Philippines beach holiday

[JackMiles]

Hi all

I'm looking for ideas for a possible Philippines beach holiday...

If I were to fly into Cebu, where would you suggest that's not too far or too difficult to get to for a beautiful and fairly quiet beach? I know that's a bit vague so maybe like within half a day's travel? Be that by road or ferry or whatever...

Not especially looking to do any snorkeling or diving, or any other water activities really, other than swimming, and like I say would prefer something quieter and less developed even at the cost of less places to choose from to eat and drink. Though would want to be able to have a beer on the beach, ideally. Though I imagine that's pretty easy to arrange at most places? Would also especially like to find beachfront accommodation that's not crazy expensive/luxurious, if that's possible.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions and please ask for clarification if that will help.

 

[Melburnian1]

My reply is almost a year later, but Moalboal is half a day's travel from the airport.

There's a modern aircon bus service that'll take passengers into the Cebu city centre and then it's a short walk or taxi to a bus terminal for frequent buses to Moalboal. You can enjoy a beer on or close to White Beach while Panagsama if I can spell it correctly has the famous 'sardine shoal' beloved of snorkellers.

There are also numerous waterfalls accessible by tricycle, the Filipino verion of a tuk-tuk. Gradually the latter seem to be replacing tricycles, especially in Metro Manila.

You could also go to Bantayan Island or Malapascua Island: each involves bus then ferry (bangka in the case of the latter).

 

[JackMiles]

Thanks, Melb1.

 

[Melburnian1]

Thanks, Melb1.

I omitted that traffic can be bad in Cebu City, so if anyone is going to Moalboal or Malapascua/Bantayan Islands, the earlier you start, the better, even though in the morning more vehicles will be travelling into Cebu City than out.

TripAdvisor is an excellent resource for hotels, activities ('things to do') and restaurants.

There's a new area being developed by Megaworld called Mactan Cebu that's close to the airport: as the name suggests, it's on Mactan Island that is linked to Cebu City by bridges.