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Magic Beach, Lambug, Badian, Cebu – In, Out, and Around

As promised, I’m back with the details (and pictures!) of our Lambug trip. 🙂

So finally, we’ve arrived!

First off, THAT is a much better view of the beach compared to the last post, don’t you think? 😉

Of course, the first thing we did was find a resort — which to be honest is not an issue in Lambug. Along the stretch of the beach, you will find a variation of single and two- storey houses sitting just alongside each other. Those houses are literally the “resorts”.

This is the Magic Beach Resort where we stayed both times we were there.

after around 100 steps from the trike dropoff, you will see this house 🙂

 

 

This is the entrance to the other rooms in Magic, and just beside it (separated by a bamboo fence) is another resort, the Grandeur Beach Resort.

 

Before our first visit in March, we did a bit of research on the rates and contact numbers so yes, we were able to book and reserve a room in Magic. Or so I thought…

Imagine my panic (because I was the one who made the reservation!) when we arrived at the resort only to be told that there was no booking for us in their records! :'( There were 12 of us on that trip. TWELVE! How the heck are we supposed to find a room for 12 people on a weekend! Not just any room, mind you, but a cheap one! Believe it or not, we’ve only set aside 100-200 pesos / pax for the accommodation. Cheap, I know! LOL!

{What we found out: So what happened was, I had a back and forth texts with someone from the resort. When she told me of the rates, I inquired if there are 2 available rooms for our travel date and she said yes. So I told her to reserve the 2 rooms under(my friend’s name) but we might be adding add’l room at a later date. Her response was “OK Maam.” I don’t know with you but THAT for me was a sign of confirmation. Wasn’t it? So there at the resort, the lady who welcomed us told her that there’s no booking if there’s no downpayment. Now hold on, there was nothing in our entire conversation that mentioned anything about a downpayment! *facepalm*
So yeah, I wasn’t really mad or anything, I was more of worried about the fate…er sleeping arrangement of the 12 people because of the whole miscommunication (or lack thereof). 🙁 }

So anyway, we inquired (and I prayed!) for vacant rooms for the night. At this point, we were already “open” to the possibility of spending more for an AC room, or even spending the night in a tent (I was excited to try this actually! haha). She said there is one vacant fan room at the 2nd floor that’s good for 4-6 people for 1500 pesos.

Now let’s do the math, first off, 1500 divided by 6 is 250, which is already beyond the budget. But that’s not as dire as the second point which is, there’s TWELVE of us, and the only available room will fit only SIX. Hmmm…

And that’s when we paid the resort next door a quick visit. Two of us went to Grandeur Beach Resort and got the news that they have one available room (yay!), but it’s an AC room at 3000 pesos for 6 pax! So the Grandeur option was not an option at all.

A few minutes of negotiations after, the owner agreed to book us and accommodate ALL 12 of US on the only vacant fan room for the base rate of 1500 for the first 6, and an additional 100 pesos per extra pax.

So if we do the math,
1500 + (100×6) = 2100 for one single fan room for 12 people
2100 / 12 = 175 pesos per pax

We couldn’t have said yes much quicker even if we tried! Haha Without thinking of the sleeping positions we’re gonna have that night, we accepted the offer.

This two-storey house, the 2nd floor room is ours, at least for the night.

 

There were two king size beds, which should comfortably fit the normal 4-6 persons quote. Hmmm… *silently strategizing our sleeping positions* 😉

 

 

And then here’s a picture of the first lucky six, who positioned themselves. LOL! Kidding!

 

The front area is sort of a balcony / hangout area — which proved to be reeeeeally useful for us during the entire stay! 🙂

 

Overall, the room was spacious actually and because they have charged extra per excess person, they also provided extra mattresses for the other (unlucky) six. Hehe (I think you can now guess our sleeping arrangement, eh?) Do you see that cabinet behind the fan? That, my friends, is our own converted “changing room”. You can literally fit 2 people in there! We actually did change out of our outfits in there. There’s also quite a number of electrical outlets/sockets in the room.
I was also surprised that it wasn’t hot in the room. During the night, I wasn’t gonna be surprised if the fan can’t give enough cool air for all of us but even though we’re cramped up on the beds and on the floors, I don’t remember feeling hot (or pinagpawisan) while sleeping. 😉

It may seem that I was totally impressed by the room –space, price and all — but it’s not that. In fact, from the overall resort experience, the part that I was actually most impressed by is the amenities they offered downstairs.

Let’s take a look.

Clean comfort rooms with abundance of clean water. Check. ✓ 

 

Big cooking/grilling area and washing area -complete with cookwares, plates, knives, utensils, saucers – everything you need in the kitchen! Check. ✓

 

Dining area – long table that definitely fits a dozen people. Check. ✓

 

This is the outside area of one of the AC rooms. {We actually stayed in an AC room during the 2nd visit in July but for the life of me I can’t find my pictures of the room! 🙁 }

 

This is a picture of us preparing (grilling!) lunch! There are convenience stores fronting the resorts so you can buy stuff you need for your cooking like chopped wood, uling, cooking oil, condiments, rice, canned goods, eggs, spices, softdrinks, coffee, etc. The only things you just need to buy beforehand are the fresh meat and fish from the supermarket, which is what we did.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of us in the balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the stairs. 🙂

 

On the way to the beach!

 

And now a few pictures during our trip. Of course, the beach! 🙂

Just blue waters and fine, white sand.

  


I’m missing the beach already. 🙁

Magic Beach Resort, Lambug, Badian
Contact Nos.: 0915-4586637 ; 0926-1205042
Room Rates :
Fan Room – 1500 (good for 4-6 pax)
AC Room – 2500 (good for 4-5 pax)

Need help getting there? Read all about it here!

A few more grinds and I’m off to the beach again soon! Can’t wait!!! 🙂

Keep Grinding,

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How To Get There: Magic Beach, Lambug, Badian Cebu

We actually visited Lambug Beach twice this year. The first time was in March with a bit of planning, and the next one was a spontaneous lets-go-to-Lambug-this-weekend kind of trip last July! I knooooow, this is a long overdue post but then again – the whole new-blog-new-domain thing, remember?

So I’ll try to share everything I can remember from both trips! 🙂

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because before the everything part, we have to talk about the getting there part.

Lambug Beach is located in Badian, Cebu. Though considered a public beach, it is definitely not like any of the public beaches  you see in the Cebu City areas (Talisay, Catarman, to name a few). Lambug beach is a long stretch of white sand and blue water! Personally, I think the reason why it’s not a “go-to” destination just yet is because there are no big fancy resorts built there.  But we’ll talk about resorts and accommodations some other day.

So going back, since we are going to the town of Badian, which is South part of Cebu province, our starting point is the Cebu City South Bus Terminal. Today, there are a few bus franchises operating with trips tot he south. For our trip, we still chose the famous one, Ceres Liner. Ceres has air-conditioned and non-AC buses leaving every 30 minutes (or earlier if its already full).

We took the air-conditioned bus with the BATO-BARILI signage.
Air-conditioned Ceres Bus – 129 pesos / pax

Now, if you’re not a fan of buses (wait, if you really want to travel, you better start re-evaluating your life in that department! Hehe Bus rides will make up a big part of your future trips. Just sayin’. ), other commute options are V-Hire and the good-ol-Taxi. I don’t know with you but I’d rather not blow my entire budget on transpo alone by traveling via taxi!

However, with the V-Hire vans, the fares are fairly close to that of the bus — an additional 20-30 pesos per pax.

You might be thinking now, what ride should I take?

Of course, each of us have preferences. We all have our own levels of tolerance when it comes to convenience and comfort, and priority when it comes to budget, expenses and time.

The Pros and Cons.

Bus
✓ the cheapest option – AC or non-AC, bus fare is still cheaper compared to V-Hire or Taxi.
✓ comfort of bigger legroom – buses nowadays have wider seats, bigger legrooms per seat and wider aisles
✓ entertainment – DVD players and WIFI routers installed – which means movie marathon and unlimited internet access while traveling.

x longer travel time –  travel time to Badian can take as short as 2 hours to as long as 3.5 hours, and by bus it might take just that.
x it’s a Public Utility Vehicle – meaning you will be travelling (or sitting) with strangers during the trip. There will be crying babies, smelly and/or loud-snoring seatmates. Again, different people different level of tolerance.

V-Hire
✓ shorter travel time – trip might take only 2 – 2.5 hours.

x smaller or no leg room – there were actually trips when I literally couldn’t move my legs in a van since some drivers are trying to fit 5 people in a 4-seater row.
x AC not sufficient – again, because of the headcount inside the van, the AC on older vans couldn’t handle the load. More people means more CO2 expelled with not enough cold air circulating inside.

Taxi
✓ faster, shorter travel time –  no unnecessary stops, basically a private trip.
✓ private – no smelly seatmates, and it’s technically your own private ride

x much, much pricier than the other two options – some drivers would ask for somewhere around 1000 – 1500 pesos / trip or more

So yeah, the decision is on you, as long as you’re on your way to Badian. 🙂
Bus – South Bus Terminal, N. Bacalso St. Cebu City
V-Hire – V-HIre Terminal, Junquera St. Cebu City (beside USC-Main)
Taxi – anywhere (you can also arrange for Grab or Uber, just negotiate)

Now, 2 – 3.5 hours later, what’s next?

Since we rode the Ceres bus, we dropped off at the Lambug Corner. The Bato-Barili bus route will go straight the Main Road to the rest of Badian town, while the road to Lambug beach is off to the right side towards an inside road.

long and winding road to Lambug Beach

In the corner is an open air native restaurant, so if you’re seeing that, then you dropped off at the right place!

Since the beach is still far from the drop off point, we rode a tricycle for 30 pesos/pax. The trike will take you straight to the beach’s entrance (or starting point?)

You know you’re on the right track if you pass by the Cebu International Golf & Dive Resort. (I lost my photo of this! )

asphalt road, in fairness 🙂

 

After around 10-15 minutes of this view, you’d finally arrive!

Okay now, my photos are definitely not doing this place any justice! You have to trust me on this when I say the place is so much more picturesque in reality! 🙂 This was taken I think late afternoon on the second day, not at the time of arrival, and certainly not during high tide. (Can’t find the other photos, long overdue post, remember?) *wink*

SO NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE, WHAT NOW?

Of course, we’ll talk about the BEACH, the accommodations, and the food in another day! 🙂

Update: Check out the details of the trip and accommodation here!

Keep grinding,