We woke up early to catch the first ferry from Malapascua to Cebu Island. The boat was packed with locals, giving us a more authentic experience—and introducing us to our first “chicken boat” moment when one of the passengers brought along two fighting cocks.
We also made friends with a little boy, around five years old, who was on a determined mission to get some sweets. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any, but a South African couple on board gave him a piece of chewing gum. He popped it in his mouth, immediately declared it “too spicy,” and spat it straight into his brother’s hand. However, as soon as he saw his brother happily chewing away, he felt left out and asked for another. This time, he spent the entire journey licking off the sugary coating like a lollipop.
At the docks, we watched a group of children playing in the water, floating on makeshift rafts crafted from old fridge doors—turning scraps into adventure.
It was supposed to be another long and exhausting travel day—first a busy bus ride back to Cebu City, followed by another bus to Moalboal. But after a string of never-ending travel days, we decided to splurge and spend £60 on a taxi, cutting the journey down to a direct five-hour drive. Once we arrived at the hostel and heard other travelers’ horror stories about their 12-hour bus ordeals, we knew we had made the right call—£30 each well spent!
By the time we arrived, it was already afternoon, so we took a walk to explore the town before heading back to freshen up for the boodle fight dinner. A boodle fight is a communal meal eaten while standing around a table covered with banana leaves, with all the food spread on top. It originated as a military tradition meant to build camaraderie by having everyone share the same meal, regardless of rank.
It was a nice idea in theory, but the staff took ages to set up the table and then insisted we all introduce ourselves with fun facts before eating. This wasn’t exactly Grace’s idea of fun as an introvert, and to make matters worse, the rice and other food sat out in the heat for about 40 minutes. Given our past stomach troubles in the Philippines, we decided to give the food a miss. But we still had a great time chatting with the other guests and later joined them for drinks at a nearby food court.
The next day, we opted for a more relaxing pace after all the traveling we’d been doing. After a well-earned lie-in, we made our way to White Beach. It was absolutely beautiful, but we found ourselves constantly shifting spots to escape the incoming tide. By around 3 PM, there wasn’t much dry sand left, so we decided to head back to town.
Just off the town’s promenade is the famous sardine run—a shimmering stream of small fish just above the coral drop-off into the deep ocean. Naturally, I had to snorkel out to see it. It was incredible, like a flowing river of tiny, glistening silver shapes moving in unison. It was so so cool to see, sadly we don’t have an underwear camera but I’ll link a video below so you can see what it was like. On my swim back, I even spotted a turtle, the cherry on top of a very cool experience.
Unfortunately, I got stung by sea lice again. Luckily, I don’t seem to react as badly as Grace does, but it was still an unpleasant prickling sensation. That was enough to put Grace off from swimming out to see the sardines herself.
On our last day in Moalboal, we went canyoning. We were picked up at 6 AM and driven to the starting point, where we were fitted with water shoes, life jackets, and helmets. They advised against taking phones unless they were waterproof, and since we only had Grace’s with us—and it already had water damage—we decided to leave it in the lockers. We assumed there wouldn’t be much to photograph anyway. Unfortunately, we were very wrong! Luckily, someone who did bring their phone kindly shared some photos with us.
At the start, we were given a choice: a 40-minute hike or a 5-minute zipline over the forest. Naturally, we chose the more fun and less exhausting option—the zipline. It was amazing to soar over the dense jungle on a tandem line, taking in the incredible views. From there, it was a short walk to the river.
The river itself was breathtaking—crystal-clear turquoise water winding through lush forest. Each of us was assigned a guide, and mine introduced himself as “King Kong” because he could make incredibly realistic monkey calls. Throughout the trip, he would call to birds and monkeys, and they would actually respond! At first, he waved at me, and I waved back. He kept communicating with hand gestures, so I assumed his English wasn’t very good. It wasn’t until we reached the start point and I spoke to Grace that he looked completely shocked. Her guide explained that King Kong had thought I was deaf and mute! No idea where he got that from!
Grace and I were the first to set off in our group. We made our way down the river, wading through the water, stepping over rocks, and floating through sections while the guides held our hands like toddlers being carefully led by their parents. The guides showed us where we could jump off waterfalls, which rocks we could slide down, and even dragged us along in some sections where the current was strong.
One particularly fast-flowing section required us to sit and let the current pull us over a small waterfall. As I looked up, I saw Grace spinning helplessly, her legs flailing in the air as she was swept over the edge! Luckily, it was only about a meter high, and she came out of it laughing.
At one spot, they had us stand with our backs to the water, and I got to kick Grace off the ledge. Then they did the same to me—it was terrifying not being able to see what I was falling into! The final jump was the most intimidating—a 10-meter drop. The guides told us, “No jump, no lunch,” which put me in a tough spot as someone who loves food but hates heights. In the end, my stomach won, and I took a running leap. The fall felt endless before I finally hit the water, but we had done it—we completed the course without skipping any jumps!
At the end, while waiting for the rest of the group, we swam under waterfalls and lounged in the pools, enjoying the peaceful surroundings. We chatted with others as they arrived and found most of the boys hadn’t done the last big jump but all of us girls had, some brave ladies!
Lunch was waiting for us after everyone arrived—delicious noodles and spring rolls—and I was able to get some of the photos and videos the rest of the group had taken. After such an adventurous day, we had a chilled evening and an early night. Another long travel day awaits us in the morning as we maje our way to Siquijor. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there!
Love, Alice x