It is hard to believe that some people have never gone to the ocean. It is easy to forget that there is such a thing as land that does not share its existence with a body of water beside it; the two as an unassuming pair is a privilege only a few of us have grown up with.
With the 7,000 islands of our fragmented county, it is a blessing we take for granted that we have a variety of beaches to choose from. The spotlight has been on Boracay for decades now, and rightfully so. Recently it has shifted to a much younger scene, and Siargao and the attention it has been getting is shared with Coron and El Nido. It is a shame, however, that Cebu has been fading from the island-goers’ vision. Perhaps it is because its attractions have grown less exciting than those of Siargao and Coron. Or maybe its resort options have not been keeping up with bigger, more luxurious ones. There are more affordable ones that offer sub-par services and amenities, and others on the other side of the spectrum that offer these luxuries at a hefty price.
Tucked away in the heart of Mactan, beneath the gumamela and crying trees, is the saving grace for anyone who wants to reignite their love affair with Cebu: Blue Water Maribago.
It has multiple acres of amenities, smiling faces, and sand, and the rooms rates range from only P4,000 to P11,000. If you decide to buy that plane ticket to Cebu, your journey will begin at the Mactan Airport, where a Blue Water staff member awaits, holding your name on a card and with a warm smile. They will take you to the resort in a private shuttle where you can look out and observe the urban city life of Mactan City. Our arrival was painless and smooth; a golf cart brought us to their Royal Bungalow Villa, a few meters away from the beach. The sand was white, the ocean was blue, and the room was beautiful—the trifecta of any great vacation. We were welcomed into our temporary home with an assortment of treats delicately placed inside a ukelele. It was an overwhelming rush of endorphins, from seeing it to tasting it. Who doesn’t want to eat fried suman and turon out of a mini guitar?
We spent most of our days free-diving in the turquoise sea, admiring the fish and reef sanctuaries Cebu has so thoughtfully preserved for its tourists and locals. After spending most of the afternoon turning our legs into fins and our skin into wrinkled prunes, we journeyed back to our air-conditioned rooms, each time discovering our sheets had been changed and our shoes neatly put in place outside our bungalow. There is nothing like that sunburnt nap right after coming back from a long beach day. But somehow it was extra sarap accompanied by the scent of fresh laundry and crisp cotton.
We spent most of our days free-diving in the turquoise sea, admiring the fish and reef sanctuaries Cebu has so thoughtfully preserved for its tourists and locals
Besides the beach, the resort itself has a plethora of amenities. Exploring the property is an activity in itself, with the sheer number of things to look at and try out. Their wellness center consists of a spa that offers several treatments, a gym, and a juice bar to refresh you after your self-care day. They have a giant chess board placed right on the beach front for kids/adults to mess around with, and to top it off, they have not one, not two, but three large pools. You can’t help but silently thank the architect of this place for making everything so conveniently placed.
But in my humble opinion, the real stars of the show were the restaurants. You can choose among four: Allegro, The Cove, Oyster Bar, and Pizzeria Delfino’s. I, however, tried only two of the four and had no regrets. Our usual breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our four-day vacation was at Allegro, their main buffet-style restaurant whose singular goal was to fill us up with as much food as possible. This was particularly a stand-out not only for its food, but also for its theme dinners. We were blessed to encounter a Barrio Fiesta night that consisted of everything and anything Filipino—liempo, lechon, inihaw na isda, sisig, garlic rice, you name it. It was every Pinoy foodie’s dream and every tourist’s lucky night.
The trip’s highlight, however, was the Cove. At the edge of the resort, floating above the water at the end of the pier, this is where your meal will be served to the sound of crashing waves and the smell of salt water. There’s the perfect ambience when you dine at Blue Water’s one and only seafood restaurant. While waiting, you can look at the freshly caught crustaceans and fish that day while trying not to apologize for ordering their cousins. But when the food arrives is when the real show begins.
For dinner, we were blessed to encounter a Barrio Fiesta night that consisted of everything and anything Filipino—’liempo,’ ‘lechon,’ ‘inihaw na isda,’ ‘sisig,’ garlic rice, you name its
We were lucky enough to have a curated menu of all the specialties of the house. It started off with light seafood soups served with pomelo salad. The fusion of sweet and salty was a beautiful transition to the flavors of the cheesy mushroom lobster, among the other crustaceans we were also served. We sipped our martinis and dove into conversation while feasting on the gifts the ocean (and Blue Water’s kitchen) had to give us, and had a grand old time. But it would be a sin for me not to mention the desserts. I do consider myself a sweets person, but only on occasion. Well, this was definitely an occasion to trigger my sweet tooth. “Creative” is an understatement when reminiscing on the orchestra of ice creams, sorbets, chocolates, and cakes we indulged in that day. Everything seemed to take the opposite form of what it actually was. The ice cream was a chocolate cake, the sorbet a coconut, and the macaroons were mini sliders. If you let a five-year-old loose in the kitchen, this is exactly what you would get. And it was outstanding.
Leaving this underrated oasis in the heart of Cebu was disappointing, to say the least. The drive to the airport was filled with a melancholic atmosphere and some pouting faces—mine and my travel buddies. But just as I told them, it is nice to remember the fact that although living in the Philippines has its fair share of hardships, the islands are just a hop and a skip away from wherever you are. We will surely be back.
