White Beach

Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

Warm water, breezy beach, sandy toes are all waiting for you at White Beach in Moalboal! I had such a dreamy afternoon tanning at this clean and tranquil beach and enjoyed the pink sunset on the way back to my resort at Panagsama Beach.

The main difference between Panagsama and White Beach is that there is a long strip of sandy beach for tanning at White Beach whereas Panagsama is more diving/snorkeling friendly. The water at White Beach was so clear and free from any plastics which is almost impossible to find anywhere else. Although my resort was connected to Panagsama, visiting a more relaxing beach was a great decision, especially for uninterrupted tanning and sunset photo sessions.

Transportation

If you know how to drive a bike then renting a bike for the day and biking to the beach would be the cheapest option with rentals starting from as low as 300PHP (6USD) per day. However, we wasn’t so confident in our driving skills so we took a tricycle in front of our resort in Panagsama Beach and after a 15 minute ride, we arrived at White Beach. There was a 5PHP entrance fee per person and our tricycle stopped in the middle of the road, which was a weird location to collect entrance fees. But it was only 10cents US so we didn’t mind. Our driver Jojo kindly waited for 4 hours in front of the main entrance of the beach and took us back to our resort right at sunset. It was raining on the way and Jojo had the tiniest windshield wiper which made us laugh so hard! He suggested 400PHP for the round trip (8USD for two people) and we said we can pay him half once we get there then pay him the rest after we get back but he said we can just pay him all 400PHP after he drop us off at our resort which was so nice of him. It made me realize how people in Moalboal did not think much about the money but more about making others happy. It was only 2USD per way per person but I couldn’t imagine how big the amount might seem to him. He asked us couple questions along the way and kept the conversation going so I felt like we were very lucky to have met him as our driver.

What to expect

Couple hours in, kids coming back from school stopped by the beach and started selling bracelets to the tourists. I asked them if I could take a photo of them and they all yelled “Yeah!” and posed. A few minutes before they started selling bracelets, these four kids came to us with a plastic bottle filled with those small toy plastic balls that are made to grow bigger when they absorb water. One girl showed us how it works and gave one to us to keep. She pointed at the sea and said “put water”. I instantly knew they wanted us to be surprised by how fast it grew but I also wanted to point out that it is not environmentally friendly to throw plastic into the ocean for fun. Hesitantly I told her that it’s not nice to throw plastic away like that and she quickly understood and brought water in a cup. That made me think about how these kids are so smart and fast but lack education.

Also, there wasn’t any changing rooms or showers at the beach so make sure you are already wearing your swimsuits underneath your clothes if you want to tan or swim. Bringing a towel or a scarf to sit on and dry off would be handy as well.

Dining/Drinking

We walked into a bar at the beach that was connected to Ravenala Resort. A beautiful painting and the sunset view was welcoming us. The drinks were 90-130PHP (2-3USD) and interestingly this was the only bar that had 10% service charge in Cebu. There wasn’t any Happy Hour but they said we can only order drinks not meals. We weren’t hungry anyways but keep in mind that these bars along the beach might not take dinner orders until after sunset. We were here around 5PM and enjoyed the sunset at the best spot possible.

Summary

Although Moalboal is a divers’ town, if you want best of both worlds and are looking for a nice tanning beach, White Beach will not let you down! Best time to go would be after lunch and come back around 6PM for the pink sunset tricycle ride.

-Transportation
Tricycle from Panagsama Beach: 400PHP for two (round trip), 15 minutes one way
Bike rental from Panagsama Beach: 300PHP per person (whole day), 10 minutes

-Other Expenses
Entrance fee: 5PHP
Bar: drinks ranging from 90 to 130PHP +10% service charge

*conversion rate: 50PHP to 1USD approximately