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Language: English | 日本語
In July 2024, the four of us (my wife, me and our two elementary school kids) spent 5 nights and 6 days in Cebu. The grandparents did not come on this trip.
You may have seen people say Cebu is boring, or that they will never go back. Our answer: we want to go again.
But what we loved was the sea. The city and the food did not live up to our expectations.
Is Cebu worth visiting? Our family of four with two kids says: we would go again
| When | July 2024, 5 nights and 6 days |
|---|---|
| Who | A family of four (two parents, two elementary school kids) |
| Main costs | About JPY 390,000 for four. This covers hotels, flights and a chartered car (including tours). Meals and shopping in Cebu are extra. |
Where we stayed over 5 nights and 6 days
- Toyoko Inn Cebu
1 night - A hotel in Moalboal
1 night
Snorkeling with sardines and sea turtles - Whale sharks in Oslob
On to Sumilon Island
Then 2 nights at bai Hotel Cebu - Waterfront Airport Hotel
1 night
Flight home the next morning
Our honest take on the sea, the city and the food
- Loved: swimming with whale sharks, the sea at Moalboal and Sumilon Island, and the rooftop pool at bai Hotel, which we stayed at for a low price
- Did not suit us: kids coming up to cars at traffic lights to sell things, security checks at every entrance, and food that did not suit us unless we chose carefully
- Next time: we want to stay longer in Moalboal
Our itinerary and the cost breakdown are in our Cebu 5-night, 6-day travel diary (in Japanese).
What we loved in Cebu: the sea at Oslob and Moalboal
Oslob whale shark watching was the best part: a memory for life
On the morning of day 3, we took a chartered car from our hotel in Moalboal to Oslob and swam with whale sharks. The whole family went in the water, including our two elementary school kids.
If I had to pick the single best thing about Cebu, it would be this. It became a memory for life, for the kids and for us.
Oslob is known for easy sightings because local fishermen scatter plankton for the whale sharks every morning. We were also told that this feeding is controversial, and we were given strict rules, such as no touching and no flash photography. We kept nature in mind and were grateful for the experience.
The sea at Sumilon Island was beautiful
After the whale sharks, the same tour took us over to Sumilon Island. The sea was beautiful.
One night in Moalboal was not enough
On day 2 we stayed one night in Moalboal. We stopped at Mantayupan Falls, then ate Jollibee on the beach and played in the sea.
We saw the huge school of sardines not from a boat, but by walking into the sea from the beach.
After 3 p.m., a sea turtle was swimming there. The kids spotted it too, and we took photos with it.
Next time, a longer stay
We left for Oslob early the next morning, so we had only one night in Moalboal. Honestly, we wanted more time there.
How we swam with the whale sharks and the Moalboal sardine run are covered in detail in the activities section of our Cebu 5-night, 6-day travel diary (in Japanese).
Our city hotel: about JPY 26,200 for four for 2 nights, with a beautiful rooftop pool
In the city, we stayed 2 nights at bai Hotel Cebu. We enjoyed its clean, well-kept facilities, including the rooftop pool. The star rating is shown as 5 stars on Agoda and 4 stars on the hotel’s official website.
| Guests and rooms | Family of four, 1 room |
|---|---|
| Nights and meals | 2 nights, no breakfast |
| Room cost | About JPY 26,200 (four people, 2 nights) |
The details of the room, pool and food are in our bai Hotel Cebu review (in Japanese).
Check availability and prices at bai Hotel Cebu
We booked on Rakuten Travel (Japan). You can compare prices on Agoda and Expedia.
Affiliate links.
Is Cebu safe? Kids selling at traffic lights, and security at every entrance
It felt fairly safe. Even so, there were many moments when it felt different from Japan.
Kids selling things to cars at traffic lights
When a car stops, kids come up to it. They were going around selling towels that looked like cleaning rags. We felt how hard their circumstances were.
If I had to name one thing about Cebu that did not sit well with us, it would be this.
Security at hotel, mall and airport entrances
Hotels and shopping malls had security guards and security checks at the entrance. At the airport, we also saw what looked like armed security guards.
Inside, we felt safe, but it also made us feel that outside was a place where we needed to be careful.
Walking outside with kids
We told the kids that outside was not safe, and never let them go to the restroom alone.
We did walk to the nearby mall at night, but we mostly got around by taxi.
The hotel’s vehicle checks and how we got around at night are covered in detail in the Cebu safety section of our bai Hotel Cebu review (in Japanese).
Is the food in Cebu bad? The cheap, tasty one was Inasal
Unless we chose carefully, some of the food did not suit us. We did not find many places that were both cheap and good.
| Place and dish | Taste and price |
|---|---|
| Mang INASAL chicken | Charcoal-grilled and fragrant, very tasty. I think it was about JPY 500 a meal. |
| Jollibee spaghetti | The noodles were soggy; not really to our taste. |
| Italian in Moalboal | Very tasty. But the price was not much different from Japan. |
BO’S COFFEE served really good coffee. At the mall, we also had smoothies at ZESTFUL LEMON.
CHOOBI CHOOBI in Parkmall was about JPY 2,000 per person. It was full of locals, and the food was good.
Our impression: there are good places, but they are not cheap.
Supermarket prices (juice, cup noodles, dried mango) are in the Cebu prices section of our Cebu travel diary (in Japanese).
Cebu with kids: what went wrong, and why we spent day 4 at the hotel
On the night of day 3, after we got back from the whale sharks, our son came down with a fever.
We asked at the bai Hotel clinic and were given a fever reducer and a probiotic for his stomach.
We had been thinking about island hopping on day 4, but we had not booked it yet, so we simply spent the day at the hotel. Our son was fine again by the end of the day.
We also asked our travel insurance helpline to look for a hospital with Japanese-speaking staff. How we consulted the clinic and the rest are in the section on our child’s fever in our bai Hotel Cebu review (in Japanese).
Never going back to Cebu? Next time we want a longer stay in Moalboal
We do not think “never again.” Next time, we want to stay longer in Moalboal and spend more time in the sea.
With an early-morning flight home, the hotel next to the airport was the right call
Our flight home was early in the morning, so for the last night we stayed right next to the airport, at Waterfront Airport Hotel, within walking distance.
| Guests and nights | Family of four, 1 night |
|---|---|
| Room cost | JPY 18,900 (four people, 1 night) |
At night there were no other guests at the pool, so we had it to ourselves. The kids got to play as much as they wanted until the very end. In the morning we had plenty of time too, which was great.
A suitcase damaged on the flight home
On our Philippine Airlines flight home, a suitcase came back damaged. The repair story is in our article comparing Samsonite and RIMOWA (in Japanese).
Summary: Cebu is not boring if you go for the sea
For us, Cebu was a trip centered on the whale sharks and the sea at Moalboal. The sea was good enough that we want to go back; the city and the food did not live up to our expectations.
The kids selling things at traffic lights and the security at every entrance stayed with us. We went with the kids to the restroom and mostly used taxis to get around.
Looking for a hotel in Cebu City?
We stayed 2 nights at bai Hotel Cebu (booked on Rakuten Travel, Japan).
Affiliate links.
More to read
- Cebu with kids: our family-of-four 5-night, 6-day itinerary and costs (in Japanese)
- bai Hotel Cebu review: the pool with kids, safety, medical help and prices (in Japanese)
- Overseas trips for grandparents and grandchildren compared: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cebu and Guam (in Japanese)
- mikizin in English: all English pages