night on my taxi just to catch a glimpse of it. It looks grand and the place is huge. The tall gates were securely locked and I read from review that security is tight there and bag checks will be conducted.
http://basilicadelsantoninodecebu.org.ph/
So, if you are looking for a affordable yet unique short getaway, do consider Cebu! The open sea is really one of the cleanest and bluest that I have been to so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment