Visiting Cebu & Maldives

[PHXguy]

Would anybody care to share your experience if you have visited Cebu? Which area is the best and safest? I am just interested in enjoying the beach, not too much into sports.
Also, if anybody has visited Maldives, it would be great if you care to share your experience. Thanks. :)

[Horse With No Name]

I've been to the Philippines about a dozen times for work. I've been to Cebu twice. Both times I wound up at Mactan Island, very close to Cebu City, both times at a resort called Plantation Bay Resort and Spa (prices range from about $130 to 450 per night). You can see online that it's very nice. Cebu looks, feels, smells like the best parts of the Caribbean. The food is fantastic, the people wonderful. Cebu City is teeming (but safe as long as you stay away from the red light district), Plantation Bay is tranquil and very safe. There is excellent diving all around Cebu; equipment and boat rentals are cheap. Everything in PI is cheap except the hotels. I don't know what your flight is costing; I normal pay about $850 for Newark-Manila-Newark. If you stay at Plantation Bay, be sure to give them your flight itinerary (they will pick you up at the airport). I assume you are flying through Manila. I recommend you stay at least one night in Manila upon arrival to adjust (the flight from Newark is 18-19 hours; you'll probably arrive Manila just after noon). You will be zonked. So don't think, just get a taxi outside the airport, and go to the Westin (best price/anemities of all upscale Manila hotels; superb breakfast, beautiful view of the water; it's away from downtown, so it's quiet; go to sleep immediately after checking in, but try to wake up for dinner, you'll really enjoy the outdoor barbecue served next to the free-form pool with live entertainment. If it's raining and you must eat indoors, skip the buffet (too much food) and go for the "all the good wine you can drink with fancy hors d'oevres" offering. It's excellent and fairly cheap. You'll need plenty of wine to sleep through that first night (which you must do). If you decide to stay a second night at the Westin, you can tour around the old city, or buy every pirated movie and software program imagineable at the Manila shopping center called Greenlands (on the opposite side of town from the Westin; every taxi driver knows it; one-way cost is about $8.00; and don't be conned by Manila taxi driver who wants to be your friend and personal guide for the duration of your stay). As for the Maldives, I've never been there; I hear it's a diver's paradise. One thing you'll miss about the Philippines after leaving is the mangos, so eat as many as you can while you're there ... PI mango are the best in the best in the world.

[PHXguy]

Thanks for sharing your experience.
I would be flying SQ to Spore and fly directly to Cebu & Maldives. Not interested in Manila.
Compared Cebu to other famous beaches (Rio, Hawaii, Gold Coast, Bali, Nice, Phuket) how does it rank?