
The floor drops away twenty meters out
No wade, no boat ride to the good part. You cross the rock shelf in front of the dive shops, put your face in the water, and the reef edge just ends. The sardines are there most days, all year, and have been for about fifteen years. Fees checked August 2026.
Explore the Philippines through the eyes of someone who has actually been there.
Latest dispatches
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Danao to Camotes: The Crossing, and Why the Caves Need High Tide
The caves on Camotes only fill at high tide, which is the opposite of Magpupungko. The crossing from…
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Four Days in Bantayan: The Itemized Cost, Solo, Couple and Barkada
Four days on Bantayan costs about ₱8,200 solo, ₱7,200 each as a couple, and ₱6,100 each in a…
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Tricycle and Habal-Habal Fares: There Is No Official Rate
There is no official tricycle fare in Panglao, Santa Fe, General Luna or San Juan. Not a higher…
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Siargao Beyond General Luna: The Pacifico, Burgos and Alegria Road Run
Magpupungko only exists at low tide. At high water the rock pools are under the sea and there…
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Your Hotel Room Is Not Ready Yet: The Four-Hour Arrival Plan for Philippine Islands
Turn the awkward gap before hotel check-in into a calm first afternoon with the LAND Plan: leave bags,…
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Diesel dropped ₱3.83 this week. Cebu boards still read ₱84.50.
Diesel fell ₱3.83 a liter at 6am on 1 September 2026 and a Petron board on N. Escario…
One archipelago, three island groups
7,641 islands
Sinulog Festival, Cebu City · 9:12 PM
Sinulog is not a parade. It is a heartbeat.
One Sunday every January, two million people move to the same drum. We have shot it from the street and from the sky since 2022, and it still finds new ways to stop us cold.
Read the festival guideBite into Cebu
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Four steakhouses in Cebu, and not one of them is trying to be the others.
Every steak list for this city is assembled from other people’s reviews. This one is built…
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Nine visits in five years. Never once on a Sunday.
Fat Jim’s shuts on Sundays and on public holidays, which is the tell. Nine visits since…
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Ask a Cebuano where to eat steak. You will hear this name first.
Six visits over seven years, and four of my ten photographs are the building rather than…
Wear the story
The islands you just read about, worn worldwide
Dispatches from 7,641 islands
Field guides, drone routes, and the honest version of every destination. Written after the trip, not before.

