All Around Bohol, Philippines!

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For our anniversary month, Kim and I decided to go to Bohol. Since our time for vacation is limited, we needed a place that would offer much yet is not too far nor too difficult to get to. This is my third and Kim’s first time to visit Bohol and I’m glad that it still did not disappoint 😊

DAY 1: COUNTRYSIDE TOUR

After a hearty breakfast of bacon, ham, eggs and Japanese siomai (takaw!) at the cafeteria on the basement of PAL Centennial terminal, we headed off to Bohol at 8AM on board the brand-spanking-new jet of PAL. The flight is for a good 90 minutes - that’s pretty long for a local flight.

As I’ve made arrangements for the countryside tour before our trip, we were picked up at the airport by our driver/tour guide Mang Jun. I got his name from a couple of forums I frequent and I’m glad that the recommendations were all reliable. Mang Jun is in his 50’s and is a native of Bohol. He’s very nice and more importantly, very knowledgeable on local attractions and local culture.


Chocolate Hills

Since he observed that it usually rains around lunchtime during the past week, he suggested that we visit Chocolate Hills first as it is the farthest. After a brief photo op at the Blood Compact commemorative site, we proceeded to the town of Carmen, approximately 58 kilometers from Tagbilaran City. Surprisingly, there was still a good number of tourists (mostly Koreans) at the Chocolate Hills even if it was a Monday. It being the rainy season, the hills have turned green already.

At the view deck are a handful of digital photographers who offer to take your pics and digitize them to appear as if you’re flying over the hills, or cupping the hills with your hands, that sort of stuff 😊 Cute but slightly tacky for us hehe 😊 You get hard copies and they also email the files to you. Costs about P150+ depending on the package.

It started to drizzle on our way down from the view deck. After scouting through the souvenir shops, a brief stop at the restroom (I’m very particular about restrooms - the ones at the Chocolate Hills are very clean so I give it a thumbs up!), and a couple more pictures on the way down from the Hills, we started the long drive back.


Man-made Forest

Next stop (mainly for photo-op again) was the Man-made Forest. The forest was an initiative started in the late 1950’s to help preserve the environment. Initially, they planted purely Mahogany trees. But the mono-cultivation of Mahogany trees, the fruits of which were bitter, did not exactly encourage birds to stay in the area. Eventually, on a second parcel of land, they planted a variety of fruit-bearing and wood trees. Now both forests remain an attraction in Bohol. The beautiful portion though is the one where Mahogany trees are planted so close together that they all stand straight up as opposed to the wide-reaching / spreading natural form of Mahogany trees. As a result, little light shines through the tall trees and the air is more humid and cooler in the area, giving the impression of a deep forest.


Butterfly Garden

Back to our tour, we next visited the Butterfly Garden. After a briefing on the basics of butterflies and moths, we visited the gardens to see some butterflies. The garden is very pretty but as it was raining by then, there were only a few butterflies flying about. Back at the main pavilion, we looked at some souvenirs again and bought a couple of drinks at the snack bar.



Tarsiers and Loboc River Cruise

We’re now off to Loboc to see some tarsiers and to have lunch at the river. Mang Jun dropped us off at one of the Tarsier stations. As there was nothing to see here really except three of the world’s smallest primates and a couple of lemurs, we took off after a couple of pictures.

At exactly 1PM, just as Mang Jun said it would be, we were at the river for lunch. Onboard the floating restaurant, we cruised the Loboc River for about an hour and a half. It has been raining the past few days so the water is not the bright aqua green it usually is but it still is breathtaking. The cruise was very relaxing, lulling us to sleep with the quiet sounds of the river, the cool breeze, and the vista of undisturbed greens. Food was nothing spectacular but the beauty of the river more than makes up for it. A new addition to the cruise is a 20-minute stop in a floating hut with a choir serenading guests with their ukuleles. The moment could have been poignant had they not started singing “Itaktak Mo” with matching dance choreography 😊 Pinoy na Pinoy!

We docked at a new pier (it wasn’t there 2 years ago when I last visited). There were very clean, airconditioned restrooms in the sunduan area. I’m impressed really 😊


Loboc Church and Museo de Loboc

Next stop was the Loboc Church and Museo de Loboc just across the pier. According to the caretaker, the museum now used to be the 2nd largest convent in the Philippines. The place now looks worn-down and is in bad need of repair but the beauty of its high ceilings, huge, airy rooms, floors with cool, wide slabs of mahogany (the nail holes on the floor were the size of P10 coins!) and tall, narrow double-doors lends itself to imagining a time of very serene living within this convent. Across the street, visible from the museum’s balcony, is the Loboc River and the belfry of the church. The belfry was designed to be separate from the church, standing closer to the river so that the water vibrates when the bells toll, letting even natives out of hearing distance know whatever is happening in the church. The bells toll differently on occasions - people would know whether it is a mass or a funeral going on, just by listening (or feeling the vibrations in the water in their case).

The ground floor of the museum is a tribute to its famous choir, started in 1980 by the locals. The second floor comprises the main living quarters (only 5 people live there now, 2 priests and 3 caretakers). The third floor showcases the church’s paraphernalia, including gilded vestments both of priests and saints, mass books beautifully-handwritten in Spanish, etc.

Loboc Church is beautiful! It would have been magnificent really if it was better-kept. Despite the slightly faded colors, the paintings on the ceilings have been retained over centuries, its details still as sharp as when they were newly-done. The church has gone through several floods, the highest of which was the flood of 1990 when waters from the overflowing river filled the church (see pic). It was because of this specific flood that the church now has 2 patrons - St. Peter and Our Lady of Guadalupe. They say that the flood stopped when it reached the hemline of Our Lady’s gown so they named her their 2nd patron saint.

By this time, we’ve already taken quite a lot already and Kim slept most of the way back. We passed by the Clarins Ancestral House (we did not go in) and Baclayon Church (which I’ve seen a couple of times before already so no biggie if we miss it).


Aproniana

We passed by Aproniana snack and souvenir shop for some serious pasalubong-shopping. Must-buys are the Peanut Kisses and Osang’s Broas! We had our pasalubongs boxed so the broas won’t get crushed 😊 They also had separate areas for souvenirs and an entire floor for native bags but we were just interested with the food hehe.


Bohol Bee Farm

Heading now to our resort in Panglao, we asked Mang Jun to pass by the famous Bohol Bee Farm. I took out a couple of packs of organic teas (mango and lemongrass), sampled their pesto spread (very good) and camote bread (too sweet for my liking), and had a light snack of putomaya and tsokolate. The putomaya was suffused with ginger flavor and warms your mouth. It was served with 3 slices of ripe mangoes and a teacup of native tsokolate. It is best eaten all together 😊 Kim had mango shake sweetened with their homegrown honey.


Dumaluan Beach Resort

We arrived at Dumaluan Beach Resort late afternoon. After checking-in, we settled down and napped until it was time for dinner.

Ok, here comes the ranting portion of this blog. I chose Dumaluan for 2 reasons: first because it’s quite popular in forums primarily because it shares the same beach as Bohol Beach Club which they say is lots better than Alona’s. Second is because I’ve stayed the past two times at Alona Beach and would like to try something new.

I chose the Superior Deluxe room with aircon, hot/cold water, bathtub and breakfast for two. The room was ok even if it was slightly run-down - no problems with the aircon and with the water. It’s just that the room didn’t appear too clean - Kim said there were hair strands on the tub, the fixtures had lime, the shower curtain was old and unwashed, and the tub and tiles look yellowish. The bathtub did not work, there were no floormats, and most importantly, there was no tissue paper. We had to ask for it on the way back from dinner and they handed us 2 rolls of coreless tissue paper - it was so cheap it’s hugely disappointing. Another thing is that they placed us on room D5, the farthest from the main pavilion. It would have been forgivable since we were very near the pool and even with the distance, it’s still just a couple of minutes’ walk to the beach had it not been for the construction going on right beside our room. The first day was bad but the second day was worse because they moved to repairing the room right next to us! They were literally pounding our walls!

Anyway, dinner was nothing great. We had grilled liempo, grilled kitong / samaral, and chili crab. Had it not been for the liempo which was actually good, I would have gone hungry because the fish was malansa and the chili crab was weird - it has been deep-fried to the size of my palm and there was no meat left. It was crab chicharon with ketchup!


Alona Beach

After that disastrous first meal, we decided to go to Alona Beach to check out the nightlife. We had no TV in our room and were too full of energy to just chillout for the rest of the night (and anyway, it was just 7:30PM). We asked one of the waiters to hire a motorcycle (habal-habal) to bring us to Alona Beach. As it turns out, it was one of the waiters’ sidelines (it was our waiter himself who drove us - and he was supposed to be on duty hehe) - it cost us double - P100 for 2 pax, one-way - but we had no other choice as it was late already.

At Alona Beach, nights are still quiet. There was a bar with an acoustic singer and a few restaurants/bars which extended their dining areas very near the water (ala Boracay). We strolled along the beach checking out the resorts, had a couple of drinks, bought water and junk food in one of the sari-sari stores, and then had Meynard pick us up again. Kim had another drink back at our resort’s restaurant and by 11PM, we called it a day.

DAY 2: DOLPHIN-WATCHING AND ISLAND-HOPPING

Dolphin-watching

We were up early the next day for our water tours. Mang Viao, who I made arrangements with prior to our trip, sent his boatmen (he was sick that day) to our beachfront before 5:30 in the morning. We had our free breakfast of ham and eggs (with extra order of danggit hehe) and by past six were on our way to where the dolphins play.

We saw hundreds of dolphins that day and the experience never ceases to amaze. Even Kim who has spent months studying dolphins in Palawan said it was quite a lot that we saw that day. Being early paid off because we caught the dolphins during their feeding time. It’s an exhilarating experience and the only way to know is to see it yourself. I better appreciated the dolphin-watching now because Kim is a marine biologist and would share tons of amazing information on the dolphins 😊 I wouldn’t have known exactly what the dolphins were doing had it not for Kim telling me they’re feeding, playing, bow-riding, etc.


Balicasag Island

We probably spent less than an hour watching the dolphins. It was getting hot and the dolphins were swimming farther away having had their meal already. So we went off to Balicasag Island, about an hour away from where the dolphins were. At Balicasag, we docked in front of Balicasag Resort. Immediately, we had guides in smaller, non-motorized paddle boats offering their services to us. Apparently, motorized boats were not allowed in the fish sanctuary and could actually get arrested by the Navy (located in a base nearby) if they go beyond the borders.

So off we went with Mang Jumar (I think it’s Joemar with the thick Visayan accent hehe) to the fish sanctuary. I was deathly scared because from the boat I could see that the coral forms a wall and then nothing. Just a deep, deep blue of nothingness. But Mang Jumar and Kim were very patient with me. Mang Jumar tried to put me at ease by feeding the fish with bread (while we were standing atop a huge flat coral - by the way, my feet were hurting because I left my slippers in the big boat) and while the fish were feeding, he would scoop up his shirt and actually catch them in his shirt! As in ganun kadami yung fishes! 😊

Eventually, I was able to relax and Kim was able to have me snorkel with him along the coral wall. It was sooooo beautiful I would have gasped every few minutes had I not been underwater 😊 I was consciously avoiding looking at the drop-off because I swear there’s nothing to be seen except deep blue water with sunlight streaking down. However, as we snorkeled along, I managed to let go of the fear and venture farther out. After some time, we got tired and Mang Jumar said we can just hold on to the katig of the boat and he would pull it. So we did just that and it was the ultimate, just gliding in the water and watching one of the boatmen try to catch fish using a makeshift arch and arrow. As we were the only ones who were venturing far, the other boatmen shouted at Mang Jumar when they saw turtles swimming! We saw a total of four pawikans and I was ecstatic I was shouting through my snorkel underwater haha! 😊 Balicasag simply is the best! 😊 I've personally claimed Palawan as my hometown, I'm just so in love with its underwater life but Balicasag beats snorkeling in Palawan hands-down! (oh well, maybe not Tubbataha but I've never been there so mine was a safe claim haha)

Needless to say, we got toasted snorkeling in Balicasag. Mang Jumar offered paluto lunch and we chose our fish (a huge talakitok), had it cooked two ways - sinigang and inihaw. We had our lunch at a small table facing the water right beside the Navy station hehe.

We went back to Dumaluan and swam and sunbathed and slept on the beach until about 2:30PM. When it became too hot despite the breeze, we changed venues and slept in our room until late afternoon. We had merienda of pancit canton and just spent the rest of the night chilling out at the beach. (We had our fair share of bored moments mainly because we didn’t have TV in our room and I blame the lousy service of Dumaluan for this - when I first called to reserve an aircon room with TV, I was told they only had 1 such room and it was booked already. However, when we got there, we saw lots of rooms with cable TV - I was wondering, WTF did she say that for??? Didn’t she want me to get a more expensive room???)

DAY 3: JO’S INATO AND ISLAND CITY MALL

We slept late on our last day in Bohol and after a breakfast of sausages and eggs, we just spent the day swimming and taking pics on the beach. We chilled out for a while at the pool and soon it was time to pack our bags and prepare to leave as our sundo would pick us up at 12NN. Our flight was still at 4:40PM but we desperately wanted to eat somewhere else so we decided to leave early. (Note: This is the major downside of Dumaluan - it’s just them and Bohol Beach Club in the area and to eat in BBC, you have to pay the day trip fee of P250 per person, only the P150 of which is consumable - my principles did not allow me to pay an extra P100 per person for every meal just so we could eat there. Doesn’t make sense especially since we weren’t going to use their facilities anyway.)

In memory of Kim’s past life in Puerto Princesa, we had Spencer drop us off at Jo’s Chicken Inato in downtown Tagbilaran. The chicken was great plus it was cheap. We even took home some 😊 After our lunch, we took a tricycle to Island City Mall just to kill time. We were quite surprised that it indeed qualifies as a mall (Mang Jun was quite embarrassed to call it a mall since it was so small - maybe about 30 stores, with a food court, department store, supermarket and a few kiosks). As with most places we’ve gone to in Bohol, they have the tourist in mind - there is a baggage area at the lower ground level where you can leave your bags and go around the mall without toting your luggages and boxes.

We just window-shopped and again, for lack of anything else to do, we had a snack at The Buzzzz Café, the city outlet of Bohol Bee Farm. Kim again had mango shake and I had the herbal tea which was very good. We tried the Cab-cab (cassava flour dried to taco-like shells, almost like a thicker, crisper version of our lumpia wrappers) with Pesto (different from the spread which comes with cheese. This one’s a dip -- not good at all, too sour and watery) and Latik (super yummy but careful it’s hot!).

At 3:15PM, we got our luggages and hopped on a tricycle going to the airport. The flight home was 30 minutes shorter than the flight going there - not sure why.

Overall, we had such great fun in Bohol. I think it’s definitely more than what Kim expected and definitely, still worth it for me even if it’s my third time 😊

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TRAVEL EXPENSES

Airfare P2100/person (taxes only; we used our miles. Cebu Pac promo fare is P3100/person)
Airport tax at Centennial P200/person
Breakfast at Centennial Caf P225/person
Accommodations P1850/room/night
Countryside Tour P1800
Entrance Fee at Chocolate Hills P10/person
Entrance Fee at Butterfly Garden P15/person
Donation at Tarsier depends on you
Lunch at Loboc River P280/person
Donation for folk singer depends on you
Donation for river choir depends on you
Entrance fee at Museo de Loboc P15/person
Peanut Kisses P28/box
Osang’s Broas P67/pack
Bohol Bee Farm tea packs P130/pack of 15
Bohol Bee Farm mango shake P50
Bohol Bee Farm merienda P90
Dinner at Dumaluan P325/person
Habal-habal to Alona Beach P100/2pax/one-way
Drinks at Alona Beach P80/bottle of beer
Drinks at Dumaluan P50/bottle of beer
Dolphin-watching & Island-hopping P1800 inclusive of 2 pairs of snorkel and mask
Balicasag tour guide P100/person
Paluto lunch at Balicasag P180/kilo of fish; P200 cooking charge; P10/cup of rice; P50 for 1.5 liter Coke; utensils and use of table - free
Merienda at Dumaluan P180/pancit canton; P40/iced tea
Car pick-up going to city P400
Lunch at Jo’s Inato P69/chicken inato; P120/sizzling tenderloin tips; P59/buko halo
Tricycle going to uptown P30/2 pax/one-way
The Buzzz Café Cad-cad and Pesto P80
The Buzzz Café herbal tea P40
The Buzzz Café mango shake P50
Terminal fee at Tagbilaran airport P20/person

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Photos

Bohol 2007
Just arrived!

Bohol 2007
Blood Compact site

Bohol 2007
Blood Compact site

Bohol 2007
The long way up the view deck of Chocolate Hills

Bohol 2007
Bohol's icon - the Chocolate Hills

Bohol 2007
More hills

Bohol 2007
Butterfly Garden

Bohol 2007
Butterfly Garden

Bohol 2007
Friggin' big moths

Bohol 2007
Butterfly, flower, butterfly, flower...

Bohol 2007
Fake food -- honey and water for the butterflies

Bohol 2007
Cocoons

Bohol 2007
bugs

Comments

[pia]

thanks!
hi! can i ask what month you saw the dolphins? my friends and I are planning to go to bohol on april! thanks much..

[port80]

Hi Pia, we were in Bohol around October last year. I've had 2 previous trips to Bohol, both on the 2nd half of the year and saw dolphins on both occasions.

[pia]

hi!
Thank you...I hope we could also see the dolphins or maybe whale sharks at this time of month. Thanks again.=D

[pia]

ooops....
whale sharks can be found in sorsogon...sorry, my bad!hahaha

[Suzi]

Mang Jun contact details
Hi, there. My friends and I are scheduled to tour Bohol this August. Am wondering if you still have Mang Jun's contact details :-D would appreciate it much if you could email me... Thanks!

[tetsky]

hi
hi good day! we are scheduled to go to Bohol this coming January 2009...can you give me some details and itinerary where and when can we go to inorder for us to see the beautiful island of Bohol. waht is the best and not so pricey accomodation? any idea? how can we get to the loboc river? thank you.

[gracie]

thanks
hi,. my bf and i are going to bohol ds coming march24. for our anniversary din.hihi sobrang thankful kami sa blog mo. dito kami nag base halos lahat. even our tour guide c mang jun na knontact ko.hihi thanks thanks.=)

[mariel]

heLLo!!
i just want to know, how much was the fare going to bohol via airplane, if we're 4 persons.. ^_^ viceversa...aryt..?? [d][o][n][e] takE cAre..^^

[gracie]

fares
hi mariel, u can check it on www.philippineairlines.com or www.cebupacificair.com =)

[julie]

tour guide/pal promo fare
Hi.. Can i get your tour guide's contact number in Bohol? I'll be in Bohol on December, 2009.

[ela]

budget
hi! how much did it cost you per head and where did you stay? email me please.thanks!

[Hot&pink]

Nice!!!
I like your comments about our province!!!Thank you so much.. It is a great honor on our part, Boholanos..

[Dianne]

Tour Guide
Hi! Great blog you have here. :) Do you still have your tour guides contact #s? Both the countryside tourguide and the boatman for the dolphin watching/island hopping... I would really appreciate it if you emailed the info to me... ([e-mail]) Thank you sooo much! =)

[v]

dumaluan vs. alona
hi! thanks so much for this informative mini tour of bohol! my friends and i are heading to bohol this may. just wondering which one's the better place to stay in: dumaluan beach or alona beach? i was set to booking at a resort along alona beach when i came across a site saying dumaluan has probably "the best stretch of white sand in panglao", which is great for swimming. since you've been to both, would you please share some pointers about the two? i'd really appreciate it. thank you. :)

[Jake]

gets me excied for bohol
Those were all helpful tips. Thanks to bloggers like you who unselfishly shares their experiences to help those who are planning to go on a trip. We found it really helpful but can we have the contact number of your tour guide and your guide for the dolphin watching? Thanks so much

[ella]

mang jun contact# pls
hi... was wondering if u could gimme mang juns contact pls. tsaka do u have to asked him to eat w/ u while ur having lunch in loboc etc.. or u have to pay for his meals?

[anonymous]

nice jud swa bohol.