Overview
** Cebu, Philippines **
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The Philippines was the first country visited, people are friendly. Try the balut if you are brave but it creeped me out. Cebu is better than manila because of its beaches. I visited both but if you like larger cities go to Manila. The hospitals are great, which is the reason I went for eye surgery. I recently went to the eye doctor in Boston and the doctor committed the previous doctor did a great job. One reason the hospitals are good is because of the emphasis on the medical field. People want to come to the USA or other country. If you happen to visit you will go to Jollibee for sure, its a burger restaurant kind of like MacDonalds but with spaghetti!
Absolutely loved Cebu City.
It had a really cool vibe, people there are extremely welcoming! The nightlife was surprisingly awesome, I usually struggle finding hip hop spots in Asia but I found a really dope spot in Cebu City called Trademark. The owner along with the bar staff were really nice and made sure that me and the group had a great time and we did, check them out on https://www.instagram.com/trademark_cebu/?hl=en for more detail.
Check out points of interest such as Tumalong Falls, would definitely recommend. Although the whale shark swimming does look like a great experience, I had later found out there methods were unethical and against sustainability. I’m not entirely sure if that was just for a few tour operators or the whole region so I strongly suggest looking into who’s doing it and getting more information.
Although I enjoyed my stay immensely and met fantastic people, literally every 10 minutes someone would ask me if I played basketball and pretend to shoot a ball in a distance… I personally didn’t mind it lol I thought it was quite funny but I know some people could get annoyed by that.
So if you are TALL and BLACK you WILL get the exact same response… My suggestion is to try get some free stuff out of it :)
Cebu is beautiful and cheap. We stayed at the Raddison Blu Hotel, and it was the nicest one I’ve ever been to. The Raddison Hotels as are not nice in America. I got a steak dinner (ribeye), desert, massage, facial, and a drink for $100. That’s really unheard of.
We also did a day tour to Tumalong Falls and to Oslob for Whale Shark Snorkeling, it was absolutely amazing! PLEASE rent a GoPro from the company to commemorate the moment. This might be one of the best tours in the Philippines.
We started at 3:30AM (our driver arrived exactly on time and was waiting for us in the lobby of our hotel). The journey from Cebu City to Oslob is about 3-4 hours.
We arrived for breakfast in Oslob and went right to swim with Whale Sharks. We waited for roughly an hour, but it was worth every minute and we enjoyed spending tome with our guide.
After the whale shark encounter we ventured to Tumalong Falls. Let’s just say our Tour Guide was the absolute best. She was knowledgeable, accommodating, kind, fun, energetic, and a BOMB photographer! She got all of our angles and what I like to call the, “money shots” meaning breathtaking photos.
She also went the extra mile to pay for my GoPro camera and extra fried chicken (yes the fried chicken in the Philippines is amazing) at lunch because I lost my debit card. She allowed me to reimburse her via PayPal (now what Tour Guide goes that extra mile).
We ended at Kawsan Falls and the tour guide was awesome there too. Very patient, kind, and a great photographer.
We had a flight to catch and the driver told us it would take 4hrs.. let’s just say we could’ve stayed a little longer because we returned in 2.5 hours. My friend was scared, but he drives just like me ?!
Overall great experience! Please book with Cebu Tours you won’t regret it. Breafast, lunch, both waterfalls, round trip transport, whale sharks, GoPro rental, and snorkeling equipment was roughly just over $100. From the time I initially emailed them months ago until now the service was great!
We were in Cebu for a total of 3 days (on our way to and from El Nido). We did a City Tour that was $1500 PHP ($30USD) before our flight. We saw all of the local historical locations and it was pretty cool. Our driver just didn’t speak English as we got a taxi at the airport to show us around, but he understood us and we understood him. He just couldn’t translate historical facts, but we were able to figure it out through a mixture of google, markers, and locals.
In all you can definitely ball in a budget in Cebu! The USD goes really far and everything is cheap. Make sure you try Joollibees fried chicken, it’s also great!?
Cebu is home to some of the world’s most BEAUTIFUL waterfalls. I came here specifically to see waterfalls. I flew into Cebu City, but it’s important to note that if you plan on seeing any waterfalls, I recommend staying in Moalboal or Badian, as Cebu City is 3.5 hours away. Hotels are not that great in Moalboal however they are very cheap. I hired a private driver from GetTransfer.com. It was initially just suppose to be a airport transfer but the driver ended up taking me wherever I wanted to go in Cebu, which worked out great. My driver’s name was Joel, and he was so sweet. I corresponded mostly with his boss, Sean who was very sweet and accommodating. His Whatsapp number is +639081578899.
The first fall we visited was Kawasan Falls. Its important to note that this is the most popular fall in all of Cebu, with good reason. The water is literally gatorade blue, with some of the most breathtaking views you will ever see. We got there before 8am and had the entire water fall to ourselves! We also hired a tour guide to take us around once inside for about $9.
The second fall we went to was Inambakan Falls. This in my opinion is probably the most underrated fall in all of Cebu. I actually liked it better than Kawasan. This hidden gem has several different waterfall points with breathtaking views and crystal blue water. Since this waterfall is so underrated, we went there at around noon, and were the only ones there. We had a private guide here to for about $5.
We spent a day in Cebu City, which to me was a lot like Manila, but with SO much traffic! We were stuck in traffic from Moalboal back to Cebu City for about 5 hours. But we loved the mall here so it was worth it.
It’s important to note that there are little to no black people here, but they LOVE us. They do tend to stare and ask to take pictures. All in all I highly recommend Cebu.
Cebu is a wonderful island in the south Philippines. After landing in Cebu from Manila I got a taxi from the airport to the bus station. From there I took the bus south to Malabuyoc. I resided at the Bamboo beach house for 5.45USD/night 9.45USD/night with A/C. Very meager accommodations but I wanted to rough it. It is owned by a German guy who is married to a local. If you want something better just travel further south to Oslob. I got around using the bus. It comes often and you can get back and forth to all the places in the area for less than 4USD roundtrip. THINGS TO DO: Alegria canyoneering. THIS IS A MUST!!! We booked this through the guesthouse. Kawasan Falls-You can do it for the gram and take the easy way out and walk directly to it or you can traverse the jungle, jump off cliffs and rocks and end up there. BRING YOUR OWN FOOTWEAR for all activities!!! I am a size 12 and nothing fit me. I had to squeeze into undersized crocs and etc. There are numerous falls throughout Malabuyoc and Samboan. Samboan has a super cool one (Aguinid is dope). Dau falls is cool and Binalayan Falls. Binalayan is cool.
Oslob is where you can swim with the Whale Sharks. It is super touristy but the only opportunity. It is VERY regulated. They feed the sharks so they come around and you just get in with them. Take time out to hit up Moalboal! If you have a Scuba cert it is a must. If not, just snorkel near Cebu Dive Center for the sardine bait ball. EPIC!!! Traveling while black: If you are a black guy and over 6ft you will be a superstar! LEBRON JAMES is all I heard everywhere I went. All the kids will want you to play basketball. Don’t fake the funk if you do not have game. These kids can hoop. Everyone was so inviting and welcoming. India is my favorite country but I had the most fun on vacation in Cebu! Enjoy!