Off The Beaten Path In Cebu

[afathertobe]

 

I have recently toured a good part of the island and had a great time. Ignore the 5 hours 53 minutes... it's a lot, lot more regardless how fast you drive.

 

 

I'd recommend:

- the South: starting about an hour outside of Cebu city there are great little villages and towns all along the coast right until Moalboal. Once past Car-Car it's a great ride.

 

ok:

- From Moalboal you continue North to Dumanjug and onwards, where you go inland and don't follow the coast. Everything North of that patch is nice enough but not nearly as scenic as the South

 

not recommended:

- Toledo City until the North of Cebu was quite busy, dusty and industrial, with lots of mining workers on bikes. Wouldn't do that again.

 

We did not go to the very North of the island, so cannot comment on that.

This sounds like it would have been a really fun trip. Did you rent a car or take buses?

 

Moalboal sounds like a must see and I am being told that Balamban (while not a tourist destination) might be a great place for livability in my dotage.

 

 

We rented one of those 125cc semi-automatic scooters for 500php per day. Highly recommended, relaxed driving outside of Cebu, apart from the occasional long-distance buses that speed past I would even recommend it to less experienced riders.

 

I wouldn't call Moalboal a must see, it's just a nice little town near the beach (there is the local town at the main road a bit inland and the tourist/divers spot some 5km away at the beach, though there are several beaches) It really is quite small if you have been to any Thai beach resorts, even in more remote islands.

[RBM]

Moalboal is looking real nice these days with a new mall ,ATMs,Mcdonalds,7-11 and a ton of good resto bars

Most likely the biggest draw back to Moalboal is the lack of a real hospital they have a small hospital in Badian a few minutes away that could patch up a small wound or help if you are sick but no real emergency care . Anything serious you are a 1.5 hour ambulance ride to Cebu  Maybe 1 hour to South General Hospital depending on the ambulance driver .

Yes traffic around Manginillia can be a pain. Have heard some mixed reports about South Gen Hospital, maybe something for the OP to check into.

Long time since stayed Moaboal as just a tad touristy for me. Found the vendors and touts a little much but hopefully been tidied up now.

Considering staying there in a couple of weeks, at the risk of going off topic perhaps somebody could recommend a place, around P1200. No need close to beach.

[cebu rocks]

Considering staying there in a couple of weeks, at the risk of going off topic perhaps somebody could recommend a place, around P1200. No need close to beach

Sunshine pension house 800 a night fan only but a ceiling fan that will blow the sheets off and the best pool in town IMO  . The owner Aida is a sweet lady bring your own drinks etc to the pool 

Loves dive resort really nice court yard around 1200 with air con  nice pool  ocean side .

and about 20 other places that are decent if it low season great rates can be had 

[Jake]

Hey guys,

 

Thank you for a great geography lesson about the western coast of Cebu.  I can remember Mike S describing his trip

on one of those mountain roads crossing the island to Toledo?  I can see other mountain road connections.  How are

they like?  Do you need a 4X4, especially during monsoon season?  Any issues with police or military check points?  

 

 

Thank you guys for another boots on the ground report about western and northern Cebu.  That northern island of

Bantayan looks like Boracay but more native and very virgin (pristine)......

Thank you Horn Dog Dave! 

Edited October 11, 2014 by Jake
spil chek

[afathertobe]

Hey guys,

 

Thank you for a great geography lesson about the western coast of Cebu.  I can remember Mike S describing his trip

on one of those mountain roads crossing the island to Toledo?  I can see other mountain road connections.  How are

they like?  Do you need a 4X4, especially during monsoon season?  Any issues with police or military check points?  

 

The trip I posted is only part of what we did on our bikes, just the main cities. We did cross the island twice, once by accident from the West coast to Car-Car city, and then .... oh, just checking the map we rode a lot further North than I remembered, we crossed from Tabuelan to Sogod, and then rode South, so we did actually almost cover the island. Nice enough ride over the mountains, though I wouldn't say that it beats the coastal ride in the South.

 

Certainly no 4x4 needed, normal single lane roads everywhere, don't remember a single bad stretch.