Mactan Island Travel Forum

Am in between jobs at the moment and have a week left to go somewhere.
Have set my sights on Cebu Island. However, am undecided about the accomodation. Will be there from 28th March to 1st April so urgently need some recommendations.

1) At the price of around USD 80, which accomodations would be recommended?
Have checked the rates for Maribago Bluewater, Cebu Beach Club, Tambuli Beach Club (East or West wing) and they r okay. Which ones are better?
Is it wort paying the additional price for a stay at Plantation Resort? It looks beautiful. Does anybody have a contact email/tel no. of Mari Cielo resort? Is that near the beach as well?

What I would like is a resort where the beach is just at your doorstep, if not within the resort compound. Something not too big and commercialised. Snorkelling facilities

2) Any recommendations at Cebu City? Should I stay overnight at Cebu City or only make day trips in the city?

2a) Or should I use the city as a base and make day trips to neaby towns? Bohol? What other places?

Am a Catholic as well and would love to see the Catholic heritage of the city.
If possible, does anybody have the contact of a retreat centre where a 1 daY silent retreat can be planned at short notice?

Thank you So much!

I can't comment on your choices of resort as I stayed at Tambuli years ago; can't remember anymore how the facilities were.

I would suggest staying in Mactan and just make a day trip to the city to see the sights. You can cover almost all in a day. You can also make Cebu/Mactan as your base to make trips to Bohol, Malapascua or Bantayan islands (both are in the northern part of Cebu province), or Dumaguete.

There are 2 big churches in Cebu City - Sto. Nino and Cathedral. Since it's near Holy Week, they may have scheduled retreats, although arranging a "silent retreat" for you in short notice may be a long shot. You could ask them for referrals or try approaching convents or monasteries.

Thank you very much for your quick reply.
Will the islands that you have mentioned be closer to Cebu city or to Mactan?
I guess the hotels in the city are cheaper so was thinking of saving some money if possible.

What are the attractions in each of these islands? Do you know how long it takes to get to the islands?

Will pop by the churches as you have suggested and ask them.

Hi! you should go to Bohol. Nothing much to see in bantayan Island. You can take the ferry to bohol from cebu. If you don't plan on going to the beach in bohol, you can take the early morning ferry and go back to cebu late afternoon. Major attractions in bohol are the chocolate hills, loboc river and the cute tarsiers. On the other hand, if you want to check out the beach in bohol, you can go to panglao beach. Bohol has great beaches. You can check out the whale and dolphin watching there also. If you are a diver, Bohol has great dive spots and diverse marine life.