6 days in Cebu Mid February.

you have not got much time, at all. To incorporate the Whalesharks with Bohol you need to head down towards Oslob IMMEADIATELY - as soon as you arrive at Cebu airport, no matter what time of day or night it is. Do not on any account spend even one night in Cebu city. There is no reason to. You'll struggle to even get a decent meal. You might as well have a barbecue in a one-horse provincial town. The food isn't any better in the city than it is there.

do the Oslob whalesharks as early in the morning as you can preferably because if you do, then that means you can get the most convenient ferry, from the port of Taloot north of Argao, which leaves for Tagbilaran every day at 12 noon. The port is 70km north of Oslob, it is backtracking, but you don't have to go all the way back to Cebu city to get a boat to Tagbilaran. It takes 2.5 hours.

$60 day would normally be an ample budget even in Panglao/Alona, not one of the very cheapest places. But because you are so short of time, you will have to consider buying tours, these will cost about $60 just for the day tours.

oh and by the way - it is a good job you are not interested in temples. Unlik the other SEAsian countries, there are not so many Chinese people and Buddhists in the Philippines.

maybe I overstressed it a bit with the Cebu city food. There is some good caranderias but not nearly as many as there should be. Food scene in Alona is not bad, they were heavily discounting the all-you-can-eat type buffets last time I was there. But nobody goes to the Philippines expecting much in the way of culinary delights. Unless you are half-starving to death, Filipino food only seems pretty good when you get used to it, and that can take a while.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.