Cebu Travel Information
The Isle of Your Tropical Dreams
| Fiesta Extravaganza | City Sights
City Lights | Island Adventure
| How to get there
Cebuanos celebrate life like no other. They strum their
guitars and sing the "balitaw" when they're happy. They strum
the guitar and sing the "harana" when they're sad. And when
they pray, they dance!
It therefore comes as no surprise that the guitar is a prime product in
Cebu which, quite naturally, has also produced a large share of the country's
best musicians and master showmen.
The Cebuano's flair for showmanship and love for celebrations
is manifested in the Sinulog, a colorful festival of pageant proportion
observed every third Sunday of January.
Cebu is an anchor tourist destination and one of the
7,000 times more islands that make up the Philippine archipelago.
Go to top
THE ISLE OF YOUR TROPICAL DREAMS
Cebu is the traveler's fantasy of a tropical island come
true - balmy weather, pristine beaches, crystalline waters, and luxurious
resorts with all the frills of modern living. The island-province of Cebu
was where the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan planted the Cross
of Christianity in the name of Spain in 1521. But even before Cebu became
the Occidental gateway to the Orient, it was already a popular entry point
among Asian merchants.Cebu has since blossomed into a choice tourist destination,
with many leisure establishments taking full advantage of its sea-valley-and-mountain
location.
Metropolitan Cebu, the country's second biggest metropolis,
is the political, economic, educational and cultural center of the Visayas.
Hotels, shopping malls, entertainment halls, casinos and golf fairways
are ever present in the metro to cater to every tourist's whim.
The rest of Cebu's 166 islands and islets are fringed
with sandy beaches and sapphire-clear waters teeming with marine life,
perfect for divers.
Go to top
FIESTA EXTRAVAGANZA
The fiesta is when life in these islands is celebrated
in full pageantry, complete with a brilliant display of sights and sounds,
scents and tastes. Cebu shows us how.
The Sinulog is Cebu's biggest and showiest fiesta in
honor of the Infant Jesus or Señor Santo Niño. In a choreographed
movement, "tribes" clad in dazzling costumes hold aloft images
of their tiny patron even as they simulate the natural rhythm of sea waves
which brought the Holy Child to their shores. The prayer-dance is synchronized
to the beat of drums and shouts of "Pit Señor! Viva Santo
Niño!"
The tribes wend through the city's major streets, starting
early in the morning and stretching into early evening. A big entertainment
roadshow and grand fireworks display bring to a close the celebration.
The Kadaugan sa Mactan is a one-day pageant re-enacting
the historic battle between the Magellan-led Spanish colonizers and the
resisting natives led by Rajah Lapu-lapu. The festival is celebrated every
April 27 in Lapu-lapu City at the beach area where the Portuguese voyager
met his death.
While the rest of Christendom observes Holy Week with somber rituals,
fasting and abstinence, Bantayan Island makes an exception. The townspeople
display their brand of folk Catholicism by feasting on roasted pig and
then swimming at its white sand beaches after a religious procession.
The Semana Santa is a movable feast between the months of March and April.
The rustic town of Opon honors its patroness, Our Lady
of Rule, with a fiesta from November 20 to 21.
Guests take the occasion of the Feast of St. Catherine
of Alexandria to visit the beautiful old town of Carcar which, aside from
its splendid colonial architecture, also produces a number of Cebu's popular
delicacies.
In December, Cebu culminates its fiesta celebrations
with the month-long Paskuhan, a festival of Christmas songs and lantern
displays.
Go to top
CITY SIGHTS
Cebu takes pride in being the country's oldest colonial
city. Many landmarks attest to the richness of its history.
On April 14, 1521, Magellan planted a cross to mark the
spot where some 800 natives - led by Rajah Humabon and his wife, Queen
Juana - were baptized into the Catholic faith. The original cross is now
encased in a hallow hardwood cross and can be found in a roofed kiosk
along Magallanes Street.
As a baptismal gift to Queen Juana, Magellan gave a black
image of the Infant Child which, on April 27, 1565, managed to remain
unscathed after a fire razed Cebu to the ground. The Basilica Minor del
Santo Niño was built by Captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Fr.
Andres Urdaneta on the spot where the miraculous icon was found. The religious
statue has since been enthroned in the basilica, with the original kept
inside the convent and a replica enshrined at the church's side altar.
From mainland Cebu, Magellan crossed the channel to the
island of Mactan in an effort to spread Christianity. The chieftain Lapu-lapu,
together with his warriors, resisted the attempt and killed Magellan as
he reached the shore. A monument now marks the site.
Fort San Pedro, located at Cebu City's wharf area, was
the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the country. The fort has
been turned into a museum-park.
Colon, the country's oldest street, was built at the
Parian or Chinese District. Located at the heart of downtown, it is a
busy commercial center by day and a lively entertainment belt by night.
The seat of the provincial government is an imposing
building of pre-Pacific War vintage rising majestically along Osmeña
Boulevard.
Located at the center of the boulevard is Fuente Osmeña,
named after Cebu's Grand Old Man, the late Commonwealth President Sergio
Osmeña, Sr. A favorite strolling park among locals, the circular
Fuente becomes even more alive in the evenings. Within the park is a skating
rink.
The University of San Carlos was established by the Dominican
fathers on the site of the former Jesuit-run Colegio de San Ildefonso,
originally founded in 1595. Its museum on P. del Rosario Street has an
extensive collection of anthropological and biological artifacts.
The Southwestern University Museum located on the Urgello
Private Road, takes pride in its large collection of pre-colonial and
colonial artifacts as well as its Filipiniana Research Center.
Casa Gorordo, along Lopez Jaena Street, is the ancestral
house of the first Bishop of Cebu and affords one a glimpse of affluent
Cebuano lifestyle, circa 1800.
The Jumalon Museum, Butterfly Sanctuary and Art Gallery
in the Basak district was the private museum of the late lepidopterist
Professor Julian Jumalon. His garden continues to be a haven to thousands
of butterflies and his salon features mosaics made of butterfly wings.
The Cebuano's Chinese heritage is very visible and one
of the more popular destinations in the city is the Taoist Temple, located
at the highest elevation of the Beverly Hills Subdivision.
Devotees, meanwhile, go to the Heavenly Temple of Charity
at the Peace Valley in the Lahug district.
Yet another pilgrimage spot is the Celestial Garden where
life-size replicas of the 14 Stations of the Cross are spread in a 12-hectare
property within Banawa Hills.
Go to top
CITY LIGHTS
Evenings are hot in cool Cebu.
From downtown to uptown, Metropolitan Cebu comes even more alive as dusk
sets in, with queues leading to music bars, discos and the casinos.
Cebu is a premier entertainment center. Electric high
tension fills the nightlife and patrons can't help but "shake those
bodies" as they swing into the groove.
Go to top
ISLAND ADVENTURE
For the island-hopper, Cebu is one exciting playground for daring expeditions.
Aqua sports top the list of what to do. For scuba diving,
the best dives are found in the islands of Mactan, Moalboal and Camotes.
The calm waters surrounding Argao, Badian and Malapascua islands are ideal
for kayaking.
Because of its hilly terrain, mountain sports has created
a following in Cebu. Rock climbing is excellent in Cantabaco and Malubog.
For trekkers, the 908-meter high Mount Manunggal is a steady climb in
the heat.
Mountainbike your way up and down scenic Talamban. It
takes less than a full day on the road, with plenty of stops along the
way.
The ecotourist will find Olango an ideal place for communing
with nature. A wildlife sanctuary, the island supports the largest concentration
of migratory birds in the country.
For the golfer, the Cebu Country Club and the Alta Vista
Golf and County Club are conveniently located in the metro, in Banilad
and Pardo. There is also the Club Filipino Golf Course in Danao City,
some 33 kilometers drive from Cebu City.
Go to top
source: Department of Tourism
|
