Cebu: Finding home away from home

Being a homebody that I have always been, I’d really prefer a whole weekend escapade of sleeping and bumming in my room, watching Netflix while having a box of my favorite pizza. I used to hate spending my little time on the weekend outside the house, thinking it’d only tire me. So when I say that ‘I enjoyed my weekend in Cebu,’ that means I enjoyed my weekend in Cebu.

Yup! I just spent my weekend in Cebu – which is 570 kilometers away from home. And as much as I want to regret it for sacrificing a whole day of rest, I just couldn’t because the moment I got there, everything didn’t matter anymore.

After (almost) four hours of travel from the city, we finally reached our destination – Oslob. It was a very long ride but nevertheless, the view outside your window is just breathtaking. And just imagine the sun rising before the alluring sea. Just spectacular! What seemed to be an unending road between land and sea, and an edge of a mountain was in fact already the edge of Cebu.

Considering how much of a homebody I am, when we reached Oslob Whale Shark Watching, it actually surprised me that majority of the tourists visiting the place were foreigners, mostly Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese.

On arrival, you’d have to register yourself or your group on the front desk first. Before proceeding to the activities, the organization gives a short orientation first. Considering the wide-range visits from different foreigners, they have people discussing the rules and pointers in different languages as well.

There are two variations of the activities you can choose from: one is just whale shark watching, where you’ll just stay on the boat and watch the sharks, and the other one is snorkeling with whale shark where you’ll swim with the whale sharks. Both activities are provided with life vests.

On the boat, we were joined by Korean, Chinese, and Japanese tourists who were evidently excited and even jumped off the boat first, seeing those adorable whale sharks. The whale shark watching from the boat was already exciting, but going down the water and swimming with them and getting much closer to them was a lot more thrilling. The guides were comforting and encouraging enough to dismiss the hidden fear inside you so you could enjoy watching with the whale sharks more. With the snorkel provided to each participant, you can swim underwater and see the whale sharks as if you’re playing with them.

On my first minutes under water, I couldn’t spot any sharks nearby. One of the guides told me to go deeper so I could see other water animals if not the whale sharks – only to find one peacefully swimming under me. Fear was there, but the beauty of the creature underneath me was too calming. Also, aside from the whale sharks, there were also other fishes swimming around. It felt like just watching the Disney movie ‘Finding Nemo’ except in 4D.

The whale shark experience only lasts thirty minutes. Also, it is only open from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – which I think is good for the whale sharks to have the whole sea on their own and without the visitors.

On our next stop, we took a few-minute drive from the Oslob Whale Shark Watching to get to the boat that will bring us to the paradise of Bluewater Sumilon Island. The clear turquoise color of the water from the mainland, to the dark blue shade of the middle part of the sea, to the lighter blue, to the clear color of the seashore – these were soothing to the eyes of anyone.

The white sand from the sandbar also compliments the different shades of blue of the sea, which makes it more majestic than ever. No one would say no to the charm of Bluewater Sumilon Island.

Oslob Whale Shark Watching and Bluewater Sumilon Island were mesmerizing enough for us to forget about our stomachs.

After drowning ourselves from our experience in the two islands, we stopped by this restaurant by the beach called ‘Cruz Phillips Beach Resort.’ It’s an outdoor restaurant with a good view of the sea at the edge of the place. Customers can also go down the beach to sunbathe or play with the waves as they wait for their orders. Also, there’s a bar where you can order your favorite cocktail or alcohol drink.

The next and final stop, which was the Kawasan Falls, was perfect after the heavy lunch. The walk from the entrance of the place to the actual falls was enough to burn all the foods you’ve stuffed in your tummy.

The Kawasan Falls also offers a package of activities you can do with your friends – which is called the ‘Canyoneering.’ It is a combination of the different extreme water sports you could do in Kawasan Falls.

But for me, I don’t think I was brave enough to do these things so I just enjoyed the beauty of the falls in my life vest as the waves bring me to different parts of the area. The water from the falls was cold, but not cold enough to freeze you as you swim. There was also a balsa at the end of the river, where tourists can go down to take pictures with the dripping water as the background.

Soon, the sun was setting and we had to call it a day. We had to go back to the city.

I am extremely saddened that I only had a weekend to enjoy those gems down the South. I was really teary-eyed as the plane took off from the land of the Queen City of South. And as it landed to Manila, I almost didn’t want to get out of the plane. But I had to go back to the metro, not to become a homebody again, but to save up for next time.