I've been hearing about Malapascua for years now, especially from diver friends. 2010 was the year we finally got the chance to go.
Plan A obviously was to
dive.
BUT of course we went into Plan B and C which was to just take an intro dive, and to snorkel.
Why? Because we're not licensed yet!
(The hubby & wifey dum dums took a full diving course with NAUI instructor Ron, finished the course, no check out dive / open water yet. Will get their license soon. Long story short. To make the long story longer... we STILL do not have our licenses yet because a. I got pregnant b. Then I had a miscarriage c. Then I recently got operated on .. which would take another few months to recover. Whew. )
Getting to Malapascua from Cebu City was pretty easy. We followed most of the tips we read online...
From SM Traveler's Lounge, we took a cab to the North Bus Terminal (because it was too damn hot to walk!).
The
North Bus Terminal or
NBT is the main hub for buses, mini-buses and vans-for-hire plying routes to the Northern part of Cebu. (Liloan, Compostella, Danao, Carmen, Catmon, Sogod, Bogo, DaanBantayan, Maya etc.)
To get to Malapascua, we took the bus to
Maya. (Around Php 140 - Php 160). It took roughly about 4 hours, roads were ok, driver was sane too.
From Maya, there's a ferry boat that will take travelers to Malapascua, Php 50.
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| Manong bangkero |
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| Our welcoming committee by the beach |
Malapascua means Bad Easter or Bad Christmas. Before all these resorts and dive shops came about, I would imagine that this island was the closest you'd ever get to paradise.
Malapascua is famous for thresher shark sightings and awesome
dive spots. The hubby and I will surely come back next time... to dive of course.
It's a pretty small island, way way smaller than Bantayan.
Since we did not have any prior bookings, we walked around to find a place to stay.
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| While walking around looking for a place to crash, we discovered that apparently there were more foreigners than locals. We were the only Pinoys! |
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| Pristine beach |
We ended up staying the first night at
Blue Corals Resort. Php 2000 / night for the fan room, with breakfast for 4. It has a view of a cove, with a cemetery overlooking the cove. Creepy.
Our goal for the duration of the stay was ... NOTHING. We wanted to get away from being corporate slaves / corporate geishas (as Dennis puts it)... and just CHILL.
And that's what we did. Eat, sleep, snorkel, laze around, take pictures, eat... chill.
We transferred to a different resort during the course of our stay.
Slam's Garden Resort had a better room, not exactly cheaper... Php 1800, but with no breakfast. The toilet, bath, and wash areas were en-suite but separate.
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| Slam's Garden Resort, our room - top right |
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| Our room at Slam's |
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| Personalized towels |
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Don't SLAMMED the door at Slam's :-P especially when you CLOSED it.
Diyos ko. Mental note, when I go back, I will try and print a new copy for them, without the grammar & spelling errors. :)
So that I can enjoy my HOLLIDAY, even if they will not CHANGED the towels every 2 days.
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| Little (?!) pets at Slam's |
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| Dennis staying true to our GOAL. CHILLAX. |
The funniest most memorable thing about our trip was Ging-Ging's Eatery. Food was forgettable, but the mere fact that we ate EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN MEAL there... was for me.. funny. Well, for the price, and the variety... what we paid for was worth it. The other restos on the island were either closed (because we went there August, which was most likely low season)... or too expensive or too western.
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| Open early til late. And we're there early - for breakfast, and then lunch, and then snacks, and then dinner... FTW! |
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| The only place worth dining in. Seriously. The food is not THAT spectacular, but for the price pwede na :) |
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| Yup, that's OUR table. Inangkin na namin. |
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| Their version of Fish & Chips. Serious 'to. |
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| May bantay pa kami. Isn't his forehead cool? :) |
Well, there
was one meal we ate elsewhere. I think it was our first night's dinner... we had the buffet at the resto bar near Blue Coral's. They had the usual Filipino buffet fare, with some viands spot cooked. Forgot the price, I think it was about Php 450? Sorry Ging-Ging.
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| The cat had fun licking the leftovers off the other table's plates. | | |
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Next day at Ging-ging's again. for breakfast.
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| PANCAAAAAAAAAKKKE. |
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| Antok pa si bantay. |
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| More breakfast, err.. Lunch.. err breakfast... at (where else??) Ging-Gings! |
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| Dinner at Ging-Ging's. Dennis on the phone wanting to strangle or better yet FIRE one of his staff. (Can't though coz she's pregnant.) |
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| Since the hubby was bored, he decided to do light trails outside Ging-Gings while we were all waiting for dinner. |
I would understand why foreigners love coming back to Malapascua (and some even staying for good).
- Beaches are pristine, serene.
- There's fresh seafood... always.
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| Dennis & the catch of the day. |
- The dive spots are amazing. The marine life there is aaahhh-mazing! The hubby & I had the chance to do an intro dive. Even if you don't dive, and just opt to snorkel, you will not be disappointed.
- The locals are friendly, helpful, hospitable, not just to whites. Yes people, we normal folks have money too. Duh. : ) Peace!
- Even the "other" residents are friendly.
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| The hubby waiting for our boat ride back to the Cebu mainland. Boo hoo. |
As a local (meaning Filipino, resident) I would still come back and visit Malapascua.
If you have the chance, don't just visit the usual run-off-the-mill tourist spots like Cebu City/Mactan. There are tons of places around the city... quaint little places.. that offer a lot.
Where we stayed:
Blue Coral Beach Resort
Malapascua Island, Barangay Logon
PI - 6013 Daan-Bantayan, Cebu, Philippines
Sonia de Dios (Philippines)
Mobile:
+63-926-3050827
+63-915-5086134
+63-920-5506208
Telephone/Fax: +63 32 4371021
SLAM'S Garden Resort
Malapascua Island, Barangay Logon
6013 Daan-Bantayan, Cebu, Philippines
Mobile: (00-63) 9053433495 Or (00-63) 9267853743 MAY : in English,Tagalog or Visaya
(00-63) 9154410621 NELSIE : in English,Tagalog or Visaya
slamsgarden_resort@yahoo.com
If you Google Malapascua (which we did prior to our trip), there are tons of resources / references. Where to stay, how to get there, what to do, when to go, etc. etc. Some of my favorite travel bloggers (
I envy them.. I admire them :) ) have posts about Malapascua too like Lakwatsero -->
Malapascua by Lakwatsero
Be sure to plan your trip well, or if you do not have a plan (like us), make sure to stay longer. It's worth it.
Where we stayed:
