Panglao Island in the Philippines in August 2016
Sadly, I never returned to Bantayan. My nomadic blood put a stop to it. Or perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to return. ‘Almost there‘ isn’t exactly there. At least it wasn’t then. For there is no doubt in my mind that one day I shall return.
Renewing my visa took exactly two minutes … plus 40 USD. (TIP: I went to deserted Immigration on Mactan island instead of overcrowded one in Cebu City). Five minutes later I was (once again) ready for new adventures. And once again a million dollar question popped up – ‘where to‘. And once again, my never-ending search for paradise sandy beaches took precedence, but this time drew my attention to Panglao island.
Panglao Island is a tiny island just off the coast of Bohol Island. A bridge connects the two providing on land commute between them – either by rather pricey tuk-tuks or super cheap jeepneys.
There are no direct ferries from Cebu Port in Cebu City to Panglao thus you need to take one to Bohol Island. Keep in mind that there are four, fives different companies operating Cebu-Bohol route with different travel time and pricing. All of them offer an air con indoor (hmmm) first class journey and an upper deck (windy but fun) second class. Keep also in mind there are two different destinations: North Bohol and South Bohol. You need to go South to Tagbilaran City to get to Panglao. At the arrival, you’ll be smartly directed to tuk-tuk station. Ignore it (if you like) and walk a few more meters to jeepney or try to find someone on the ferry to share tuk-tuk with as they are annoyingly overpriced.
Panglao is a paradise all right. Perhaps not so much for beach lovers but for divers. Wherever you look you see divers and divers and then some more divers. And of course diving schools. One after another.
The waters around the island are one of the top ranking diving paradises in the world. To get there, you need to hire a boat. The beach is full of boat owners (or their employees) selling trips to the best diving spots and/or surrounding islands. Some rides can be pricey so haggling skills if you have any, may come very handy.
Well yes. There is also a beach. Not much of a beach, I may add, but there is one nonetheless. Sandy one. Very narrow (some places not more than a couple of meters) and not spectacularly long but surprisingly … enough … very pleasant to walk on or to party, especially in the evening.
In the evening the Alona beach turns into a party/chill hang out as the divers and occasional sunbathers leave the beach in favor of local and tourist walkers, joggers, kids, parties, and restaurants.
In the evening many restaurants romantically set out tables directly on the beach only a few centimeters from the water. If you like to soak your feet in the water while watching the sunset and dining at the same time – you may. How about that? Paradise on Earth.
There is not so much to do on the island but chill … if you are not a diver that is. Not that there is anything wrong with chilling but if you like to engage in other activities, you are better off taking a jeepney or a tour to Bohol and visit e.g. Table mountains.
Three (or so) days in Panglao is pretty plenty for non-divers. Unfortunately, the location is not very suitable as a base for island hopping unless of course; you hire a private boat. The island is a sort of (ish) end of the road destination, even more so for long-term travelers as there are only two routes out of there; either back to Cebu City or to a town called Dumaguete.
I hate going back and thus took the latter.
Panglao in pictures
