#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Philippine Forum >  >  Beach Bumming in Bohol

## katie23

Hi all, I'll take advantage of the good net connection that I have right now (for a change! 55) to post some pics about the trip to Bohol province.  This trip was made in August of this year, during a three-day weekend.  Bohol is the 10th largest island in PI, according to the tourism videos played at the airport.  Btw, the official count of islands in PI is now 7,641; it's not 7,107 anymore - that number is outdated.  The new island count is due to improved technology ->improved imaging techniques, and good ol' plate tectonics.  More about that on this link:

More islands, more fun in PH - CNN Philippines 

So anyway, during this 3-day trip, we explored the islands of Bohol and its smaller sister, Panglao. Here are some maps for reference.  We boarded the plane from Manila Airport and landed in Tagbilaran City airport.  



Map of Panglao island

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## katie23

All of us in our group (we were 5) were first timers in Bohol.  Tagbilaran City airport and surrounds.  It's a small airport, only 1 runway.

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## katie23

Tagbilaran City and surrounds


Passed by this school on the way to the Blood Compact site

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## katie23

This was part of an organized tour (resort + city tours).  The first destination in the itinerary was the Blood Compact sculpture.  The sculpture was made by Napoleon Abueva, one of the National Artists.  It was made to commemorate the blood compact between the Spaniards, led by explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and the local chieftain, Rajah Sikatuna.  

More info here:
Bohol Blood Compact Site by the Napoleon Abueva - Bohol-Philippines.com

There were lots of tourists waiting for their turn to have their pic taken at the sculpture.  Our group didn't want to wait, so we just took some pics and then off to the next destination. 



On the way to the next destination, saw some mangroves.  Accdg to our driver/guide, cutting of mangroves is now illegal (which is good).

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## katie23

Next stop was Baclayon Church, one of the oldest churches in PI. The town of Baclayon was founded in 1596 by the Jesuits and the church was completed in 1737.  The church was heavily damaged during the 2013 magnitude 7.2 earthquake.  The renovation was finished in 2017.  (with help from Wikipedia)

More info here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baclayon_Church





Church interior

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## katie23

After the church tour, we went to other places.  I'll skip the tour and go to the resort where our group stayed.  Our resort was not in Bohol island, but in the smaller island of Panglao.  We stayed at Dubay Beach Resort, located in Dumaluan Beach.  Dumaluan Beach is less famous and has less tourists, so it turned out to be a good decision.  The more famous beach is Alona Beach, which has more resorts and hotels, and more tourists, including Chinese groups.  More about Alona Beach later.... 

Here are pics of Dubay Resort - it's beachfront property.  


Small cottages - good for 1 or 2 pax

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## katie23

These are the bigger cottages for families


This was my room - I shared the room/cottage with a girl-friend.  You can either have a queen-size bed or single beds.  They were basic rooms with A/C, television and shower, around 20 sq meters.

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## katie23

This was the neighbor, Bolod Beach Resort.

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## katie23

This was Umi Resort, farther along the beach.  It's more high-end. 


Pathway leading to Umi Resort

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## katie23

Vicinity of Dubay Resort



^white sand, not as fine as Boracay, but the island is less touristy than Boracay (which reopened this month).

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## katie23

The beach on a sunny day  :Smile:

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## misskit

I’m ready to go back to Bohol. Nice place.

Did you go inland to the tarsier sanctuary?

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## TizMe

I loved Bohol and want to go again yesterday.

We stayed at the Bohol Beach Club, Panglao in April-May 2016

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## TizMe



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## TizMe



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## TizMe



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## Jack meoff

Looks great, more pls. thanks.

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## david44

Thanks again for sharing, looks nice.

Didn't see anyone in the sea is it clean enough , I read Borocay sewage goes into the Ocean also it safe from sharks, jelyfish etc?

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## katie23

@Tizme - Bohol Beach Club, nice! $$$  :Smile:  Thanks for sharing the pics. 

@misskit - yeah, we did the whole shebang. It was an organized tour, including airport pick-up & drop-off. We went to lots of places: Loboc river tour, Hanging Bamboo bridge, mahogany forest, Chocolate Hills, Python Farm -> in Bohol island. In Panglao, we did swimming + snorkelling, Bohol Bee Farm, Hinagdanan Cave, Shell Museum, Alona Beach. It was a weekend full of activities. 

@david44 - I think the waters in/near Panglao island are clean. It's not as touristy as Boracay, so not too many establishments (though there were lots of construction And the Panglao Int'l Airport is set to open next year). The problem with Boracay is that it grew famous too fast & became overdeveloped. I hope it doesn't happen to Bohol or Panglao. 

Btw, for those interested in going to Bohol, if you don't want to visit Manila, you can skip it and fly in to Cebu Int'l Airport instead. You can then take a fast craft (catamaran) to Bohol. From what I remember from the guide, it's 2H via fast craft and costs ~500 pesos or ~10 USD. 

More pics to come when I've got time & good net. Just came back from my jog  - I'm preparing for another climb next weekend. Cheers!

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## TizMe

We went swimming directly in front of our hotel.

The water was very clean and visibility was great.

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## Takeovers

> More about Alona Beach later....


Hi Katie. Thanks for the thread. Looking forward to what you say about Alona Beach. I will be waiting for it and then I have a few comments. Lots of memories connected to that beach for me.

I hope I can figure out how to post pictures from my computer. Presently I can not. It requires Adobe flash which is no longer supported by my Firefox browser.



Seems it works on Google Chrome. A group training for a parade. I think it is at Baclayon Church like your photo.

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## katie23

@Takeovers - thanks for the pic. Was that taken before or after the 2013 earthquake? Since the Baclayon Church has been newly renovated, it doesn't look old anymore. (The old-looking church had more character, IMO). 

Re: Alona Beach, I was not impressed with it. There were lots of sea grasses & algae on the beach, nobody swept it -> so the beach looked dirty. There was also a type of "walking street" lined with shops and restos, it had a very commercial feel to it. Felt like I was at a mini Station 2 in Boracay. There were also noticeable restos with Chinese signage - and my feeling was, oh no, the Chinese have invaded Bohol! During our time at Alona Beach and swimming/ snorkelling, we saw some Chinese groups.  At Alona Beach, the boatmen & resto touts were saying "Ni hao" to the foreign-looking tourists. All of us in our group were glad that we were billeted at Dumaluan beach, which was quieter.

In one way, I don't like the C-groups because they're loud & have no manners. In another way, they're tourists and bring income to the country. So, just shrug and say, oh well...

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## katie23

Alona Beach pics - with some C-ppl

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## katie23

Alona Beach - good thing there were goats  :Smile: 





to the one asking for bums, there are goat bums for ya. ^ Heh.  :Smile:  

thanks to anyone who will reload the pics!

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## grasshopper

Nice report thus far, Katie. This island is one I've marked down to visit & your diversion to the smaller place, quieter & less touristy sounds fine.

My godson married a Bohol girl, Richelle, recently & i was looking forward to the trip there. The pair decided to tie the knot in Hong Kong instead! Bugger! But I still entertain the idea of a visit.

By the way - the "Blood Compact"? Was that so the Rajah could get his mitts on some Palma ham? Being Sikatuna & all?

 :Smile:

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## baldrick

in before the usual suspects  :Smile: 






> Alona Beach pics - with some C-ppl






> to the one asking for bums, there are goat bums for ya.


quite nice posteriors too - battyboo will be along shortly

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## Takeovers

> @Takeovers - thanks for the pic. Was that taken before or after the 2013 earthquake? Since the Baclayon Church has been newly renovated, it doesn't look old anymore. (The old-looking church had more character, IMO). 
> 
> Re: Alona Beach, I was not impressed with it. There were lots of sea grasses & algae on the beach, nobody swept it -> so the beach looked dirty. There was also a type of "walking street" lined with shops and restos, it had a very commercial feel to it. Felt like I was at a mini Station 2 in Boracay. There were also noticeable restos with Chinese signage - and my feeling was, oh no, the Chinese have invaded Bohol! During our time at Alona Beach and swimming/ snorkelling, we saw some Chinese groups.  At Alona Beach, the boatmen & resto touts were saying "Ni hao" to the foreign-looking tourists. All of us in our group were glad that we were billeted at Dumaluan beach, which was quieter.
> 
> In one way, I don't like the C-groups because they're loud & have no manners. In another way, they're tourists and bring income to the country. So, just shrug and say, oh well...



The pic is from 2017. Most damage repared.

When we were there in April/May the visitors were almost exclusively Koreans.

About the sea weeds. They rake them into piles every day. Then they bury the piles a few cm deep into the sand. After the next high tide they predicatbly show up again and the process repeats. They have been doing this for many years.

My memories of Alona Beach span several decades. First time there were only a few fisher boats. Nobody even thinking of tourism.

I think Playa Blanca was the first resort. Not connected to the grid and the generator shut off at 10:00 PM which was great. Complete darkness and I saw the milky way for the first time in its full splendor. I had never been in a place dark enough to see it clearly before. The huts are still there or were in 2017, but unused and beyond repair. We stayed there when the children were very small. They are now both above 30 years. So it was about 30 years ago.



We stay at Alona beach for a few days on every visit. 



Korean women always come in pairs. So they can take photos of each other.



 At a small eatery besides a massage parlor. I had a little chat with the girl in the middle. Until the boss of the parlour came out and told her to stop being naughty. Can you imagine her being naughty with that face?



A Filipino family. They staid over night with this tent at the beach.



A snack at the beach. Vendors are rare now, no longer allowed.





When the beach was not so crowded, I used to snorkel out to the reef. It was beautiful with corals and fish. Even the occasional Tridacna Shell could be seen. It got continuously worse. Water pollution but more so the ships throwing down their anchors have all but destroyed it. Visitors are still mostly divers but they take boat tours out to places worth visiting. Snorkeling out is also too dangerous now for all the speed boats. I tried in 2017 but won't again. It is no longer worth it.

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## Jack meoff

Matey tucking into the seafood buffet  :Smile:

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## NamPikToot

he could equally have been killed by a sea krait :Smile:

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## Takeovers

> he could equally have been killed by a sea krait



I once saw one at that place while snorkeling.  :Smile: 

I also saw a red lionfish. Not recommended to step on one.

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## NamPikToot

> I once saw one at that place while snorkeling. 
> 
> I also saw a red lionfish. Not recommended to step on one.


Crikey, that would have cut my snorkelling short.

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## katie23

@Takeovers - there were no vendors of sea urchins at Dumaluan Beach. However, there were some discreet vendors of cultured pearls & similar stuff. Some of my friends bought pearls for friends/ family. I didn't, since I already have some that were bought at the stalls in Festival Mall in Alabang.  :Smile: 

Re: Korean women, met a small group of them outside Hinagdanan Cave. I was looking at some souvenir shirts and they were looking at sun dresses. One of them was choosing between a black flowery one, or a red one. I butted in and said that the red one will look better on her because she's fair-skinned and will also look brighter in pics. But she said that the black one was also nice. So I said, then buy both. Lol. I left that store to look at others, but later on, I saw that she bought the red one. Good choice. Sometimes we women need another girl's opinion when buying stuff. I sometimes even ask sales ladies for their opinion. 

Re: snorkelling, during Day 2 of our trip, we went on a boat tour to see some dolphins - and yes, we saw them rise up for air. Then we were brought to another place for snorkelling (corals & fish were nice). Then to a sandbar for some swimming & pic taking. Saw quite a few Chinese groups while we were out on the boat.

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