Accommodation

For cheapos like me, you can stay at Tamblot Inn in Tagbilaran. Yes, that’s far from Panglao where the beaches are but hey, you can still go to Panglao, right? You’ll always be outside anyways so you won’t need first class amenities. Again, We’re El-Cheapo here and if there’s one thing that you can save on, it’s the accomodation. And in Tamblot Inn, their PHP500 room per night(no meals) is a real steal! The room can accomodate 3-4 persons.

Foods

Since Tamblot Inn is in the city, food is everywhere. Take a tricycle and you’ll already at the ICM mall, their biggest mall there. If you happen to be in Panglao during the night, you can try the restaurants and grills that dot the stretch of the Alona beach. Of course, if you try the restaurants in hotels and resorts like Bohol Beach Club, you’ll pay more.

Bohol Tours

It’s a must for all tourists in Bohol. You can rent a van or a car and even mini-SUV to bring you to popular tourist attractions in and around Bohol. You can find one just outside the airport. You can haggle with them. There’s a lot of choices so you may ask around. The usual price is PHP1,500 per day (NOTE:circa2007) for the usual route if you rent a car. But you can ask the driver to bring you to more places at an additional fee. Gas/Diesel isn’t cheap, anyways.

The usual route is as follows:

• Blood Compact site
• Baclayon Church
• Chocolate Hills
• Man-Made Forest
• Loboc River
• Hanging Bridge
• Giant Phyton
• Loboc Church

If your driver is kind enough, he can bring you to Hinagdanan cave which is in Panglao island. Other optional places to visit are Rice Terraces, Tarsier Sanctuary and Bohol Bee Farm among others. For usual route alone, you’ll need one whole day and by the time you go back to the city, you’ll be very exhausted. But nevertheless, the trip is fulfilling and for sure you’ll want to go back!

Balicasag Island

This iterinary is optional but since you’ve already saved from accommodation, you may want to take it. And for sure, you will love it!From Panglao island, you can hire boats that will bring you to Balicasag island. It usually costs between PHP2000 and PHP3000. The boat will bring you to the island and fetch you on agreed time.

In Balicasag, you’ll need to hire a banca to bring you to snorkeling area. It costs around PHP300 for the whole day. You can go on and off the shore as much as you want. Usually, the bangkeros have snorkeling gears for rent that will cost you PHP150 for a pair of goggles and flippers. Before you go there, make sure you bring food and water.

Loboc River Cruise

We timed our visit to Loboc such that when we reached Loboc, it’s lunchtime. It’s part of the tour and it costs a around PHP280 per head. That already includes buffet lunch that you’ll take while the boat traverses the river. Before you board the boat, you’ll also see some tarsiers.

And before I forget, there’s a local tax that you have to pay before boarding. I don’t know what that’s for but it’s a small change. Forgot how much but I think around PHP15.There are also nominal fees (or “donation”) in such places as Chocolate Hills, Baclayon Church Museum, Tarsier Sanctuary and the Phyton.

Pasalubong

We bought ours near the Tagbilaran port. Our driver was kind enough to bring us to one of the popular souvenir stores. Of course, you can also buy them in the city. At ICM, there’s the Island Souvenirs tee shirts which we really recommend.

That’s pretty much about it. I hope that somehow, this will help you in some way. As there’s a lot of places that we were not able to go to, we’ll definitely come back. Hopefully, money is not tight that time.

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Nope: “There is no ferry today, maybe tomorrow”, was the answer from the port staff.

What now? Jagna is a small town with 1 port, 3 roads and a very old church. We had not yet seen a hotel or any other place, where we could sleep. Hopefully we took a tricycle and asked the driver to bring us to the next resort.

Bingo! Less than 2 minutes eastward out of town we found the Domene Kaw.

“Domene Kaw” means “Welcome” in the Camiguin dialect and we felt welcome. For PHP 1000 we got a fine, clean room with hot water and a balcony overlooking the sea.Dinner was served on the balcony and we enjoyed a meal that meets the best western and Filipino kitchens.

Read the whole experience here

Chocolate Hills, the 1,268 limestone hills of Bohol was the most awaited tour
we had. We really expected a breath taking and fun sight seeing…and the “hills” didn’t fail us. Chocolate Hills are exceptional…. we were surprised at how many tourists there were, but considering this was a bit like a tourist spot, we shouldn’t have been surprised. We really had a great time finding ourselves to be flying on top of the chocolates =)

On our way back to the city, we got off at hanging bridge to take pictures then walked along on it. It was bloody scary, never been scared of heights like that before. The swaying of the bridge made it harder for me to ignore the heights. Yet, i still managed to cross and found there the “Buco King” who was once featured in tv to be the fastest guy to peel Buco using his teeth, too bad i wan’t able to take pictures. We hung out there for a while to take a break.

From there it took us another 15 mins drive to Clarins residence. The ancestral house that was preserved and became a museum of the old way ofl ife in Bohol. My uncle was so persistent to show us the Clarin’s house because according to him, it was the best replica of my grandparent’s house in Candijay… it wasn’t preserved though…. =(

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No doubt it was the highlight of our vacation in Bohol. Last December 30, we trooped from the mountains of Sudlon, Alicia, Bohol, where my wife hails, to the enchanting white sands of Candabong, Anda, a nearby town, for a cool Rizal Day splash.

The beach was public. We paid absolutely nothing to get in. The sand was creamy white and not artificial, unlike those in other private resorts in the province. At the farthest end of the semi-oval stretch of white sand is a small rock/island shaped like a soldier’s helmet. Along the shore were lines of boats and huts lying idly, as if time has stopped in that corner of the world.

When we arrived (at around 9am) there was nobody there. We had the whole place to ourselves. When my 5-year old son saw the place, he smiled all the way up to his ears. Then he plunged and spent the whole day on the water. A few other groups arrived later, but there was still plenty of space run around. In fact, there was plenty of space to do our barbecue and some cooking.

Our biggest expense that day was the transportation going there. All other expenses were minimal. The rent for the hut was only P150. The rent for the floats (inflated tire interiors) ranged only from P20 to P50 for unlimited use. Incidentally, we were told that you can take a pump boat ride, from one point to another, for only P150

Read more at Bol-anon Blog

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Set on the stunning coastline of the Panglao Beach in Bohol, the Amarela Resort shares the seas and the sands of one of the celebrated marine sanctuaries in the Philippines: The Handumon Seahorse Sanctuary of Bohol. For each sundown, the Panglao Beach in Bohol turns into a whole new world that teems with luminous seahorses swimming in the dark waters.
Seahorses have thrived in the waters of Bohol just as the world-renowned tarsiers have found sanctuaries in the forests of Bohol. It is hard to think of Bohol without them. It is incomplete to experience Bohol without them. And there is no better place in Bohol to experience what the island offers than the resort in Bohol of the Amarela.
 
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I had an awesome weekend! On Friday at 6pm, I flew to Manila, arrived at the airport and anxiously sorted through a sea of faces, trying to find Jane, the “girl in the red shirt”. I finally found her, not long after I had started imagining how I might spend a weekend in Manila on my own. We were joined up by the rest of our group: three South Africans, one Hong Konger, two American Hong Kongers, Jane, and myself.

We stayed the night in Manila. Though I was only there for a very short time, Manila didn’t give off a good vibe. I heard quite a few sirens through the night. We were greeted by a guard dog and a security check at the hotel entrance. I wasn’t sad to leave early the next morning for our destination- Bohol.

We arrived in Bohol, a tropical, coconut-tree spotted island just south of Cebu, which you may be familiar with. Bohol is known for its chocolate hills, the smallest primates on earth (tarsiers), white sand beaches and the fattest python in captivity. We actually saw all but the first during our day there.

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…Our next destination was Bohol, famous for the Chocolate Hills. We arrived there after a flight from Caticlan to Cebu, one night in Cebu, a boat ride to Tubigon and a bus ride from there to Carmen. We planned on checking out the Chocolate Hills, exploring the island a bit and staying for a few days at the Nuts Huts after which we would get some more time on the beach on Panglao.

Upon reaching Carmen (the town closest to the Chocolate Hills complex) we were surrounded by locals offering us a ride to the Chocolate Hills. We chose Victor (who is apparently mentioned in an old Lonely Planet) and two of his friends to take us there on the back of their dirt bikes, luggage and all.

Sure enough, the Chocolate Hills are everything they are made up to be: beautiful, eerie, nicest when the sun comes up and somewhat boring after a day or two. At the top of the tallest hill is a resort with a pool where the rooms have balconies looking over the Hills. The staff was bored out of their minds.

There is a tall staircase which brings you really high up, from where you get stunning views over the Chocolate Hills as the sun is coming up, lighting up the misty Hills with its rays.

We took a motorbike ride with Victor and his friends all over the surrounding area which was nice but nothing special. Due to a serious downpour we had to shelter for several hours and then had a lot of fun negotiating the bikes through the river that the road had turned into.

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Kirk, the photo masking king of The Philippines recommended Lost Horizon Beach Resort in Bohol, on Panglao Island, good advice I’m happy to share.

Lost Horizon is a small hotel on Panglao Island, Alona Beach, and they offer free WiFi to their guest, scoring beaucoup bonus points with me. The room cost was about P2500 (~$50) per night, and our entire stay there, including meals and laundry came to only P10,500 (~$200).

Lost Horizon does not have a swimming pool, but Alona Beach Resort, just down the beach and five times the price does have a pool. Alona Beach Resort wants P400 (~$8) for non-guests to swim in their pool. My suggestion is to stay at Lost Horizon and rent the pool.

Telephone: 038-5029099.  Email: losthorizonresort@gmail.com

Kirk and Barbie. The night Marissa and I arrived in Bohol, Kirk and his girlfriend, Barbie, took us out to eat at one of the many beach restaurants. For five people the cost came to P2000 (~$40), but man that was some good seafood.

Read the rest of the entry >> Panglao

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