We went to Bohol the week before Holy Week this year. I made the hotel arrangements a couple of weeks before arrival, which is a good thing because the Paragayo Resort owner asked for 1/2 deposit for the 3 days/2 nights stay at the hotel. I selected a standard room which is at P1,400. It was also air-conditioned. I deposited the amount to their account number and called them to confirm if they had received the payment. Upon confirmation, I was confident that we would have a place to stay for April 2&3. I sent Chriscent Ville an email for book booking on April 4.

Day 1: This time, we went via Zest Air. We got to the old domestic airport around 8:00 a.m. That was where the Zest Air planes were located. We killed time and ate breakfast before our flight. We boarded the aircraft, and arrived at Bohol close to noon. Since we left late, we arrived late. I was expecting Dario’s Fil-Cab to take us from the airport to our hotel in Panglao. I got his name from the virtualtourist website. The agreed upon rate via text is P300. It turns out that it was a driver with a van – we had to pay P400 instead. I was a bit dismayed, but was determined to enjoy the ride from Tacloban to the well paved roads of Panglao. We arrived at Paragayo Resort and proceeded to determine the location of the beach. It turns out it is a five minute walk. The sand is more mocha than white, I must say. However, the texture is fine, and that makes up for the color.

We started walking to Alona Kew, and found a restaurant at the bottom of one resort. The strip of Alona Kew beach is reminiscent of Boracay – there are resorts and restaurants lining up the shoreline. The prices are also reminiscent of Boracay – definitely higher than what we got used to at Coron. That’s where we had our first lunch. Suffice to say that the cost of lunch was expensive – roughly P250 for both of us. The sweet and sour fish alone was at P100+. I think I got spoiled with Coron prices. The resorts and other restaurants were a few meters away from the water, and the waves were pounding furiously. I had no desire to get towed away by such strong current, so we decided to nap at the resort until later in the p.m. I sent a text to Mang Viao (0916-464–5214)to confirm the dolphin watching expedition for the following day. I had already sent him previous messages prior to leaving, this was simply to confirm the trip for the following day. He replied by saying that the boat man will pick us up at Paragayo resort around 5:30 a.m. the following day. I have not adjusted to normal sleeping patterns yet, and 5:30 a.m. is a challenge to see some dolphins.

Alona Kew Beach

By 3 p.m., we headed off to Alona beach. We went to the farthest portion with the widest area for swimming, in front of the more expensive resorts. The waves at Alona beach are strong. I kept getting pulled back by the current, so I was careful not to go too far out. We selected one of the seaside areas for grilled seafood for dinner. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep track of our food expenses, but the normal range for eating at Alona restaurants are at P250 for 2 heads. That is, if you select the simpler restaurants. After eating grilled seafood, we headed early to our resort. Time to sleep early for our early a.m. pick up the following day.

Day 2: The boat man was prompt. When we went out of the resort, he was right outside. It turns out he is Viao’s nephew. I also found it a good sign that Viao owns a number of boats, because it is most likely well-maintained. We were being charged P1,500 (including 1 set of snorkel gear), plus 100 for another set of snorkel gear. We left the dock around 6 a.m. when we saw the other boats heading out. We were far from the shore and right deep in the water. We were chasing a school of dolphins together with the other boats.

Dolphin Watching

After an hour or so (I wasn’t keeping track of the time), the boatmen took us to Balicasag island. We ordered fish to be made into sinigang, setting us back P400 for breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the beach to snorkel. The rental actually came with new snorkels and new flippers, but we decided to skip the flippers. There was an optional trip to the marine sanctuary for another P200 to snorkel and see a school of fish. We decided to skip that one, and just paddled around the edge of Balicasag. There were so many colorful fishies in that area! When my partner and I got tired of snorkeling after an hour, we were then off to Virgin Island.

When we arrived at Virgin Island, the banca ‘docked’ at a stretch of white sand that was leading to water. The sand was powdery white, and the waters were calm, blue green waters. The tide was slow, and I decided to swim around the area. My husband and I decided to cirlce the small island on foot.  When we reached a certain portion of the island, we decided to walk as far as we could since the water was very low – it wasn’t even hitting my knees. We met a fisherman who had a whole catch of sea urchins. When we asked him it was for, he said that it was a delicacy. Seriously! We didn’t realize how long we had stayed out. When arrived at the banca, the boatmen were sleeping and the sandy stretch of sand leading to the island was covered in water. When we got back to Alona beach, the sun was high on the horizon, and we proceeded to Paragayo resort for a much needed batch. I swear, one of the strangest things there was the water. The water from the shower was salty!

Virgin Island Sandbar

After lunch, we decided to walk to the beach for a much needed lunch. We headed off the the beach and settled on an Italian restaurant for a late lunch. We went for pizza and pasta. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to doze off. It was later in the afternoon – around 4 p.m. that we went back to the beach. I was a sucker for crashing waves so I picked up where I left off yesterday and swam around Alona Beach. Actually, I was doing a lot of standing to prevent myself from getting towed by the big waves. My partner was at the water’s edge watching my antics. I stayed there until 5:30 p.m. We decided to have dinner on a nice, romantic setting to face the sunset. The sky was a swirling pink cotton candy of rays. We had a hearty dinner, and were off on our way back to sleep early.

Day 3: I had made arrangements prior to arrival for a car rental with driver that will serve as a tour guide with Mang Rod (0918-591-4969). I decided to go with him because he let me add 2 things to the itinerary – Hinagdanan Cave and Bohol Bee Farm – without charging me too much. He just asked for an additional P100 for the driver on top of the rates that he was charging. Saturday morning, our driver was at the resort as early as 7 a.m. to pick us up for a long day of Bohol tour ahead of us. Our first stop was Hinagdanan Cave. The cave was made of rock formations with a mini lake inside. We descended down via short steps, and we observed Spanish era cave drawings on the wall. One man guided us inside the slippery cave and took our pictures. When we got out, we were off to Bohol Bee Farm. I loved our trip here. We paid P80 for a guided tour that took about an hour. Our first stop was to see the spice garden where they cultivated many spices. They also had a greenhouse that they were building. We then went to see (and touch!) the cultured bees that were still stuck on honeycombs. The queen bee was there too. We also observed the compost area where worms would turn organic waste into fertilizer. The other stops were followed by trips to the weaving center were the produced lovely wall pieces made of natural fiber. We also got to see the organic restaurant, the cottages that were for rent, and we went down to the deck that faced the water. The waves were absolutely pounding on the wooden deck. When we finished the trip, we got to check out the produce/products being sold that was native to the farm. It is somewhat reminiscent of Sonya’s Garden, although better.

Our next stop after leaving Panglao island is the Blood Compact site. There was a nice bronze statue facing the water. We took pictures of the site, and then proceeded to sit beside the statue for a photographic stop. We then went to Clarin house. Clarin house is an old, Spanish-era house owned by one of the oldest and well-known families of Bohol.  We were let inside after paying the entrance fee. The house was not really that well preserved, there were walls that were gaping. I am judging this by Western standards. It was really interesting to see how people lived before.  After Clarin house, we dropped by Butterfly Garden. At Butterfly Garden, we got to see the different butterfly stages and touch live butterflies! I enjoyed this short trip inside the garden.

Chocolate Hills

We then proceeded to the Chocholate Hills. It was quite a trek up the steps to see the sight, but after Mt. Tapyas, it was a breeze. I liked the view from the top, and we took many pictures on our way down. From Chocolate Hills, we passed through the Man made forest, and we stopped for the customary pictures. Next stop after this was the Hanging Bridge. It was a bridge made of natural materials that was suspended over the water. We walked to the other side and got stuck there on the souvenir shops as the rain continued to pour. After the rain subsided, we went out promptly to hit our next stop.

We waited 30 minutes or more at the Loboc River Cruise terminal. We paid for the buffet lunch at P500 per plate, rather pricey. When we got to the bancas, we were treated to a buffet lunch and we can see the view around Loboc river. We would make ‘stops’ where there would be children/adults that are singing and dancing native songs in front of our boat. We also got to observe about 2 types of waterfalls. Unfortunately, halfway through the cruise, the rain started again, and the boat was open air on all sides. We managed to get quite a bit wet. After the cruise, we were taken to see the tarsier. These are cuddly little devils with eyes bugging out at you. We donated some money to feed the tarsier.

Tarsier

After taking pictures, we were off to Baclayon church. We paid the fees to tour the museum – let’s just say San Agustin’s collection is way more extensive. Baclayon church is the oldest church in Bohol. I liked the dark blue insides of the church; too bad our batteries ran out!

Our great driver took us to a souvenir shop a short drive away from the church. Ooh, I loved the place. There were so many Filipino delicacies! I stocked up on Peanut kisses! Our driver dropped us at our hotel at Tagbilaran City, Chriscent Ville Hotel. This was around 5 p.m. already. We paid P2000 (200 was tip for the driver) for the whole day tour. We were immensely satisfied with his service.

When we checked into our hotel, the room rate was at P850/night. It wasn’t bad at all. We had twin beds, and an air-conditioned room with cable TV. Paragayo was more expensive, and it didn’t have cable TV! We walked to the nearby mall to have dinner at the regular McDonald’s. We walked around the mall a bit to observed the wares before heading back to watch TV. Surprisingly, Tagbilaran is not very cosmopolitan. It was a Saturday afternoon, but the surrounding area was not bustling for a city. Even Pampanga is more developed – there were no malls.

Day 4: The following day, we went to a nearby Jollibee for breakfast. There was no ride for our 1130 a.m. flight out. There was no shuttle on Sundays. The other service that I was calling was charging P300 for a ride to the airport. Lucky for us, it turns out that if you take a trike, it costs P20 to get you to the airport. We took the trike and did an early check in. There were other passengers before us for a PAL flight, we couldn’t get inside the small departure area. We had to wait at a cafe outside where we read books to kill time. One hour before the flight, we decided to go into the departure area.

What I liked about the Zest Air flight going into and out of Bohol was the complimentary Zest-O, the nice Zest Air magazine, and the free newspaper (Manila Bulletin) that you can read on the flight. We got back by 1 p.m. on a Sunday, tired but energized from the trip.