All in Alegria!

CEBU, Philippines - Bored with your old South-of-Cebu itinerary that spells the usual Moalboal-Kawasan-Badian routes? Here’s my proposal: put on your trekking gear, carry a mask and snorkel, and fins, catch the first bus trip towards the south (take Barili) and enjoy a two-hour easy-breezy ride to Alegria! Give it a day!

Alegria Heritage Park

Dotted with benches and trellises, installed with ample lighting of Hispanic lampposts and a well-manicured lawn of bamboo grooves, the sprawling Alegria Heritage Park truly can’t be missed at Brgy. Poblacion. Relatively new, set across the iconic St. Francis Xavier Church, along the coastline, the park features not only the hangout spaces but also the baluarte or the Bantayan sa Hari - the ruins of the stone watchtower used during Spanish era in case of pirate invasion or attack. A coffee shop will soon rise herein to accommodate coffee fans and provide another venue to socialize.

Kambais Falls

This three-tiered water attraction of clear, gushing water cascade in Brgy. Valencia is Alegria’s untouched gem. Although it has already gathered quite a heap of travelers and sight-seers, Kambais remains unspoiled amidst a thick remote well-forested setting of lush greens and animal/bird sanctuaries that a 30-minute trek going to Kambais is a treat in itself. Not tall and majestic enough to make the jaw drop, its charm simply lies in the translucence of the water that mirrors the sky especially on a fair, sunny day — creating a blue lagoon basin-like pool on the first level. Also, what makes this picture perfect is the huge rock formation in one side of the falls with vines sprawling all over. Truly a sight to behold.

Marine Sanctuaries

Mount a snorkeling and diving safari in Alegria. According to Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Council chair and Legazpi Brgy. Councilor Manolito Aguelo, Alegria has five marine protected areas or marine sanctuaries in three different barangays: two in Madridejos where giant clams  thrive; two in Santa Filomena, a turtles’ nesting ground; and the biggest that is in Legazpi, that has a bed of soft corals – home to damsels, angel fish, among other different fish species. Truly a visual feast! And if lucky enough, catch a glimpse of sea turtles which are residents of the wide Alegria sea. Aguelo, who is a PADI-certified diver, shared that the municipality’s reef is 98 percent coral covered, hence an extravagant display of rich, protected marine life awaits the beachbums.