Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. I used to think this province is rich even before I went to Cebu, maybe because I knew random rich people living in Cebu, not to mention their "kutis porselana" skin. By the time I landed Cebu City and started to stroll around, I was surprised thinking I came back to Manila again. LOL. The city was just like Manila - crowded and lots of  buildings and commercial areas. There are a lot of taxis and grab cars too unlike with the other provinces I traveled before, the city's quite convenient. On the other hand, you will witness the hidden gems of Cebu when you go out of the city.

with @jaeeey
My beautiful-slash-kutis porselana friend, Jelpha Robillos (Jeng) is currently living in Cebu to finish her doctor's degree. She's so amazing she let us stay in her place, now we don't need to rent a hotel during our Cebu trip. *Yay! Thanks Jeng. Love you to bits!

our tour guide from Highland Adventures
Most of my travels are DIY. I rarely contact a travel agency to guide my trip. However, there's always an exception. If you plan to do the Canyoneering activity, you should contact a travel guide since you cannot trek alone. I recommend Highland Adventures, they offer the cheapest fee (₱600)
for Canyoneering so far. You can contact them directly by adding their Facebook account. Too bad Kanlaob River route was closed during our trip, but we still enjoyed the Kabukalan and Kawasan Falls. Our tour guide is really nice!

This travel guide might help you if you are planning to visit Cebu for the first time. Click each photo to see it.

  
 



Here are some tips for you that I experienced when I visited Cebu:

AROUND THE CITY
♔ If you are riding a taxi going to your hotel, do not get a taxi inside the airport as it gives a fixed price already. Just take a few walk outside the airport, you will see lots of metered taxis.
♔ If you are on a tight schedule, rent a car for a City tour.
♔ If you are on a tight budget, stick to commuting when roaming around the city. Riding a habal-habal is way adventurous after all.

WHALESHARK WATCHING, OSLOB
♔ Ride the first trip (4:30AM) bus. You need to be in Oslob as early as possible to avoid long lines from the whaleshark watching and the watch is
♔ It's not allowed to apply any kind of sunblock during the encounter
♔ You can do a sidetrip after the whale shark encounter: Sumilon Island and/or Tumalog Falls

CANYONEERING
♔ You don't need to avail food if you are starting your trek in the afternoon just like what we did.
♔ Bring money since there are small stores along the way. ₱100 will do.
♔ Do not bring too many things, just an action camera. You can leave your other belongings in the Adventure Highlands office.

If you want to visit Bohol also, you can follow my itinerary here.