Awesome Cebu!

Dubbed "Queen City of the South", Cebu province has a charm of its own. Here, we went 3 days whale-sharking in Oslob and took a glimpse of the premier city in the Visayas for 2 nights.

Getting there.

Cebu City

We rode Airasia airline's 4:25am of September 5, 2017 from Manila Domestic Airport and arrived an hour and a half later to Mactan International Airport. Aside from Airasia, Philippine Airlines (PAL), and Cebu Pacific Air service passengers to and from this airport. There are also sea travels from various seaports in the island.

Mactan Airport to Oslob

We took time to commute via jeepneys, VHire and bus to give you, readers, a tip on how much will the fares go.

1. Take a yellow jeepney from airport to Gaisano Mall. Fare PhP 8.00 each.

2. Ride a VHire (Van for Hire) at the back of Gaisano Mall going to SM Cebu. Fare is PhP 25.00.

3. Go to the jeepney terminal in SM Cebu and ride a jeep going to South Bus Terminal. Jeepneys in Cebu has its codes printed into its body so you won't get lost. Look for jeepneys with "12G" on it. Landmarks are CCMC, Elizabeth Mall, and Fire Station. Fare is PhP 8.00.

4. Ride an Air-conditioned or Ordinary Buses going to or via Oslob. Ceres Tours is stationed in the terminal, with every hour departures. Travel time is 3.5-4 hours. The fare in the Ordinary is PhP 165.00 and for the air-con PhP 177.00.

Where we stayed. (Oslob)

We made prior booking before going to Oslob and found Casa Bonita the closest (and cheapest) from the whale-shark briefing area. There were handful of hotels in the area which you can stay, like Brumini or BCD's Place or see price ranges of hotels here, but because we will be out in the beach most of the time, we stayed there and paid PhP 2,160.00 for 3 nights.

Where we stayed. (Cebu City)

We almost booked another hotel in Cebu because of the flooded streets brought about by the torrential heavy rains. CebuView Tourist Inn is just a 10-minute walk from the South Bus Terminal, but it took us 2 hours just to get there. We chose this hotel for its proximity to the Magellan's cross and Fort San Pedro. Booked PhP 1,612 for 2 nights.

What to do. (Oslob)

1. Whale-shark (Butanding) watching. Popular to locals and foreigners. Traveling to a quiet town like this will bore any individual. But seeing the biggest fish in the world is truly an experience. One foreigner from England summed it up: Amazing! She said. Entrance fee is PhP 500.00

There will be a short briefing before you get to see the whale-sharks (yes, not just one). Things like sunblock lotion, and going 5 meters close are prohibited. Also, jumping in and creating big bubbles are strictly not allowed. They only allow morning encounters with the giants. so be on the site early because there is a waiting time especially on peak season.

2. Sumilon Island Sand bar. No sand bar. None. We went there on low tide and still the sand bar is nowhere to be found. But this is a good place to swim. I noticed some of the sands here can rival those of Boracay's. Note that you can only go to a portion of Sumilon Island and not cannot circle around the area as there is a (exorbitant) fee. We will not mention how much but spending 1 night here will cost you over Php 10,000 will surely give you a hint. Round-trip boat ride is PhP 500.00 and entrance fee to the tiny portion of the resort is PhP 50.00.

3. Tumalog Falls. This is becoming popular among tourist because of the rain-like splash of water. Upon entering the falls' main lagoon, you will be greeted by the drizzle that the falls make. We hired a multicab for PhP 120 per person, and going to the falls proper is about 300 meters steep cemented road. You can hire a motorcycle for PhP 50 round-trip or walk. In our case, we just walked. 300 meters road however steep as long as it is walkable, we would walk. It is great exercise by the way.

What to do. (Cebu City)

Torrential rains in the afternoon made it difficult for us to go on a walking tour. But we managed to squeeze the most of our 3 days stay in Cebu City.

1. Taoist Temple. There were no direct commute going to this place so instead, we tried out Uber for the first time. This temple is inside the luxurious Beverly Hills Subdivision. Fare from our hotel to Taoist Temple cost us PhP 136.00. Not bad.

Be mindful when inside because this is a temple. Rules such as Observe Silence and No Taking of Pictures Inside where the saints are situated are to be followed. One care-taker told us not to use our tripod and we complied. Respect so you too, will be respected.

Going out the temple is also difficult so my advice is to book Uber or Grab, as even taxicabs rarely ply in the area. In our case we booked again an Uber to J.Y. Square Mall where can have a quick breakfast before going to our next destination.

The next destinations we want to visit are quite difficult to reach by public transportation: Sirao Garden, Tops Lookout and Temple of Leah. We were told not to get a private tour car as the usual pricing of, let's say taxicab or Uber/Grab car, round-trip and not including the entrance fees for the tourist spots ranges from PhP 1,500 - PhP 2,500, worthy if you are traveling in a group. Since we are a single couple, our solution was Habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) ride beside the J.Y. Mall. You can contact sir Ronald at +63922-923-9775 if you wish to avail a motorcycle ride. We paid him PhP 700.00 for both of us! Again, not bad!

2. Sirao Garden. This is the farthest destination we went in Cebu City. Flowers are everywhere. This place can fill your Instagram of pictures thinking you were somewhere in Europe. Entrance fee is PhP 50.00

3. Tops Lookout. Aside from overlooking the city, this is a romantic place for couples who want to enjoy the evening with a beautiful view. Though we visited in the morning, we still enjoyed the view.

4. Temple of Leah. When we visited this place, the front facade was the only open. We peek inside and saw construction of the ceiling was on-going.

We were wary getting sick after getting soaked in the horrendous rain going inside the Temple of Leah (we were stuck in the entrance lobby), so we booked again on Uber from J.Y Square Mall to our hotel. Changed clothes and got some rest before eating late lunch.

5. Magellan's Cross and Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño. We almost could not visit this place because it was still raining until 4:00 PM. So we went to Metro Mall, ate some late lunch and bought some delicacies.

Where/what to eat.

Oslob. Sea foods. and more sea foods. We ate beside Brumini's resort. There are some carinderias there that serve fresh sea foods and will cook it your choice.

Cebu. We typically ate at city fast foods because it always rained the time we were there. Popular must-try here are danggit (sun-dried fish), lechon Cebu and the dried mangoes.