I’ve been to a lot of places in the Philippines but it was my first-ever visit to the island province of Bohol last December 11 to 15. In my usual visits to other provinces in the country, it was always work-related. But this time, I was on “tourist-mode” along with my family.
Our plane touched down at the new Panglao International Airport at about 11:00 a.m. and my sister and her husband were already waiting for us at the arrival area. Some two years ago, they had been inviting us to visit Bohol and finally we made it there. We checked in at the Sunshine Village, Barangay Bolod, in the island of Panglao. It’s quite a nice hotel and residence for many foreign nationals who have decided to live and retire in Panglao. My sister and her husband planned everything for us so we just enjoyed the ride.
After we had checked in, we went to the main island of Bohol crossing a beautiful bridge where we had late lunch at Al Fresco Bay, an Italian restaurant formerly called, Antonio’s in the city of Tagbilaran.
After lunch, we went next to the Bohol Bee Farm Resort in Panglao where I had a taste of their durian ice cream. It was heavenly! I loved their ice cream! They were doing a lot of building renovations and various improvements here and there so there was not much to see at that time. I heard as well from the tourist guide that they have actually moved the bee farm itself to another location up north of Bohol so there was not much bee colonies to see anymore. But I love their durian ice cream!
After a short afternoon rest back at Sunshine Village, we spent the night at the famous Alona Beach in Panglao where we experienced what the place looked like during the night. I heard the place is named after the actress Alona Alegre.
Alona Beach at night was teeming with a lot of foreign and local tourists, vendors, restaurants, souvenir shops, masseurs, tattoo shops and others including some dogs and some cats! I was amazed that there were so many foreign tourists flocked in that (800 meters I was told) strip of sand along the shore. The tourism industry seems to be booming in that area.
The following day, Thursday, December 12 was spent driving around Bohol and visiting several tourist spots. Our first stop was at the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in the town of Corella, Bohol. It was amazing to see the little primates in their own natural habitat. Flash photography was not allowed and we were told to keep silence at all times and so we did. There were guides who showed us where the tarsiers were. I was kind of “lucky” to be able to get some good shots with their eyes open. They were supposed to be sleeping during the day.
We went next to the town of Loboc to have lunch on board one of the boats of the “Loboc River Floating Restaurant.” It was a nice river cruise while we had lunch. The boat stopped at one place where there were local folk dancers who invited the audience to participate. My wife of course joined them and danced the tinikling.
After this, we went to the town of Carmen to visit the famous Chocolate Hills. We were able to get a good 360-degree view on top of the observation hill but after some 30 minutes or so, it began to drizzle and rain. We had to get down quick but at least I was able to get some good shots before the rain began to really pour down hard. And oh by the way, this senior citizen survived and was able to climb up the 214 steps and get to the top of the observation hill haha!
In the evening, we had dinner at a restaurant called The Buzzz Cafe of Bohol Bee Farm at the LitePort Center in the city of Tagbilaran. And once again, I enjoyed their durian ice cream! We had dinner there with a long time friend and pastor and his wife who are from Bohol. It was great to see them again after a long while. For years, we fondly called each other as “Sano.” It comes from the Spanish word, “paisano,” meaning, a fellow countryman. An endearing word among friends similar to “Bay” in Cebuano — short for “Abay” meaning, buddy, pal or a friend. I’m not from Bohol though but we call each other “Sano.”
Our third day in Bohol started very early as we had to go to Alona Beach and get on the boat for our rendezvous with the dolphins out at sea early in the morning. We did see a few dolphins but not as many as we would have wanted to. There were just too many boats filled with lots of tourists just like us and the dolphins were not happy about it I would suppose. We only saw a few but it was enough for my wife, my daughter and my sister to get excited and shout for joy. After that, we proceeded to an island called Balicasag where we had breakfast. My brother-in-law went around walking along the shore exploring the island while the three ladies went snorkeling and enjoying the underwater scenery.
Going back to Alona Beach late in the afternoon became interesting as the waters became rough and the waves became bigger and bigger. Once again, shouts of excitement (or fear?) can be heard from the ladies. We reached the shore safely though haha!
It was a tiresome third day out at sea and island hopping but it was a great experience nonetheless. Instead of going out, we had dinner that night at the Sunshine Village restaurant. The following day, on our fourth day in Bohol, we decided to stay at the hotel while my sister and her husband met with some of their friends for lunch. In the evening we had dinner at Frankie’s Cafe at the Island City Mall (ICM). We got to know Frankie who owns the restaurant. He is an American from California with an Italian descent. He’s a friendly and nice guy. My brother-in-law loves the food there.
On our fifth and last day in Bohol, we drove from Sunshine Village in Panglao all the way to the the town of Jagna. It was a nice leisurely road trip along the coast from Panglao to Jagna with beautiful sceneries and churches along the way. At the Port of Jagna, we boarded the ferry boat called Lite Ferry 6. It was a nice 7-hour voyage during the day. We left the port of Jagna in Bohol at around 10:00 a.m. and arrived at the port of Nasipit in Agusan del Norte at about 5:00 p.m. After a short dinner stop in Butuan City, we proceeded to Bayugan City to join my ADSCO high school classmates of Batch 1971. But that’s wonderful story I’d like to write in my next blog.
It was a memorable experience on my first-ever visit to the island province of Bohol. It’s really a nice tourist spot. It’s a nice place to live in and retire if you get the chance. I love Bohol!
Note: This blog is a bit rough and rushed but I’ll get back to this again and do some more edits and include as well more photos and videos later on once I get the chance to do it. In the featured photo above, I took a shot of the Baclayon Church along the way. Thanks for reading my travel blog!