Cebu Philippines Beak
We had a 6-night stay booked, and had planned to do some relaxing, diving and the possibility of swimming with whale sharks, even for just a short time.
We stayed at the Movenpick, a 5-star hotel on the land leading up through Mactan Island. The hotels all have a small safe beach, with easy access to shallow warm water.
After weighing up the options, we decided to take one of the offered tours to Oslob to see the whale sharks, little did we know the excursion had an early start, 4 am, for the long drive to Oslob. So, we were duly collected by a car and a guide, and started our long drive. Nothing much to see at that hour, the roads were very quiet. after almost 3 hours we arrived at Oslob, the scene was quite incredible, literally hundreds of tourists, forming lines to join a boat to either observe or swim with the whale sharks. The whole operation is well monitored by the local fisheries department. Boats were lining up to take people from shore, only a few metres to slightly deeper water, where the whale sharks were feeding.
We had paid for a swimming experience, and had barely left the shore when a very large noise and mouth broke the surface in front of our boat.
We slid silently and without fuss into the water. The boatmen were throwing clumps of plankton in front of the sharks, and they duly followed the food. After around 10 minutes we were asked to get back in the boat, to join the procession of boats further out from the shore. Luckily we were in a boat that took its place to the end of the line, and before long two juvenile sharks appeared, and fed directly from the boatmen. Again we slipped back into the water, and just snorkelled our way, navigating around the huge fish. We never felt in any danger either from the fish themselves or their large tail sweeping through the water. All too quickly we were herded back onto the boats to return to shore.
The whole experience was over in about an hour, it was one of the experiences that will stick with us for a long time.
I'd had friends who previously had visited Cebu to dive, they had really whetted our appetite,and the following day we had arranged to go on two dives from the local dive supplier annexed to the hotel. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated very rapidly in the afternoon, meaning we were just as wet out of the water as when we made our dive. The weather did not affect the diving, in fact probably enhanced it, the current and the stormy weather meant the abundant fish life were feeding. We saw many amazing fish types, of all colours, a sea snake made a rare appearance, and we gave it a wide berth, though it did, stop and give us the eye as we swam by.
All too soon we had to make our safety stop, and after 3 minutes made our way to the surface, though it hadn't felt like it, we actually had drifted a fair way, and had to wait for our dive boat to make its way over to us... The weather was still poor, raining heavily with strong winds, though. Thankfully, our second dive of the day was closer to shore, much closer to shore.
The dive boat returned to base and replenished the tanks, a few of the divers left at this point, leaving only the two of us to continue with the afternoon program. It was barely worth getting back onto the boat, as it took us just beyond the reef line. We descended into around 10 feet of water, and drifted down the reef. Again, the fish life was incredible, we saw a lone, large Barracuda swim effortlessly past, again giving it a wide berth, though not known to be dangerous, you always may come across one that hasn't read the book.
We were under for quite a while, a 50-minute dive, just taking in the coral, the fish, not knowing were to look next. All too soon we surfaced and made our way back to the hotel, primarily to get warm.
The rest of our time on Cebu, we took the hotel shuttle to the centre of Cebu to look around and to do some shopping. Taxis are very cheap, and a long ride back to the hotel barely cost £4 for the 40-minute ride.
There were very little local attractions outside the hotel, though a few bars and restaurants could be reached a short walk away, mostly frequented by locals, and it was good to visit and get a feel for the local life.
The hotel itself was very comfortable, the staff attentive and very helpful. We also had Executive Club privileges, which meant we could take breakfast, afternoon tea, drinks and canapés, it was well worth the small extra cost. The drinks alone more than making it good value.
All too quickly the six days ended, and we made our way back to the airport for the flight back to Hong Kong. We will probably revisit the Philippines, there are far too many islands to visit without going back to the same place! Manila is also worth a visit, only 2 hours flying time from Hong Kong, which makes it an ideal destination for a weekend break.