Cebu · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
The transport hub of the Visayas — cheap dorms, cheap ferries and canyoneering two hours south.
Fuente Osmeña and IT Park
Hostels ring the Fuente Osmeña circle and the Capitol area for price; IT Park costs a little more but is safer and livelier after dark.
What a day costs
Dorm ₱450–800, food ₱250–500, jeepneys ₱13–20 a ride. Around ₱800–1,500 a day, roughly 14–26 USD, before day trips.
Getting around cheap
Jeepneys run fixed routes for loose change and Grab covers the rest. The South Bus Terminal serves Oslob and Moalboal, the North Terminal Maya for Malapascua, and Pier 1 the Bohol ferries.
Free by day
Magellan's Cross and the Basilica del Santo Niño, the Carbon market at dawn, and the ridge road views above the city towards Busay.
IT Park and Mango Square
Hostel bars and open-air food parks in IT Park draw the traveller crowd; group canyoneering trips to Kawasan are how most people actually pair up.