Mantayupan Falls: Nature's Gift

If you're tired of the hectic city-life, and wants to unwind for a day, you can go for a 2-hour drive south of Cebu, in a quiet town of Barili, and there you can find solace in one of nature's gift - Mantayupan Falls.

Unlike the more popular Kawasan Falls, where you have to do a half-hour trek to get to the top, Mantayupan Falls only requires a five-minute walk, and voila! You will be greeted by the sound of gushing waters.

Entrance to the falls is only PhP10.00, and there are tables and chairs that you can rent for PhP160.00. If you require additional chairs on top of the 6 that came with the tables, you only have to add PhP5.00 each. A truly inexpensive way to relax and unwind.

P.S.  Many thanks to my dear husband for the photos.

'Round South Cebu Adventure

When we went to Oslob the first time, we were there for only a couple of hours since there wasn't much to do. We haven't planned our trip properly as it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, thus we headed back to the city right away. Although we had fun with the whale sharks, we realized it was wasted trip (and wasted gas) as we could have done more stuff if only we planned ahead.

When plans of going back to the whale sharks started brewing up, we decided to make the most out of it. We decided we are going to drive round south of Cebu and spend the night in Moalboal to snorkel. And fun we did have!

We left the city at around 5am. We had a few stops, first in Jollibee Carcar for breakfast, then we crossed to the other side to buy the famous Carcar lechon and chicharon. We also bought some fresh fruits. We arrived in Oslob at 8:30, and we were immediately accommodated to swim with the whale sharks. After that, we hung around for a couple of hours, hoping for some of our office mates to catch up with us, but it turned out that they left the city too late.  

no, we didn't buy the whole lechon, just a couple of kilos

By noon, we decided to drive further, and rounded the southernmost part of Cebu until we ended up on the eastern part of the island. We had fun looking through the picturesque view of the sea meeting the mountains. I am constantly amaze of how much beauty our beloved island has to offer.

We stopped at Moalboal, and had a couple of drink by that cottage you see right in the picture below. They had the nicest waitress I've ever met. She advised us to try going to Pescador Island as the corals there are so much nicer.

This is the resto where we had malibu and coke!

The beach in this side of town isn't that great but the marine life is awesome for snorkeling.

marine life in Panagsama Beach, Moalboal

We had a hard time getting a room as most of the rooms were fully booked. But we managed to find a couple of rooms in one inexpensive resort, and one nice room in another posh resort. So me and my companions had to split for the night. 

The following morning, we engaged the services of a boatman to take us to Pescador Island, where they say you are guaranteed to swim with turtles. The fee for the boat was PhP2,500. It was bit pricey for a short trip but I guess the area has been so commercialized and has been saturated with mostly foreigners, thus the dollar rate.

boat ride going to Pescador Island

The locals did not disappoint us. They weren't exaggerating when they said that Moalboal has indeed the best diving spots in Cebu. The corals are indeed very nice and alive. We didn't see turtles in Pescador Island, but when we moved to Tongo Point ( a marine sanctuary), we saw not just one, but four turtles! Unfortunately, our underwater camera's battery died on the way there so we weren't able to take pictures of the turtles.

blue fishes at Pescador Island

awesome coral reef at Tongo Point

Moalboal truly has so much beauty to offer. If you are not fond of exploring the underwater world, but would love to lounge under the sun on a soft, sandy beach, Bas-dako is the place for you. Here, the sands are white and the waters are crystal clear.

white, sandy beach of Bas-Dako

And yes, beautiful sunset, too!

fall in-love with this sunset!

It was totally a beautiful experience. We stopped at Milk Station in Barili on the way home to gorge on soft ice cream made from fresh cow's milk, ngo hiong and pizza, while we partied to the beat of M.C. Hammer's Vanilla Ice and You Can't Touch This. It was an awesome adventure!

Oslob, Cebu: Whale Shark Encounter

 The year 2011 was spent going around places, so I spent the last few days of the year in vacation, basically just sleeping, eating, and lounging around. I was scheduled to go back to work on the night of January 2, however, a travel opportunity beckoned, and my hubby's cousins prodded us to go to Oslob to swim with the whale sharks.

My hubby also had to work that Monday, but we thought, what the heck! What's another day? So off we went. It wasn't a hard feat, as my friends, Doi and Edcel who are travel bloggers, have already posted the details on how to get there.

We took a car to get there. What was originally a 3-hour drive became 2. This was made possible by the lack of  traffic at 4am, and my husband's excitement, making him press the gas pedal harder.

We got there at around 6am. You pay PhP100 as entrance fee, and there are picnic huts that you can rent for PhP400. I don't recommend renting one, if you don't really plan to stay  there for long. There's not much to do there anyway, after you've swam with the whale sharks. 

From the shoreline, you can already see the group of paddle boats who are feeding the whale sharks. The local fisher folks feed them with plankton or small shrimps. The fee for the paddle boat is PhP300 per person, and the viewing/swimming is good for 30 minutes.

The first time we went there (we went twice in one month), which was Jan. 2,  we got the motorized banca  that accommodated all 7 of us, plus 2 kids. We paid PhP450 each (kids were free) for a one-hour experience with the gentle giants.

The 2nd time was January 21, by that time, the government has stepped in, and imposed some regulations. Motorized bancas are no longer allowed since it caused a couple of accidents wounding 2 whale sharks. Because we had previous experience, we immediately went to the pick-up point and was accommodated right-away. It was only after we got off and inquired about where to pay that we were informed that payment should have been made at the orientation center (located few meters away), and that we wouldn't have been allowed to board the boat without the ticket (which should have been given upon payment, and after orientation). Good thing we were honest people, and asked where we could pay, since nobody ever approached us about payment. It was an honest mistake that saved us some hassles. =)

they're really huge!

 

and really tame!

they would even try to get near you

one of them nudged my butt! unfortunately, no one was quick enough to take a pic!

my cousins-in-law trying to get a better pose with the gentle giant