We tried, Moalboal

We owe a lot to this lovely island who took care of us when our spirits were lost in Moalboal. My second time in the northern part of Cebu brought a lot of memories. It was our first trip together and Basti’s first out of town getaway. He was so tiny when we first brought him here in 2009. We can’t help but take another photo of the same spot where he held up Basti at the restaurant of HK Resort. The patio that overlooks the beach still has the same view two years ago except that Basti was 2lbs heavier now.

This is Basti in 2009 (above) and Basti in 2011 (below).

The beach was full of tourists in April and Easter Sunday was packed. You’d think holy week in this single holiday would be the best time to enjoy Moalboal and forget about work but I don’t remember HK jacking up their prices that weekend.

The room we had that was only P1,500 per night (without breakfast) was pretty decent for an overnight stay. Although you can’t exactly expect duvet sheets with a full on mattress but that price was just enough. Nothing fancy. Just enough.

When the bus takes you to the highway, you can always get a pedicab to bring you to the resorts in Basdaku. Please never get confused – BASDAKU is where the beachfront resorts are and PANAGSAMA is where the divers go to because the resorts are all on top of cliffs. I’d hate for you to  make the same mistake we made that costs us twice the regular because of the double trips we made – P100 one way, actually.

Dining in Moalboal

We decided to head to Panagsama for dinner after we heard people saying they have the best restaurants. True enough, Panagsama houses one strip of full of restaurants from Filipino dining to Japanese sushi plates. Marina Cucina, a pricey Italian restaurant, looked tempting but it was really not the best dining by the beach experience for me.

With the beach smelling like a tuna sashimi and seaweed salad, pizzas and pastas hardly go together in that scene. Apart from Marina Cucina, you have a choice to eat at Oase Restaurant, Arista Restaurant, Tipolo Beach Resort (the hotel has a restaurant), Hannah’s, Lantaw and Maya’s Native Garden.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the name of the place we ate at because I was hungry! They have fresh seafood outside the restaurant and an entire tuna costs about 600. We had soup out of its head and kinilaw out of its belly and grilled the rest of it. Total bill with drinks = 795. Not bad. I get my seafood and I get my dining-by-the-sea experience.

Moalboal Resorts

Before we checked out, we wouldn’t want to leave Moalboal without seeing Club Serena or Ravanela Beach resort. I needed the visual so that I’ll know if the place is worth booking the next time we head to Moalboal. This will be short though. Let me show you around Basdaku.

Ravenala Beach Resort is composed of bungalow after bungalow. The beachfront is already full of rocks and the shore is close to the resort so it is not really ideal to hang out by the beach. A few minutes walk will take you to where the action is.

I love Club Serena! You can really tell a lot of the hotel’s demeanor by its concierge and lobby.

Check out the furnitures.

Guess who we bumped into? The lovely Jude!

Our friends were in Boracay on the same weekend but we didn’t have the luxury of being away from work that long so we didn’t have a choice but stayed in Cebu. I’m not complaining though. Toodles.

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