‘Do Go Chasing Waterfalls...’

With one week to explore the island of Cebu, we had hoped to take in most of the beauty and attractions then pop over to the neighboring Bohol.

As circumstances would have it, we ended up spending 5 uneventful days in Cebu City hanging out by the hospital, and were only left with a couple of days to enjoy at the end. The highlight of our time there was having excellent coffee and being able to stomach a Western meal once every couple of days. After 2 weeks of food poisoning, we had lost around 5kg each and came to the conclusion that we probably couldn’t continue coping with the symptoms. Our fun adventure filled holiday needed to take a little rest! Our expectations of medical care and facilities in a developing country were exceeded, and we found the experience to be very efficient and had a brilliant doctor filled with advice and help. With fees of only 500pesos (10USD) per appointment for foreigners and locals alike, it does make you question the cost and systems of healthcare in the ‘developed’ countries (USA…).

We only had a few days left to explore and once we could stomach a meal and a bus ride again, we decided to base ourselves in one central location by the sea to make the most of this great island!

Bus travel on Cebu was so much more efficient and enjoyable than any of our other transport on the journey so far. The only complaint was that the air conditioned bus was too cold !!

We stumbled upon Bamboo Beachhouse through booking.com, located just south of a relatively local town called Malabuyoc, and stayed in a beautiful beach hut there for 3 nights. Bamboo Beachhouse was amazing and we highly recommend it as a simple, relaxing place to stay. The staff were so helpful, food was great and the whole stay including food came out at less than US$50 for the two of us.

Luke loves jumping off things and being in the water, so what better way to do that than go canyoneering. Jel hates jumping off things and took a little encouraging to think it was a good idea. Alegria is home to an amazing canyon filled with waterfalls and it is conveniently only 1/10th of the cost of canyoneering in New Zealand! One of the most expensive activities in the Philippines at US$30p/p, we were impressed with the legit safety setup with briefings, lifejacket, helmets and the greatest guides!

Safe to say, Luke was in his element and had an awesome time with our new Aussie friend Lemo, jumping of every rock possible, sliding through waterfalls and climbing the steep rockface. Jelley surprised herself and once she got over a mental block of jumping off waterfalls (possibly suffering PTSD from bungee jumping a few years ago, cheers Chelsea), was able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and adrenilan rush of pushing boudaries. We would really recommend canyoneering if you ever have the opportunity to travel to Cebu, just make sure you’re with a registered company and you’ll have an amazing time! Apparently you don’t even need to know how to swim to complete it, but we wouldn’t take that for granted.

After a great local lunch, we travelled a little further north to check out the popular Kawasan Falls. We had heard on the weekends, the falls can attract up to 2000 people at once and it is a popular local watering hole (no hands) with the locals. We were grateful to be there on a weekday and only have a few hundred others to share the experience with. It is a refreshing spot to swim and hang out, and a great way to relax after an adventurous day!

On our second day based in Malabuyoc, we hired a motorbike and set out in search of waterfalls again! The first falls we stumbled across were Kabutongan Falls, a 4 level waterfall with jumps along the way. We didn’t really know what was going on, but had 3 locals come along to guide the way, climbing steep cliffs around the river, wading through and Luke continuing on to jump off the highest level. It was a little more physically demanding than we needed on a hot day, but a cool experience and it was crazy to think we had the place all to ourselves!

We continued along the road to Inambakan Falls, another stellar find. It was even more beautiful than Kawasan Falls, and there was only one family there when we arrived! Just 30km south from Kawasan and the tourist hubs, Inambakan isn’t too far off the beaten track and definitely a great find.

We had arranged to take a local fisherman’s boat out to a sand bar off the coast of neighboring Negros at high tide, and hoped to do some dolphin watching along the way so we rushed back to Bamboo Beahhouse. The weather wasn’t in our favor, with too much wind for the small boat, and we had to give it a miss. Instead, we motored north to the well known town of Moalboal to see what all of the fuss was about.

Every traveller aims to have #noregrets, and we are no different! However, with 5 days lost, there were a couple of regrets in missing out on adventures while on Cebu, and it is a place we would love to come back to! We spent a the afternoon exploring MoalBoal, and while it is a tourist hub, the surrounding marine reserve is really a diver’s mecca, and the vibe of the town was completely different than a usual tourist hub.

Super relaxed, with a hint of a pumping nightlife, this town is a place we would have loved to spend a few days, and have a go at diving. The area is famous for diving with massive schools of sardines, and it is an ideal place to learn, with the main reef just metres off the coast meaning more time in the water! With a beer over sunset on our last night in the Philippines, we noted this as our one regret and a place we would love to return to in the future.

Moalboal ended up being further away than expected and we realized it would be a bike ride back in the dark, but we didn’t count on the monsoon thunderstorm that hit halfway back. It was a slow slog, stopping in every second town for shelter and a break in the rain. Arriving late and soaked to the core back at Bamboo Beachhouse, we were very keen for dry clothes and an early night before our 4:30am bus ride to the airport in the morning.

Cebu Airport was inefficient as always, with the terminal fee here being 750 pesos pp ($15 each), but eventually our delayed flight took off and we had a mix of emotions. Sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country with so many corners left unexplored, and a little stoked to be heading back towards the developed world, family and drinking water from the tap.

We’ve just made it to Kuching, Borneo, but had an amazing 5 days in Singapore with a couple more Jelleys and we can’t wait to share it with you soon! We’re currently trapped at a bar with great wifi and monsoon rain and won’t be moving anywhere quickly 😉

Until then,

A Kiwi & A Cali xoxo