north bus | One Setting Travels

Cebu: with its rich culture and one of the most booming in the Philippines economically, you could never go wrong North, South, East or West. But this time, I’m going up North… farther North to visit a somehow new travel destination and it’s in a very small island in Medellin, Cebu and it’s called Funtastic Island.

Like the usual travel tips, once you go south, you go to South Bus Terminal, and once you go north, you go to North Bust Terminal (there ain’t west and east here in the Queen City). Anyhow, find a bus that’s bound to Medellin and tell the person in charge that you’ll be stopping by wherever you want to stop: in our case, we rented an entire V-Hire because we were 11 and we have reserved a room in a resort that’s located in Medellin proper since there are no resorts or room for rent in the island.

Although for a fact it’s really not named Funtastic Island; Gibitngil Island is a twenty minute ride away from Medellin port via a banka or small boat.

TIP #1: you have to go there with your friends, specifically 10 to 15 to fill in the entire boat and to spend less as well for about P1, 200.00 (usually P1, 400.00 but we managed).

TIP #2: DON’T GO THERE ON A RAINY SEASON. Although it’s bound to be fun while experiencing the tumultuous ride; but it’s extremely dangerous. The banka is just too small and looks fragile for the incoming waves that are vast and strong. We went there on a rainy day, and to tell you it was terrifying, although we managed due that my friends are super funny, you can’t even remember that what we’re dealing is buhis buhay (life threatening).

Upon drawing near to the island; we have to reach the other end of it but there was this magnificent view I didn’t imagine Cebu would have that greeted us: these were the stone cliffs of the island. It was so Palawan-like. The humungous stone walls that has been holding the waters for ages was designed beautifully with its natural formations. It was jaw-dropping because it was unlike any other in Cebu.

Anyhow, when we reached to the island, the people and the scenic view greeted us. It was colorful and alive, and many people were there even when the weather wasn’t really nice. The waters were so indulging because of its blue inviting color which happens to be really clean unlike any other beaches in Lapu-Lapu.

TIP #3: Go to the island with all of your necessary stuffs: from camera to snorkels to food and drinks to your own booze and ice buckets with ice of course because you can’t buy anything from the island, except for the cottage rent.

Upon docking in the nice sand of the island, we went straight to the entrance (of course selfies and group pix are not included). The entrance fee is P10.00 and the cottages range from P150.00 to P500.00 depending on the size of the cottage.

But the fun won’t happen when you just take a dip in the cold waters, the fun starts when you decide to jump in their 30ft diving spot.

Trust me, it’s really, really scary.

Although you’ll end up in the clear and deep waters of the island, but the fact that it’s 30ft still remains to be 30ft HIGH.

We’ve had couple of stops and starts in going to and fro to the platform. There were unnecessary dramas and crazy pauses deciding to jump or not. It was totally funny seeing friends there with you and cheering for them to just take a dip, plus the readied cameras that eventually gets low-bat because of the time consumed by all the drama.

Well, when you dive, you just have to.

The enthralling fall gives you the hype that could make you scream, “WHOOOOOOOAAAA!!!!” and that’s what happened…. to my partner, not to me. I know I’m a chicken, I have fear of falling. Well, I don’t regret not jumping either, (LOL) but I also wished I could have. The fact that the waves are so strong was a plus factor too since there’s no one who can assist you whenever you’re there, not even a rope that you could hold on to upon going back to the shore.

Anyhow, Funtastic Island will not be fun without friends, so I suggest going there with them.

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