ACCOMMODATIONS 1. Unless you can afford to stay at Shangri-la Mactan or Plantation Bay (which charge a minimum of P8K/night!) or go to the really nice but far beaches like Malapascua or Bantayan, you're better off staying at the city. The beaches in Mactan, after all, are just a 30-minute cab ride away. There is Marriott (around P4K/night) which is in the Central Business District and is adjacent to Ayala Center Cebu. This is where I stay when I'm on a business trip. If you are on a budget, there are a lot of pension inns / business hotels in Cebu City. I recommend Castle Peak Hotel along F. Cabahug which is just a 5-minute ride from Ayala Center. Even with the super-peak rates of Sinulog festival, they only charged P1110 net per room per night. ... read more

Finally found the time to do the blog for this trip! This was the first packaged / guided trip I’ve gone to - it was a Camiguin - Cagayan de Oro combi. As it was an arranged trip, I don’t know much about the logistics but can pretty much remember the places we’ve gone to. Going to Camiguin, we took the PAL flight to Cagayan de Oro. After a quick breakfast at the city, a private van took us to the Misamis Oriental sea port (travel time: 1.5-2 hours) where we caught the barge to Camiguin (travel time: 1.5 hours). In Camiguin, we were picked up by another private van and proceeded to Bahay-Bakasyunan resort. It was a pretty neat place and the food was great :) Camiguin, the island of the seven volcanoes, has only ... read more