Five-star Mactan Island, about 16 km from Cebu City, Cebu
Plantation Bay Resort and Spa
Rooms that open straight onto a saltwater lagoon, four feet deep, on eleven hectares of Mactan, with a house reef and a marine sanctuary beyond the beach.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 252, most on the lagoon
- Opened
- 1996, fully open in January 1997
- Grounds
- About 11 hectares
- From the airport
- About 20 minutes by car
The hotel
A banker's lagoon.
Manny Gonzalez was an investment banker in Hong Kong before he came home to the Philippines and built a resort of his own on Mactan. The first guest arrived in July 1996, and the place was fully open by January 1997. It marked thirty years in August 2026 with a party and fireworks, and Gonzalez still owns it. Today it has 252 rooms, most of them fronting the lagoon.
The plan is a circle around man-made lagoons, salt water and fresh, with the buildings named in alphabetical order so guests do not get lost. They borrow from the Caribbean and the American South: colonnades and long balconies. From the Water's Edge rooms you can step off the terrace into a lagoon four feet deep. Beyond the beach lie a house reef and a five-hectare marine sanctuary.
- The lagoons Two main saltwater lagoons for swimming, paddleboarding and kayaking, with many rooms opening straight onto the water.
- Mogambo Springs A spa in Japanese style, with a hot spring pool to use before a Thai or Swedish massage.
- Reef and sanctuary A house reef and a marine sanctuary of five hectares off the resort's beach, with a dive shop on site.
Rooms & suites
On the water, by the pool, or a villa of your own.
The resort describes each category plainly, down to which rooms have weaker views. Sizes are not published.
- Lagoon Water's Edge Room A balcony with steps into the lagoon, a king or two queen beds, and a separate bath and shower.
- Suites Beachside One- and Two-Bedroom Suites A living room and an extra-large balcony; the two-bedroom suite looks over the lagoon.
- Villas Quantum Villa and Riverboat Suite The villa has four detached bedrooms, a dipping pool and a great hall, with chauffeur transfers included. The Riverboat Suite is a two-bedroom cottage on stilts over the water.
Dining
Four restaurants and a bar on the roof.
Restaurants as listed by the resort. Shown for information.
- Kilimanjaro Kafé International and Filipino Open 24 hours
- Fiji Seafood, Japanese and Korean By the beach
- Palermo Spanish tapas, Italian pasta, steaks Evenings only
- Route 66 Diner American diner Beside the volcano pool
- Alien Abduction Cocktails and ice cream Above Kilimanjaro Kafé
Good to know
Before you go.
- Children The Deluxe Poolside rooms face a freshwater pool of about 450 square metres suited to small children, and the restaurants have children's menus.
- Getting about Golf carts run round the resort day and night.
- Sport Tennis courts used by the Philippine Davis Cup team, a pitch-and-putt course and a gym.
Getting there
Flying to Cebu.
Mactan-Cebu International Airport is about twenty minutes away by car, on the same island. Private jets use the same airport, where slots and a local handling agent are required.
- Manila 1 h 05
- Hong Kong 2 h 35
- Singapore 3 h 30
- Seoul 4 h 20
- Tokyo 4 h 35
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Can you swim in the lagoons at Plantation Bay?
- Yes. The two main saltwater lagoons are for swimming, paddleboarding and kayaking, and the Water's Edge rooms open straight into one of them.
- Who owns Plantation Bay?
- Its founder, Manny Gonzalez, a former investment banker in Hong Kong. The resort took its first guest in July 1996.
- How far is Plantation Bay from the airport?
- About twenty minutes by car from Mactan-Cebu International.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Cebu?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Cebu, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Cebu
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu Thirteen hectares of gardens and a 350-metre beach, twenty minutes by car from the airport.
- Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort At the northern tip of the Punta Engaño peninsula, with a 100-metre infinity pool and the Thai dining room Benjarong.
- NUSTAR Hotel Cebu The only hotel in Cebu with a MICHELIN Key: 223 large rooms with deep tubs and floor-to-ceiling windows, and Mott 32 downstairs.
Staying at Plantation Bay Resort and Spa?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Cebu, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.