Kota Beach

Kota Beach sits on Bantayan Island’s Santa Fe side, known for a sandbar that surfaces at low tide and a long run of pale, fine sand. Bantayan’s economy has historically run on fishing rather than tourism — the island operates one of the larger municipal fishing fleets in the Visayas, and dried fish from its ports still supplies markets across Cebu. The beach itself trades on a slower pace than Cebu’s east coast resorts: shallow, warm water, coconut cover along the shoreline, and little of the beach-club scene found on Mactan.

• Walk the sandbar out at low tide — it extends well into the water and disappears again as the tide comes in.
• Rent a kayak to reach the quieter, mangrove-lined stretches of the coastline.
• Stay through sunset; the open west-facing water gives Kota Beach some of Cebu’s better evening light.

Explore More in Santa Fe

• Castle Peak Mabolo
• Cambuang Hill
• Most Sacred Heart of Jesus D Jakosalem St Cebu City