the quiet side of Cebu

Like thousands of other travelers, we went one summer to the province of Cebu expecting to bask on white beaches and sip chic little cocktails. Okay, we didn't exactly plan that, but at least one beach trip to the island of Mactan -- which is crawling with hotels, resorts, and foreign tourists -- was on the itinerary.

Let's just say that "beach trip" didn't go so well. In summary: We got kinda lost and spent the whole afternoon commuting through half the island. Getting lost like that was actually nice, but we wanted to be somewhere more... chilled.

And we found the perfect chill. Not at the beach, not at a resort, and definitely not in an urbanized area like Mactan.

South was the way to go.