Amuma: Truly Filipino

Stronger than ever.

Amidst all the challenges brought about by several calamities as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that devastated the tourism industry, Bluewater Maribago in Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu remains strong and popular among tourists both foreign and local alike.

Bluewater Maribago, the flagship resort of the Bluewater Resorts Group recently celebrated its 35th year as it showcased the best of Filipino culture: creative, warm, friendly, attentive, caring and relaxing – all captured by this old Visayan word “amuma.”

Approximately seven hectares, including the 1.1 hectare-Bluewater Private Island, Bluewater Maribago started as a private rest house covering only three hectares for the family of the late Arcadio Alegado from Carcar also in Cebu. The family then already owned a hotel in Butuan (Almond City Hotel) and was engaged in the manufacture and export of rattan furniture to the United States.

Opened to the public in July 1989, by 1992, Bluewater Maribago expanded into having 32 rooms, 40 employees, two restaurants and a swimming pool. And by 1997, this was increased to 76 rooms.

In an interview, Rhyz Buac, vice president for operations and finance of Bluewater Resorts, recalls how they battled a number of difficult challenges but still managed to survive and do extremely well.

There was Super Typhoon Ruping in 1990 which made landfall in Cebu and left 500 people dead and 1,200 injured when it hit the province. It was considered then as the country’s most devastating typhoon inflicting more damage than any other typhoon had done since 1947. 

This was followed by the Asian financial crisis of 1997 which saw the Philippines’ gross domestic product dropping from 5.2 percent in 1997 to minus 0.5 percent the following year, the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2008 which was considered as the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the Great Depression, the 2013 earthquake in Bohol and Cebu followed by Typhoon Yolanda less than a month later than swept through central Visayas and the pandemic.

Hardly has Philippine tourism recovered from the devastation caused by the pandemic when Typhoon Odette struck in 2021, killing 105 in Cebu and damaging billions worth of houses, commercial establishments and infrastructure, “We were badly hit by typhoon Odette,” Buac recalls.

Three years later, Bluewater Maribago unveiled to the public its newest attraction called Sidlakan, a six-storey structure consisting of 65 rooms, and named after the Visayan word that means “to glimmer or shine.” The resort’s famous Pizzeria Delfino’s will move to Sidlakan.

Now, the Mactan resort boasts of 255 rooms and 301 employees. It has three other restaurants, Allegro and The Cove which is a live seafood restaurant and Oyster Bar which is an open-air bar located on the beachfront.

One’s visit will not be complete without trying their renowned Amuma Spa, which in 2016, was chosen by Cebuanos as the Best Resort Spa. It uses local, fresh, organic and natural ingredients for its treatments. 

According to Buac, occupancy rates as well as revenues have already surpassed 2019 levels. For the first six months of 2024, it has recorded an average occupancy rate of 90 percent. In terms of tourist arrivals though, “we are not yet at par with 2019 levels but we are getting there,” he said.

Koreans still lead in terms of the number of foreign visitors to Bluewater Mactan which Buac attributes to the huge number of direct flights from Korea to Cebu. This is followed by Filipino tourists and then the Japanese especially since there are direct flights coming from Narita in Japan.

Margie Munsayac, vice president for sales and marketing of Bluewater Resorts, shared that a number of airline companies have direct flights to and from Cebu. These include Air Asia which took care of bringing us smoothly and safely to Cebu and back to Manila, our very own flag carrier Philippine Airlines, and Cebu Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines, Asiana, Jeju Air, Jin Air and Korean Airlines. 

Then there are flights from Dubai to Cebu daily via Emirates, flights from Qatar, and then those from Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Cebu which Europeans can avail of to reach the island province of Cebu. There are also flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles twice a week to Cebu, Munsayac who is the chairperson and formerly president of the Organization of Hotel Sales and Marketing professionals which groups over 90 hotels and resort members nationwide added. 

Meanwhile, Bluewater Maribago assistant general manager Domiku Sebastien Ugarte, grandson of the Maribago Group founder, recalls how the resort started as a family rest house, how many of their family events and milestones were celebrated there, how he and his siblings grew up alongside the resort, it has blossomed into a haven with 255 rooms and how it has grown and evolved into becoming a hotspot for both family and corporate events.

Ugarte explains that one trait that makes Bluewater Maribago stand out from other resorts in the area is its unique brand of Filipino hospitality. “We are more than just a resort, we are a community. And we will continue to innovate and improve,” he said.

And like Bluewater Maribago in Mactan, the rest of the resorts in the Bluewater Group are all doing exceptionally well. The group owns and operates Bluewater Sumilon which opened in 2005 and Bluewater Panglao in 2011. It also has two other hotels in Butuan and Surigao.

According to Buac, they are gradually increasing the number of rooms at the Panglao resort from the current 82 to reach 100. In the Sumilon resort which used to have 12 rooms, there are now 31 rooms. 

I have been to all three resorts and I can say that amuma is not just a tagline – it is a feeling that one can experience in any of the Bluewater resorts.

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