Boracay is not the only place that hogs all the attention during summertime. In fact, the unspoilt beauty of Cebu’s beaches are also beginning to gain popularity among holidaymakers and locals who need an escape to a true paradise of relaxation. Nowadays, Cebu is quite similar to Manila with its urbanized look and feel. However, it’s Cebu’s beaches and waterfront that dominate some of its best features.

An ideal destination in Cebu is Mactan Island – easily reached by a single plane ride from Manila and other major cities in the Philippines. Mactan Island has its own airport and it is connected to Cebu City via a short bridge. The island has its own share of resorts and accommodations where visitors can conveniently stay while having the benefit of being only a few steps away from the beach.

Other notable beaches in Cebu include the Barili Beaches which stands in Cebu’s southwestern coasts, around 61 kilometres from the city. Barili boasts white sand, hills, and lush greenery. Some of the best beaches of Barili are Sayaw and Candugay.

Next stop is Alcoy, another one of Cebu’s provincial municipalities that boasts white sand. Tingko beach is the most notable among its beaches due to its rock formation standing along the pristine coastal line. The beach is basically a lagoon stretching across the Mabad-on Reef just below a cliff, and its azure waters are inviting for a swim or a dive. The resort in Tingko is open to the public – just pay a very affordable entrance fee. Alternatively, there is the Bodo’s Bamboo Bar Resort that is elevated on plateau and overlooks the sea. Enjoy its cottages, jacuzzis, and pools.

A few people have asked me what the beaches are like in Cebu, afterall this is the centre of the Visayas. Most people pass through here and think it’s a nice place to relax for a few days. It is not. As far as Philippine cities go it’s fairly pleasant and manageable, certainly better than Manila, but it still quite big, full of traffic and urban. It’s on the coast but that’s about it, the waterfront is dominated by a harbour.

However there is Mactan island, on which the airport is located, and it’s connected to Cebu by a short bridge. About 10kms across this island is really just an extension of suburban Cebu and never had any beaches of its own. But it does have beach resorts, and they do attract well healed high paying guests but relative to the real beaches on other islands they are pretty pathetic.

In another blog entry I’ll detail my sorry experience with one of these resorts who wanted to charge me a 500 peso facility fee for using their beach, even though I was a paying guest at their restaurant, and the fact that beaches and water are public property in the Philippines.

Anyway, there are about a dozen resorts lining the water front, each private and restricting access to the water. Since the exisiting beach was not appealing they have created their own fake beaches with imported sand and coconut palms, the water is nice and clear and typically there will be jetskis and bancas there, but it is still a fake beach and it shows. Still, if you’re stuck in Cebu for  a few days then it’s not an unpleasant experience to lie by the pool and take a dip in the sea, but they are severely overpriced for the experience.

And if you’re a local, tough shit you can go and slum it on one of the ‘almost’ beaches elsewhere on the island.

Islands of paradise

Welcome to Asia’s best selection of tropical islands, the Visayas group in the Philippines. Experience the mouthwatering travel possibilities these numerous islands offer, from world class diving to stunning beaches, luxury resorts, friendly Filipino hospitality and endless coconut palms. We have the best of the Visayas covered here.

Plan your travels and update yourself on travel in the Visayas with this blog from an expert resident of Boracay and the Philippines. We plan to soon upgrade this into a full tourist info site with more than 100 pages and plenty of stunning pictures on the Visayas. Let us reveal the best of these islands.

From popular Boracay, across Panay and Negros to Bohol and Cebu we have the popular places covered. And then there’s the out of the way gems in Southern Leyte, the West coast islands of Samar, even the Romblons and sweet little Siquijor. Discover the individual flavours and highlights of each island right here.