Just one night in Mactan Island, Cebu

Cebu is a great place to visit if you are already in the region and you want to experience some of the natural beauty of the Philippines. I would not necessarily go to the Philippines to only see Cebu, but it truly is lovely and a great addition to any trip.

Getting There: It is very easy to take a puddle jumper from Manila to Mactan Cebu (CEB) airport via on airlines such as Swift Air. The Shang ri'la Mactan Cebu resort offers shuttle service to the hotel.

You have to be careful where you to go when in Cebu, as the area has had terrorist activity over the past few years. I would not go out at night outside of the hotel grounds, unless you are with a tour guide or a local that knows where to go and where not to go.

Rest Your Body:

We stayed at the Shang ri'la Mactan Cebu Resort. It's a large, multi-restaurant and pool, resort right on a beautiful beach. Rooms are spacious, clean and relatively new. The staff is attentive and helpful. The gym is well appointed and the spa is complimentary (whirlpool, sauna, steam room and showers).

Downfalls of the hotel: there were a TON of kids there so if you're looking for a quiet retreat, look elsewhere. The hotel charged us a rental fee to borrow hotels for our day trip, which is a bit tacky. The spa was also outrageously priced. We saw massages available outside of the hotel for $5/hour but inside the hotel they were approximately 5,000PHP or $125/hour.

Reminder: service charge and taxes are included in your bill so no need to tip extra (unless you want to).

Culinary Delights:

The food is quite good at Shang ri'la Mactan Cebu, especially the massive breakfast they serve, which is included in the room rate. The buffet includes multiple stations around a giant space, including Asian and American breakfast specialties. It also includes a juice bar, fresh fruit, cereals, and omelette stations.

Adventure:

We took a day tour (3 hours each way) down to Oslob with KR Tours (krtraveltours@gmail.com/ krtravelandtours.com). It's a long drive, but worth it. KR Tours is fantastic! The website looks a bit deceiving, but it's legitimate and the service is fantastic. You can pay with Paypal and they will incur the service fee. They respond to emails quickly and arrive promptly. Our guide was Jeffrey and he was fabulous! We went swimming with the whale sharks off the coast of Oslob. Then we were dropped off about a 5 minute hike into Tumalog Falls, which are also a must see!

When back at the hotel, enjoy the beach, snorkeling, and open gym!

Hidden Gems and Not to Be Missed: KR Tours visit to snorkel with the whale sharks, Tumalog Falls

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