The Shangrila Mactan has loads of activities and things to do for kids and adults alike. The main swimming pool at the Shangrila Mactan is huge with multi levels, a couple of slides for younger kids and a nice little shaded area for babies to paddle in. The main slide is quite big but is really made for younger kids, like 2-4 year olds, as the water pressure down it means you go down at the speed of a frightened turtle, literally. It takes the kids about a full minute to get down and speed is definitely not the name of the game here. There’s another little slide feature which has a couple of small slides going down, also suitable for young toddlers. The other pool, located neared the beach in the Ocean Wing at the Shangrila Mactan, can only be used for Ocean Wing guests. It’s got a few shaded areas but no slides or anything of note for kids. Both pools provide quite good entertainment watching grown Koreans who can’t swim attempt to swim. Most of them are in either full body wet suits and/or life jackets covered from head to toe.
The Shangrila Mactan has mini golf which is badly in need of some maintenance, if it wasn’t so old and run down it’d actually be quite good with some interesting holes. You can rent putters and balls from the activity center located near the main swimming pool. There’s also a little pitch and putt golf course which is fine for younger kids as well. There’s also table tennis, petanque, some swings, boxing and a few other things to do you can book at the activity center.
When you’ve had enough beach and pools, head to the Kids Center, there’s actually two at the Shangrila Mactan – Adventure Zone and e-Zone. Adventure Zone is quite a good indoor kids area with a couple of slides and some places they climb up. You can spend an hour or two in here quite easily but not really for toddlers, although there’s another creche type area for them next to Adventure Zone that I didn’t pay much attention to. E-Zone has some video games, a few pool tables and the like and is more for older kids. Bother are pretty good and will give you a break for a few hours on a rainy day.
The beach at Shangrila Mactan I must say is excellent for kids of all ages. You can snorkel, which is not bad, not considering the rubbish floating in the sea on some days, but what’s really good is the fish that come in near the shore. The feeding days are on Mon, Wed and Fri, ask for some fish food at the hire center on the beach, even without it, the fish will likely come right up next to you looking for it. Once you’re done with that, sit back on the beach and watch some of the Koreans absolutely freak out with the fish being so close. Little ones can go in and have a paddle and also enjoy it. It only gets boring after 3 days.
You can hire snorkels, masks, flippers, life jackets (free) and the like so no need to bring anything. There’s also the usual beach activities like water skiing, banana boating, parasailing, wake boarding and the like, which can all be booked at the Dive Center or on the Beach. It’s a nice beach area, there’s some dead coral near the shore, but enough sand that you can avoid it. You can find out more about the snorkelling in Toucan’s Tips for Kids.
I don’t think you’ll have any problems finding things to do at the Shangrila Mactan, at least for 3-5 days. I don’t think I’d stay much longer than that, 3 or 4 nights is enough but some of you might be fine for much longer.
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