Undiscovered paradise

River rafting, golfing (two great golf courses and never any waiting to play.) Wonderful beaches that are very unspoilt (no rows of condominiums or hotels) Shopping-wow- goods come in through the "back door" from Thailand, Indonisia, China and many other countries. Silver, clothes, leather goods, hand weaving, carvings, you name it and you can find it here for pennies. I bought a pile of great batik pareos (you may call them shawls) for only .00 each. And of course the pearls. Slightly unperfect pearls are less than a string.

The filipino people are great at copying clothes. I had two piece unlined ladies suits copied for .00, using wonderful cotton prints that I bought for under .00 a yard.

As tourists are new in the area, you get really spoilt. The people are so kind and gentle and they don't have their hands held out for tips all the time, nor to do press you to buy things.

There are some banks with ATM machines in the centre of the city.

Great restaurants, wonderful flowers everywhere and good cheap hotels. What more could you want?

Quick Tips:

Getting there can be a bit of a chore. Fly to Manila and then direct to Cagayan-de-Oro. Or take the slow way on overnight ferryboat. Or you can fly to Cebu and then take either the ferry or a local flight.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis are cheap and pleantiful; Negotiate the price. There are lots of local buses although they tend to be crowded. Local fishermen will take you from beach to beach and I found them very reliable at returning to pick me up, although often it was almost as cheap just to keep them at thje beach for as long as you wanted to be there.

The Hotel is right on the beach, although its a very small beach.

Spacious cottages located around the free-form pool. Cottages have three piece washrooms en suite. Furniture is very comfortable and the rooms are very clean. All cottages have thatched roofs and concrete block walls covered in woven bamboo.

Ask for cottages 1,2 or 3. From these cottages you can hear the waves crashing on the beach.

There is also a cheaper room in a modern block but its further away from the pool and the beach.

Its more like a resort with lots of activities such as billiards, games room, kareoke sometimes, and it has a great restaurant.

The owners live on the property and are very hospitable. The atmosphere is very casual.

Nice modern rooms in a three story block around the free-form swimming pool. All rooms have a view of the Ocean.

Good beds, in-suite bathrooms TV etc., and very clean.

Located right on a wide, sandy beach, the tide comes almost into the resort.

The pool is wonderful with sloping edges, a waterfall and lots of shady places to sit. Separate pool for kiddies. All very safe.

Amazing, wonderful food. Big tables with revolving centres. Everything is cooked in the wok of course. Filipinos do not drink very much so there is not a great wine list but local beers and some imports. Some international cocktails but its best to tell them how you like your cocktail made or you may wind up with something overly sweet. Fab. fresh fruits, particularly pineapples, mangos and bananas.

After eating so many local dishes it was great to find a restaurant that served more variety including American, Mexican, Italian. The menu includes quite a lot of "fast food" items but also has some pretty good weekly specials. The best thing about this place is the staff. All young and cheerful, they greet guests with a chant of "Welcome to Bigbys" and your departure with "Thank you for coming to Bigbys". They also have a resonable wine list which is rather unusual as wine drinking is not a national aport in the Philippines, except perhaps in Manilla.

Trent Jones course in perfect condition. Built for the execs. of Del Monte Pineapple farms and canning plant.

Hardly ever used. Never need to book ahead.

Water rafting in this area is exciting without being too difficult for the beginner.

The program starts not too far above the city and you can raft all the way down into the Ocean. It can be a slow ride if you stick to the shallows at the edges of the river and quite fast in you stay in the centre. Not too much "white water" but enough to make the trip interesting.

Views of the banks with its many monkeys and parrots adds to the interest.

Prices vary according to the number of people but overall are very modest.

It is said that the during the occupation by Japan, gold was buried in a number of areas around Cagayan de Oro. Is it true? who know but I certainly came accross several groups of treasure hunters during my stay here.