Best in October

Mambajao, Camiguin

Camiguin Island

The "Island Born of Fire" off northern Mindanao: a white sandbar, a sunken cemetery, waterfalls, hot and cold springs and sweet lanzones. A slow scooter loop with a short flight from Cebu.

General Luna, Surigao del Norte

Siargao

The surfing capital of the Philippines: Cloud 9 waves, a green lagoon, tidal rock pools and tiny palm islands, about an hour by direct flight from Cebu.

Luka, Oslob, South Cebu

Tumalog Falls

A wide curtain of water spilling down a mossy wall into a shallow, turquoise pool, just a few minutes from the whale shark area in Oslob. Cool, gentle and easy to reach.

Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City

Olango Island

A quiet island a short boat ride from Mactan, home to a protected wetland where thousands of migratory birds rest each year. Come for birdwatching, mangroves and a slow island day.

Cebu City, Cebu

Museo Sugbo

Cebu's provincial museum, set in the coral-stone Carcel de Cebu jail of the 1870s. See the galleries on Cebu's past, reopened in August 2025, in a quiet corner near Fort San Pedro.

Cebu City, Cebu

Magellan's Cross

The small coral-stone pavilion in downtown Cebu City that shelters Magellan's Cross. Its story, the painted ceiling, candle custom, the 2025 closure and how to visit next to the Basilica.

Loboc, Bohol

Loboc River Cruise

Bohol's famous floating buffet lunch: drift along the green Loboc River with live music, then see Busay Falls and Loboc's old stone church, an easy day trip from Cebu.

Cebu City, Cebu

Casa Gorordo Museum

A 19th-century ancestral house in Cebu City's Parian district. Walk its timber halls, carved arches and family chapel, and learn how four generations of the Gorordo family lived.

Panagsama, Basdiot, Moalboal, South Cebu

Panagsama Beach

The dive-and-chill strip of Moalboal. Walk into the sea at dawn to swim with the sardines, watch the sunset over Negros, then eat and sip your way along one lively beach road.

Cebu City, Cebu

Fort San Pedro

The triangular Spanish fort beside Pier 1, where Cebu's story as a city began in 1565. Thick coral-stone walls, three bastions, a quiet garden courtyard and a small museum, for a low entrance fee.

Downtown and Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City

Carbon Market and Larsian

Cebu City's oldest and biggest market by day, smoky barbecue skewers and puso at Larsian by night. A cheap, tasty and very local food trip in the heart of the city.

Beside the Mactan Shrine, Lapu-Lapu City

Sutukil in Lapu-Lapu

Pick your fish, have it grilled, simmered in soup or served as kilaw. How sutukil works at the seafood restaurants beside the Mactan Shrine, and how to order well.