New Currents in Culture and Cuisine in Cebu, Philippines — Part 2
Discover what sustainable travel looks like today on Cebu’s Caohagan Island and along the Bojo River.
Words Hur Taewoo
Photos Park Shinwoo
A Community That Grows on Its Own
Gliding out of Hilton Port on Mactan Island, the banka cuts through the water. Islands dot the horizon, and great clouds drift across the sky. At low tide, the emerald sea is so clear you can see straight to the bottom. After about an hour of navigating a maze of shallow channels, we arrive at the miniature-like Caohagan Island.
This small coral island, roughly 300 meters long from east to west, maintains a small community of its own. The development boom that swept over Mactan and the surrounding islands feels like a distant story here. About 600 residents live slowly on an island with minimal infrastructure, exchanging moments with travelers who pass through. The small beach ringed by white sand is nothing short of paradise. Walk more than ten meters toward the sea, and the water still only reaches your waist. A strange feeling rises up, as if you yourself have become an island. Inland, residents sell traditional quilted handicrafts and open small food stalls for visitors. Once the outsiders leave and the island falls quiet again, the community’s unhurried daily life still seems to hold true.
Back on the mainland, a vehicle sets off early from Cebu City, weaving through a tight procession of vans, SUVs, jeepneys, and tricycles. About three hours later, we arrive at the entrance to the Bojo River in Aloguinsan. Here, deep in the tropical jungle, lies a sustainable ecotourism village. After a short five-minute walk along a forest trail, we reach the river’s boat landing. Villagers appear as if from nowhere, welcoming visitors with lively music and dance. The Bojo River is a short, roughly 1.4-kilometer waterway that runs from the village to the sea, and the community that turned this river into a tourism resource was named a “Best Tourism Village” by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2021 — the first internationally recognized case of sustainable tourism in the Philippines.
The Bojo River Cruise program follows a sequence: welcome ceremony, orientation, and then the cruise itself. The orientation takes place first, in a wooden reception space built at the river’s mouth — a crucial step for understanding both the river and the journey ahead. Jamaila Alvarado of BAETAS introduces the Bojo River with confidence. “Eco-tourism has brought so many positive changes to this community. The first is income, and the second is women’s empowerment. Fishermen’s wives are now guides, putting their abilities to full use.” In 2009, the local government of Aloguinsan hoped to develop the Bojo River into a sustainable destination, aiming to improve the unstable livelihoods that came from fishing and farming. Out of some 400 applicants from the village, 52 completed the local government’s training program, and eco-tourism began in earnest. “We trained for four months, investing our sweat and blood. The government taught us how to fish, in a manner of speaking — through this, the mindset of the local residents changed. We came to understand just how important conservation and protection truly are.” Today, the Bojo has built a community-led model of sustainable tourism. Income earned from tourism goes toward paying local wages as well as funding free school meals and medical outreach in the community. The forest, once thinned out by the previous generation’s logging, is now covered in deep green once more.
We board a banka-style boat to fully experience the cruise. As the boat slowly drifts away from the dock, village children wave and greet us, then quickly dive into the water. The river winds quietly through a valley thick with mangroves and palm trees. As we move slowly along, the guide aboard explains the mangrove ecosystem, the birds, and the estuary environment where the river meets the sea. Sunlight glimmering on the water reflects dazzlingly off the mangrove branches. The closer we get to the sea, the more coral and tropical fish appear through the boat’s transparent glass bottom. The Tañon Strait, between Cebu and Negros islands, is considered one of the most biodiverse waters in the Philippines. When someone suddenly cheers, it means a sea turtle has been spotted.
The boat, having drifted along the coast, turns back upstream toward the landing. As we feel grateful to experience this beautiful nature, Alvarado’s words linger. “Eco-tourism is very difficult to promote. Not everyone who has visited over the past 17 years has been an eco-traveler. But I believe that only those with good intentions can truly appreciate nature.”
To See
Atúa Midtown
A mixed-use cultural space created by renovating an old hotel building in the heart of Cebu City. The Beverly Boutique Hotel, which closed after the pandemic, has been transformed into shops, cafés, a gallery, and shared workspaces. The name Atúa means “ours” in Cebuano, and it now serves as a hub “for us” — for local creators in Cebu who had long been thirsting for a community space. Since the venue reuses the former hotel’s rooms and hallways, each shop is modest in size, but the creativity on display is remarkably diverse. Even as the spaces themselves are standardized, no two storefronts look alike. Each declares its own identity through a variety of installations and graffiti, and individual tastes and perspectives shine through in the figures, merchandise, books, clothing, photography, and paintings on offer.
Kenneth Cobonpue Showroom
This is the place to see nearly all of the work by Kenneth Cobonpue, the celebrated furniture designer from Cebu. Serving as both the brand’s headquarters and showroom, it operates by appointment only. Cobonpue followed in the footsteps of his mother, who had worked as a furniture designer in Cebu since the 1970s, before becoming a designer himself. His work — which fuses traditional materials like rattan, bamboo, abaca, and palm with a contemporary design language — continues to showcase the excellence of Philippine craftsmanship to the world. In particular, the furniture completed by the hands of Cebu’s local artisans stands out for its organic, handcrafted design sensibility, and the Yoda chair, made of rattan and a steel frame, became a worldwide hit.
To Stay
Radisson Blu Cebu
Located right next to SM City Cebu, one of the city’s largest shopping malls. Unlike the resort-style hotels of Mactan Island, this hotel makes it easy to move between the downtown shopping district and the business area. It features a grand ballroom, an outdoor pool, and a spa, while the all-day dining restaurant Feria and The Lobby Bar comfortably welcome guests of every style.