Mercedes Beach

Mercedes Beach sits on Medellin’s stretch of Cebu’s northern coast, a working shoreline more than a resort strip — palm-lined, soft sand, and quiet enough on a weekday that the loudest thing around is the surf. It’s a fishing-village beach first, which is part of why it stayed unmarketed while Bantayan and Malapascua, both a short ride further north, built out their own tourist infrastructure.

Barangay Mercedes runs, like most of Medellin’s coastal villages, on small-boat fishing rather than tourism — outriggers head out before dawn and come back with the morning’s catch sold directly off the boat or through the local market rather than through any formal supply chain. That rhythm is still what shapes the beach day to day: fishing gear drying on racks, boats pulled up on the sand between trips, and the occasional net being mended in the shade, all part of ordinary life here rather than staged for anyone passing through.

Medellin’s economy has run on sugarcane since the Bogo-Medellin mill was built here in the early 20th century, plus fishing along stretches like this one; tourism is a newer, smaller layer on top of both, which shows in how little infrastructure sits right at the beach. That’s a different balance than Bantayan or Malapascua, where tourism has grown large enough to reshape the local economy around it — Mercedes stays firmly a fishing-and-farming town with a beach, not the reverse.

• The shoreline runs long and mostly flat, good for an early walk before the heat sets in.
• The water stays shallow and calm close to shore, fine for swimming without much surf to manage.
• There’s little in the way of shade or facilities — bring your own mat, water, and sun cover for an afternoon stay.
• Early morning is when fishing boats come in — worth timing a walk around that if seeing the working side of the beach is of interest.
• Buying fish directly from a boat, when the catch is being sold that way, supports the household that caught it rather than a middleman.
• This stays a low-facility beach by design rather than neglect — pack in what you need rather than expecting a resort-style setup.
• If a fish vendor sets up nearby, ask what came in that morning rather than what’s listed — the catch varies day to day and the freshest option isn’t always the same species.

Reef fish and small pelagics caught along this stretch typically end up grilled whole over charcoal, seasoned simply with salt and a squeeze of calamansi, the small local citrus that shows up alongside almost every grilled or fried dish in this part of the Philippines. It’s the same straightforward preparation found at beach stops up and down Cebu’s coast, less a recipe than a reflection of what’s actually available that day and how little needs to be done to a fish caught hours earlier to make it worth eating.

For visitors, the practical upshot is a beach that still functions primarily for the people who live along it, with whatever tourism happens here treated as incidental rather than the point. That’s worth adjusting expectations around before arriving — this isn’t a stretch built for a full day of resort-style amenities, and the appeal is closely tied to that plainness rather than in spite of it.

Explore More in Medellin

• Discovery Reef
• Aisle of Medellin