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| Oslob |
Cebu again! I guess we're not done exploring Cebu just yet....
This time, we pick a spot from North and South to explore and do some chillin'...
Me and Labsy were in Dapitan last July 2014 and after my assignment there, we scheduled a side trip in Cebu before heading back home to Davao. So... after our
Dapitan sweet escape, we flew to Cebu on a Thursday late afternoon and stayed for the weekend.
Here are our stopovers:
1. Crown Regency Hotel & Towers
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| Crown Regency Hotel & Towers |
- Crow Regency Hotel & Towers (
http://www.crownregencyhotelandtowers.com/) is probably our favourite home away from home when in Cebu. We are members of Club Ultima, so we got to use our prepaid vouchers during our stay. I'd say it's still expensive for our budget-travel-weekend, but, we've already paid for this, so why waste it?
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| Crown Regency Hotel & Towers |
The hotel's service is great, although sometimes, I couldn't say the same with Club Ultima. Unfortunately, we've already spent some hard earned money and continually paying for the annual fee, so, there is no turning back. So for those who are thinking of becoming a member, think of your priorities, I wouldn't say there are no perks, but, as we are called VIPs as members, sometimes, I don't see that happening.
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| Crown Regency Hotel & Towers |
Anyway, as they say, make good of what you have, so while we love the comfort of the hotel where we were, we let the luxury it offers spoil us. As always, we love the water massages at their pool and we also spent a few minutes with their 6D movie theater.
http://www.skyexperienceadventure.com/
2. Port Restaurant (Cebu's Best Buffet)
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| Port |
- We met with cousins Ate Nila and Kuya Andy and they took us for a superb dinner and late night hang out at Port Restaurant located at the Waterfront Hotel (
http://www.port.ph/). One of the things to love about Port, is that they don't stop on dinner. Why? Because from 9:00 PM, it's late night snack buffet with ear worthy songs from their live band. And yes, beers and other drinks are available! Place was cool to hang out with friends and family who wants to have quality time while havin' a bar-like-family-pica-pica session...
3. Swimming with the Whales (South Bound)
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| Oslob |
- Our next morning (Friday) started early with a South bound trip to Oslob. Good thing we arrived before 12:00NN because they will only cater trips to the whales until 12:00NN, so the whales can have a relaxing, tourist-free afternoon. Don't worry where to ask the bus to pull-over, just tell the conductor or the driver that you are going to swim with the whales and they will drop you off to the resorts along the road, and the resort personnel with take care of you.
We paid Php500.00 each to swim with the whales, which include free use of the snorkeling gears.
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| Oslob |
We were a bit hesitant to jump overboard but once we did, we couldn't get enough of our killer whale encounter. We had mix emotions. We were overwhelmed with the experience, felt lucky that the encounter was more enjoyable than risky/unsafe and very thankful to our God for granting this awesome moment in our lives.
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| Oslob |
It was the best Cebu experience of my life! And I won't mind going back if there's ever a chance that I could. So if you are in doubt and asking yourself if it's worth your time and money? Doubt no more, get ready for a great fun, new adventure and memory worthy experience in your lifetime.
4. Rico's Lechon (Cebu's Best)
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| Rico's Lechon |
- It's not Cebu if there aren't no lechon! So after a good swim and an 8-hour-travel (to and fro Oslob), we just have to get a taste of the famous Rico's Lechon. So we grab a cab from our hotel and off we went to Rico's Lechon and had a cholesterol-full-cheat-night dinner.
5. Bantayan Island here we come! (North Bound)
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| Anika Island Resort |
- After our breakfast on Saturday, we went straight for our North Bound getaway. We went to the North Bound bus station and took a ride bound to Hagnaya Port for four (4) hours. Then we purchased 2 tickets at Hagnaya Port terminal and hop to the 1:30 PM ferry ride to Sta. Fe Port. We booked a room at Anika Resort earlier, so they were our ride from Sta. Fe Port to the resort.
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| Anika Island Resort |
We arrived at around 4:00 PM at the resort, and it was drizzling, so we stayed in the resort and just feast on the beautiful beach and luscious food they served. We stroll along the shore, took a dip in the water, had some pics taken and retired for the night at a newly container van-converted-room of the resort.
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| Virgin Island Resort |
The next morning, we chartered a boat for Php700.00 to get us to 2 islands we could hop to. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative at that time, so we only went to one of them, Virgin Island.
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| Virgin Island Resort |
We paid Php100.00 each as entrance to the resort and just stayed there for about 30 minutes, because the clouds and the water coming down from it seemed to push us away. :( The beach at Bantayan Island was not that inviting for my taste, but the shore at Virgin Island teases me like El Nido's :) . I loved my 30-minute-swim/bonding with the waters.
NOTES to PONDER:
If you'll ask me what we should and should not have done? We could have went straight to Oslob on our first day and stayed there overnight to get the first swim-with-the-whale schedule and next day. Then we could have forgone the Bantayan adventure and continued to explore South and went to Sumilon Island instead and perhaps do the Glamping (Glamorous Camping) at Blue Waters Cebu.
But, with that in mind, it makes me want to make another trip to Cebu for a different itinerary. Which always bring hope, excitement and reason to look forward for the future. Moving on, looking forward and creating great moments that lasts...
SUMMARY OF EXPENSES:
1. Crown Regency 2N3D - Charge to Club Ultima Membership (
Maybe I'll make one blog for this.), for rates and info, visit
http://www.crownregencyhotelandtowers.com/.
2. Port Restaurant Dinner/Drinks - Sponsored by Cousins; for info, visit
http://www.port.ph/
3. Oslob
- Bus (Php120 - 150)
- Swimming with the whales (Php500)
- Lunch (Php300 - Php400)
4. Rico's Lechon - Php400 - Php500 for dinner; Php100 - Php130 for the cab (to and fro restaurant - hotel).
5. Bantayan
- Bus (Php160 - Php200)
- Fast Craft (Php 170)
- Anika Island Resort - Php 2,000.00 for the room; Php 961.80 for food (dinner and breakfast).
- Chartered Boat - Php700
OTHER INFO.
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Anika Island Resort Rates
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| Whale Shark Watching Rate |
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