Miked's Travel PH

Showing posts with label bohol. Show all posts

Another very late post from our trip last year (Aug 2014 LOL), in Bohol. Anyways, this is the last part of my post of our Bohol Experience. We have our Panglao Island tour, right after the dolphin watching and snorkeling in Balicasag Island. Panglao Island is not that big, so you can complete the tour just half of the day.

Souvenir items from Nova Shell Museum

Bohol Bee Farm

Since it was already past lunchtime, we first went to Bohol Bee Farm to take our late lunch. Bohol Bee Farm serves organic food at their restaurant. They also offer accommodations. You can refer at my post here for more of my Bohol Bee Farm experience.

Organic Food at Bohol Bee Farm

The oldest little man alive (Bayoyoy)

After we had our lunch, we continued our tour and saw some churches. We just looked at them for a moment and then skipped it since they are still repairing it from the damages from earthquake that hit Bohol on 2014. Then we stopped to an ordinary looking house and went inside. Our tour guide didn't tell us what to see there until we saw some pictures of celebrities with Bayoyoy.

Local celebrity Bayoyoy with a lot of celebrities

Bayoyoy's real name is Jesus Doldolea. He was born on 1947, and will turning 68 at January 10. They are 12 siblings, and 6 of them has the same condition as Bayoyoy, unfortunately, the others did not survive. Her younger sister takes care of him. He is blind and cannot speak.

Bayoyoy's Selfie

Oldest Little Man Alive

Hinagdanan Cave

A lot of caves can be found here in Bohol, in fact 1400 caves have been counted. One cave you can find here in Panglao is the Hinagdanan (laddered) Cave. I guess its name was from the ladder that was built at the cave entrance. We were welcomed by a local, which becomes our tour guide and our official photographer (these guys know something about cameras I tell you).

Hinagdanan Cave Entrance

Stairs going down the cave

They built stairs to get in and out

The cave is just small but full of rock formations and has a mix of salt and fresh water pool inside. The pool is around 10 - 15 feet deep. You can swim in it, but just tell your guide you want to since I think there is a swimming fee. There is also a souvenir shop near the entrance of the cave.

They also added some lighting inside the cave

Drawings in the cave walls, I'm not sure who did that

Fresh and salt water pool in our background, this area is kinda dark, our tour guide adjusted my camera to a dark mode setting to have some lighting. (okay, I don't know well my camera)

Nova Shell Museum

Last on our tour is the Nova Shell Museum. The place is full of shells. From ordinary ones to the rare ones. You can see here some weird looking shells and some very expensive ones. They also have a souvenir shop that sells, you guessed it, shells, and a tree house.

Nova Shell Museum

Giant Clams

Shell displays

A very tiny shell, you need a magnifying glass to see its details

The tree house

So that's some of the places you can visit in Panglao Island. An Island that is full of natural and man-made wonders with wonderful people. Hope you enjoy reading, Thanks!

Tana, moadto ta sa BOHOL!

If you're in Panglao looking for a place to eat, then you should try Bohol Bee Farm in Dao, Dauis. Not only their food is good and organic, the place is very relaxing. You can eat at their restaurant which have an amazing view of the ocean. Although its name is the Bohol Bee Farm, no bees can be seen in this place anymore. Bohol Bee Farm also offers accommodations and tour packages. You can refer here at their site for more info.

A bee farm without the bees

The place

We went there last year, late August 2014 to be exact. It is included in our Panglao Island tour. The place is a little far from Alona Beach, so you need to ride a tricycle or Habal-habal to get there. If you booked a room, they will provide a transport to fetch you at the airport or seaport.

Vegetable Garden

Some vegetable and herbs plants for sale

At the entrance of the place, you will see a garden of plants and vegetables. They do also have a shop that sells jams, organic rices and other stuff that you can see at their online shop. They also have a bakery that sells organic bread made from their vegetable plants. There is also a small pool for stay-in guests.

Pool for staying guests

The Buzzz Shop

top-left: Pasalubong Items, top-right: pure honey, bottom left: Malunggay and Mango Spread, bottom-right: Organic Rice

The restaurant area

The restaurant has a view deck that have a breathtaking view of the ocean. Below is a small dock and there are some small boats, I'm not sure if they are selling something.

Amazing view of the ocean

Restaurant on a cliff

You can enjoy and relax, while eating

small boats below, probably selling something

The Food

I always though that organic food doesn't taste delicious that much, but that changed when we had our meal here after our dolphin watching and snorkeling activity. Some of the ingredients of the dishes came from their own garden. They have many dishes on the menu, like organic salad, pizza and pasta, vegetable and seafood soups, and meats. They also have of course a vegetarian option.

Buzzz Cafe

Price is not that expensive, but not that also cheap. A single meal costs around PhP 200++. But I can say it's worth the price. They also have some group meals which is good for around 3 persons.

A preview of what Buzzz cafe serves

Since we are 7 in the group we decided to get 2 group meals, We got the Seafood and Vegetable Platter for PhP 1680.00 (good for 3), and a Family Combo for PhP 940.00 (good for 3). Serving is good, just enough for the all of us.

Appetizer

Organic Garden Salad (Seafood & Vegetable Platter - yup you can eat the flower)

Organic bread with malunggay and mango spread (must try)

Cassava Lumpia (Family Combo - dressing has a peanut butter taste, very nice)

Crabs with Cocomilk (Seafood & Vegetable Platter)

Fresh Herb Pasta (Family Combo, there is also a cheese pizza, but I don't have the photo of it)

Red Rice with Mango (Seafood & Vegetable Platter)

Chicken Barbecue (Family Combo)

Seafood Soup (Seafood & Vegetable Platter)

Garlic Shrimps, Grilled Squid and Fish (Seafood & Vegetable Platter - there is also a Kinilaw na Tanigigue included, again no photo of it)

Malunggay and not sure if Cheese or Mango, (LOL, I forgot) Ice Cream

The weird tasting Coco Drink with Celery (Seafood & Vegetable Platter)

Cheers! They are drinking Bahalina (a coconut wine)

If you want to stay here, but on a budget, I suggest to look for other places since their room rates are a little expensive. It's also far from the beach area. Overall, I enjoyed their food, and the place. I recommend this place to eat, especially for the healthy conscious ones. So if you are in Bohol, you should definitely add this to your itinerary.

Tara, Mangaon ta!

Bohol is very popular for its world class diving sites and the best coral reefs in the country. It is blessed with an abundant sea life and beautiful long stretches of white beaches. That's why your Bohol experience wouldn't be complete without seeing some dolphins and snorkeling to have a glimpse of its amazing sea creatures.

A starfish in "Puntod" Island

Dolphin Watching

We got this sea tour by the way, courtesy of Naldix. You can see the rates and contact information here. Anyways, this activity must be as early as 6 am because that's the time most dolphins are seen. You can catch them until 8 am but, there is just a few of them and a little hard to spot.

Tourist boats searching for some dolphins

The boatmen will take you to the spot where dolphins swim around the area. About 20 - 30 minutes and you'll reach the destination. Once you get close to the dolphins, the engine of the boat will be turned off, so the dolphins won't be driven away. Of course, you can't swim with them, they're too fast. Some dolphins even jumped out of the water. It was really amazing to see dolphins swimming in the wild.

There they are!

It's really amazing to see them

More dolphins!

Yey! A little close!

Snorkeling in Balicasag Island

After watching some dolphins, and about 20 - 30 minutes of boat ride again, We arrived in Balicasag Island. It's an island popularly know for diving and snorkeling activities. This is where Balicasag Island Dive Resort is. The island has a light tower in the middle of it. There are also places here that you can eat lunch. We didn't explore the island much, as we immediately went snorkeling in the fish sanctuary.

Balicasag Island, there is a lighthouse in the middle of it

Boat ride to the snorkeling spot

Only 5 snorkeling gears are provided by the boatmen so we needed to rent another 2 snorkeling gear (PhP 150.00 each) since we are 7 in the group. There is also an entrance fee (for the sanctuary) and tour guide fee for PhP 150.00 each and environmental fee of PhP 50.00. The tour guide also offers some aqua shoes rental starting from PhP 150.00 (just try to haggle, since we got ours for PhP 75.00). You can also bring some bread or buy from the small stores on the island for the fish feeding.

Fish feeding

The island have a rich sea life

The shallow area of the snorkeling spot where you can feed the fishes, is quite rocky because of the corals so you actually need to wear an aqua shoes. The tour guide will be taking you to different spots where colorful fishes can be seen.

Snapshot taken by our tour guide when he plunges deep

This area is quite deep, approximately 20 feet

Look who I found, actually it's the tour guide who found him, it's too deep

Our tour guide chillin' out

Deep blue, I wonder what's beyond there, It's a little scary

A Virgin Island

Weather is gloomy, but still a good time to go island hopping

Last stop on the tour is at "Puntod" Island, also know as Virgin Island. It is a small uninhabited crescent shaped island. The island kinda reminds me of "Luli" Island in Palawan but Puntod is smaller. From far, you might see some people that looked like walking in the water because the island also submerge a little in the water.

The Virgin Island

I read on some blogs that there are vendors before, selling some shells and sea urchins, but we didn't find anyone selling when we got there. You can also see a golden statue that I supposed is Padre Pio (not certain though) on the island. The island is perfect for beach bumming and picture taking.

"Puntod" Island

I supposed it is Padre Pio

We went back to our place of stay after Puntod Island, and prepare for the Panglao Island Tour. The sea tour can be completed half the day, but it will surely give you a great experience with Bohol's beautiful sea life.

Cheers from Puntod Island

Quick Tips

Dolphins are seen early morning
Snorkeling is optional
Best to wear aqua shoes for protection from corals
Snorkeling rates: PhP 150.00 (tour guide fee), PhP 50.00 (environmental fee)
You can also rent snorkeling gear for PhP 150.00, and aqua shoes for PhP 75 - 150
There is a "Palutuan" in Balicasag Island for lunch
You can check some tour providers and rates in this guide