10 days trip to Cebu and surrounding, trekking, snorkling, homestay. any su
Replies: 36 - Last Post: Jul 16, 2012 7:15 PM Last Post By: sibbick1
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10 days trip to Cebu and surrounding, trekking, snorkling, homestay. any su
Hey there,so me and my gf are comming to the Phlipppines and will fly into Cebu on August 20th and leave the 31st. So we have app. 10 days. We know its not too much, but enough too see a little bit. We travel on budget so looking for backpackers/hostels and if possible a little hut on some beach. Any suggestions for a 3/4 day trekking trip? We would like to get to know the placces, that are not packed with tourists. So to get to kno the philippine life we thought of a homestay. should we try to organize this beforehand or right on spot when we get there after staying in a hostel and meeting eople? After the trekking a little snorkling and beaches would be nice, too.
Is it easy to go to Bohol from Cebu and is the time enough?
We'r open for any suggestions and tips. So thanks in advance! :)
Ben
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http://philippineshomestay.com/ << for homestay4
3 or 4 companies operate ferries between cebu city & tagbilaran, bohol. there is usually at least one ferry from one of the companies departing each hour between about 6 am & 6 pm. during peak times services are more frequent5
try malapascua.. a small island about 4 hours north of Cebu City. The locals are incredible and will make you feel right at home. They have decent diving/snorkelling and lots of cheap restaurants/guesthouses. we loved Malapascua and it ended up being our fave spot in Philippines (we never went to Bohol though)6
In my opinion, Malapascua is what you are seeking.Here is budget accommodation on Malapascua.
http://www.whitesand.dk/english.html
You can see a video of White Sand Bungalows and get other Malapascua information in my trip report
http://bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com/blog/?p=29
There is a whole flotilla of boats travelling between Cebu City and Bohol. If you want a more adventurous and cheap option to the fast ferries, travel to Tubigon on a slow ferry for P150
http://www.lite-shipping.com/rates.php
,
Regards: Jim
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Malapascua is a good option, but check the weather first! Only way to cross is by small banca and you dont want to be in one of those when it gets too rough!8
'3/4 day trekking trip' is like Nepal. Not so much of that kind of thing in the Philippines, although I suppose if you wanted to, you could walk to Argao from Cebu city to get the ferry to Bohol from there, to Loon. That would probably take three days.the Visayas is a bit short of walking trips. There was this Leyte Mountain Trail thing, that used to be mentioned in the Philippines Lonely Planet Guide but that never really got going because the authorities were never willing to give it their full support because they were apprehensive walkers might come across NPA.
you might want to think about Camiguin. At least there's a full day Hibok Hibok volcano walk there and I'm sure you could get a homestay there.
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Only way to cross is by small banca and you dont want to be in one of those when it gets too roughThe bangkas require coast guard approval before departure so this should not be a problem. What it will mean though is you could be stuck on Malapascua for a few days.
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Regards: Jim
10
. . . . which means on a 10 day trip, they could miss their flight. And there's no other way out of there. Like Bantayan now, there's no way to get off Malapascua by plane, unlike Camiguin because no matter what swell comes up on the Bohol sea, that Midseaexpress aircraft will still leave for Cebu, three times a week.11
Hey guys, thanks for al lthe advice. I think we'll go from cebu to bohol then.Malapascua sounds really great, but i think with only ten days its a little to risky, if we get stuck there, because we will leave cebu with tigerairways to singapore on the 31st and same days our int. flight to germany leaves, so we dont wanna miss this one. :)the trekking is not a must, but would be nice. so i think we'll go to bohol, do some norkling, try to get a homestay via this site http://philippineshomestay.com/ and then see what we find there to do.
oh and any accomodation suggestion for bohol? preferably close to or at the beach.. :) and on budget, we heard of little hut u can rent.
but all of u think the weather at this time is ok when we go there?
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"but all of u think the weather at this time is ok when we go there?"August is right in the middle of the Southwest monson season, thats why the concern over ferry travel, if it was me I would wait until just before you travel and check the long range weather forecast online, if it looks fine then go to Malapascua first then over to Bohol. If not I would just hop on a bus to Moalboal, white sand beaches, snorkelling, trekking, waterfalls etc..
13
at any time of the year, never mind now, if you have a tight scheduele of the kind you have, which means getting a flight from Cebu to somewhere like Singapore or Hong Kong, and then a 'big' intercontinental connecting one after that, it should always be at the back of your mind that something just might go wrong with the weather to mess you up. Same goes with Thailand. I know somebody who was on one of the Ko Chang islands once and they missed a flight back to Europe because this swell came up, and all the boats were cancelled for a couple of days, leaving them stranded.14
but all of u think the weather at this time is ok when we go thereNo one can tell you what weather you will encounter during your 10 days in August. There may be a typhoon, it may pour down with rain for days. There may be no rain at all during the whole 10 days. However, the most likely weather you will encounter is rain for a short time each day and fine for the rest.
In case you do have bad weather and get delayed some where, it will be best to go to Malapascua first then make sure your last night is in Cebu City. Never ever trust a boat to get you to a plane on time.
Here is cheap accommodation on Bohol
http://hopehomes-danao.com/
10 minutes walk to the beach. Rooms from P650 per night. The room price includes free use of a motor scooter.
Regards: Jim
