This is our first long bicycle tour after almost two years of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. On November 2021, the Province of Cebu announced the loosening of travel restrictions for inter-island tourists with vaccination card as the only requirement. With that news, we immediately readied our bikes and gears and headed for Matnog port.
There is now a roro (roll-on, roll-off) ferry that services the Matnog, Sorsogon- Bogo City, Cebu route three times a week. The boat departs from Matnog (and Bogo) at midnight with travel time of ten to 12 hours. This is a welcome development for bicycle tourists from Bicol visiting Cebu and the Central Visayas - and for Cebuanos visiting Bicolandia. Bikes are free of charge - just remove the front wheel before climbing to the passenger deck.
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| Boljoon Church |
We started out from the Polambato Port, Bogo City at noon on November 27 with five riders, Noel (me), Kareen (my wife), Tyrone, John Paul and Jay, and went west for the counterclockwise route. Road 820 is a coastal road but this portion is mostly far off from the coastline – you can smell but rarely see the sea. The road is two-lane with shoulders and a mix of cement and asphalt. The terrain is mostly flat, tree-lined in most parts, with light traffic and very pleasant for cycling. This is a rural area where houses (and pedestrians) are dispersed, and the road gets busy only in town centers.
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| Remegio Church |
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| At Tabuelan |
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| Near Asturias |
After the town of Tuburan, the road turned inland where to the east are the lush hills of Cebu highlands. There are only medium-sized trees growing in the hills as the topsoil seems to be thin in these parts. But full-sized trees lined the road as we neared Asturias by late afternoon.
Our plan was to camp at a beach in Asturias but the place was packed with people when we arrived. We instead rented the second floor of a house near the beach where we stayed for the night.
This is the longest distance in a day in our itinerary, so we started early after a cup of coffee. We had breakfast in a public market carenderia in Balamban and went south to the busy roads of Toledo City. The road and terrain were the same as the first day up to the town of Aloguinsan.
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| Cebu west coast |
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| Industrial Cebu |
After Aloguinsan, the road turned inland to the highlands. It was a climb in a gentle incline and tops out at 230 meters asl. The scenic mountain road meandered in the Cebu highlands up to a junction in Barangay Mantalongon, Barili. At the junction, we had lunch of “puso” (steamed rice wrapped inside coconut fronds that is woven in the shape of a diamond) and dipped in “tuslob buwa” (pork liver and brain sautéed with garlic, onions, shrimp paste, and chili) – and the chili brand name is “Abog sa Yawa” or devil’s dust.
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| Tuslob buwa and puso, with a pinch of "Abog sa Yawa" for lunch |
After a nap in a gas station was a few kilometers of climbing followed by a pleasant long downhill ride to the town of Barili. Back to the coast and it was an extremely hot afternoon that we took a long break and snacks at Dumanjug town. It was a slow going, dusty and hot ride to Badian (with one flat tire for Jay). We arrived at Badian by late afternoon and continued to Barangay Matutinao – the jump-off point for Kawasan canyoneering.
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| Typical road scene of Cebu west coast road |
We intended to camp at any beach at Matutinao but all resorts are still closed due to the pandemic. Some locals approached us, offered their services as canyoneering guides, and referred us to Kawasan Lodge - a new hotel (with a 7-11 store) at the roadside near the river and with low promotional room rates.
Kawasan Canyoneering is the highlight of any adventure travel in Cebu province. The cost is P1,500 per person inclusive of fees, guides, gear, transportation, breakfast, and lunch – and it was worth it!
The trip starts with a winding habal-habal (motorcycle) ride to the uplands of Badian and a hike down to a gorge. Then jump, slide, swing, float, and swim downriver in the turquoise waters at the bottom of canyon under a thick rainforest up to the Kawasan Falls. It was a Monday, and we had the river all to ourselves. We were children squealing with delight at every jump and slide into the cool and clear water of Matutinao River.
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| Kawasan Falls |
It was past noon when we started riding out of Badian. Another sweltering day but this time the flat road is hugging the seaside, there is a light sea breeze and the Alegria seascape was superb. The island of Negros looms in the horizon along the west coast of Cebu.
The road surface deteriorated and traffic became busier after Bato port up to Oslob. There is also the series of rolling coastal hills after Santander that slowed us down. It was dark when we arrived in the town of Oslob where we had dinner in a carenderia and stayed for the night at Luna Oslob Travellers Inn.
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| Santander, southern tip of Cebu |
Early morning, we rode a jeepney to Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob, paid P500 each at the visitor’s center, and rode a small banca for about 300 meters out to the sea. There was a small group of juvenile whale sharks being fed by locals, and tourists were snorkeling and swarming around the whale sharks.
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| Whale shark feeding at Oslob |
The “experience” was done in less than an hour (there was a long line of tourists), and we headed back to the inn for a nap.
Day 4, Afternoon. Oslob to Argao, 52 kilometers.
Another hot afternoon for cycling. But then the coastal view is lovely and there are historical landmarks along the way. There is the impressive church and other structures in the Boljoon church grounds and old buildings at Dalaguete.
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| Boljoon church grounds |
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| Old Catholic school |
Larry and Kekel of PACgear Outdoors have referred us to local cyclists, David and Ryan in Argao. David met us up when we arrived in Argao and he recommended a camping site in a public beach. This was the only time during the trip that we used our camping gear.
Day 5. Argao to Talisay City, 68 kilometers.
From the Argao public beach, we visited the Argao church which is another classic example of Spanish era church. It is a fortification (to serve as refuge during Moro raids) with watchtowers, a church plaza, and thick walls and gates.
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| Argao church |
At Sibonga, we turned west for a detour (and a steep climb) to the Simala Church, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage shrine. The structure is a remarkable sight and looks straight out of fairy tale. Compared to the Cebu churches we visited during the trip; this has grown into Disneyland proportion – a church on steroids.
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| Simala church |
The traffic became busier as we progressed north. From Carcar City was a hot, dusty, commercial, and busy road that we missed the tranquil Cebu western coast. The pit stop for the day is the house of Rolly in Talisay City where we arrived at noon. Rolly would be riding with us on from Talisay City to Sorsogon.
In the evening, we took a cab to Metro Cebu bike shops, visited the Magellan Shrine, and also met up with Larry, Kekel and several other Cebu bike touring enthusiasts. Over dinner, we chatted about the Cebu Divide (added to our bucket list), shared stories of the Manali to Leh bike route, listened to Larry’s account of Filipino all-women Mt. Everest expedition, and Visayas and Bicol bike routes. Thank you, Larry and Kekel, for the dinner!
Day 6. Talisay City to Bogo City, 113 kilometers.
Kareen has a slight fever and was not feeling well so she decided to take a bus to Bogo City. From Talisay City, we biked to the dried sea foods market in Cebu City for “pasalubong” and went to a bus terminal to drop-off Kareen.
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| Cordova Bridge, Cebu City |
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| Urban Cebu bike lane |
The urban traffic was heavy from Cebu City up to Liloan. The road became cooler, less busy, and more scenic at the coastal road after Carmen up to Sogod. After Sogod where we had a lunch stop, the road turned inland and climbed up to 255 meters asl. The sky was overcast and there was light rain as we cycled the pleasant rolling hills of Cebu northern highlands up to the final descent to Bogo City.
By midnight, we were seaborne bound for Matnog, Sorsogon. Our next visit to the island would be for the epic Cebu Divide route!
Strava record of the whole ride is here.
(Side note: There were four trucks loaded with hogs aboard the Matnog-bound ferry and positioned upwind… so we endured the pigpen stench for 12 hours.)
By Noel Mercado
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