Seasonal· Cebu· Philippines

Typhoon Season in the Central Visayas

10° 19.2′ N · 123° 45.0′ E · approximate

Cebu, Bantayan, Malapascua and the Camotes lie on the typhoon track: storms can arrive in any month, but the central Visayas are most exposed to late-season typhoons in November and December - Haiyan (2013), Rai/Odette (2021) and Kalmaegi/Tino (2025) all hit this cruising ground.

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Coordinate is a nominal centre of Cebu island (Wikipedia), not a place to go. Monsoons: the NE Amihan blows from about December to April, the SW Habagat from about June to October, with variable shoulder months in November and May (Hacking Family). Hacking Family note that the central Visayas and northern Palawan are sometimes hit by late-season storms in November-December. Haiyan (November 2013) devastated northern Cebu, Bogo and Malapascua; Rai (December 2021) left Cebu pleading for help and wrecked Kalanggaman's boats; Kalmaegi (November 2025, local name Tino) caused record freshwater flooding with at least 150 deaths in Cebu, including Liloan, Compostela, Mandaue, Cebu City and Danao. Shelter: Port Carmen's inner basins sheltered every yacht through Haiyan with boats tied off with many warps to both banks and to each other, anchors buried ashore and canvas stripped (Solita, 2013); book early. The Mactan Channel is a busy commercial harbour, not a typhoon hole. Further afield, Puerto Galera and Davao are the usual alternatives. Forecasts: PAGASA tropical-cyclone wind signals (the Coast Guard suspends small-craft sailings when signals are raised); cruisers use Windy (compare GFS and ECMWF) and Robert Speta's analysis. Remember storms rotate counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Earthquakes are a separate hazard: the M6.9 Bogo Bay Fault quake of September 30, 2025 (epicentre 12 km off Daanbantayan) damaged churches across northern Cebu and Bantayan and raised parts of the Bogo coast about 1 m - expect changed depths near Bogo.

Typhoon Season in the Central Visayas

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