This world-renowned tourist destination was closed last April of 2018 for rehabilitation due to irresponsible tourism and reopened on October of 2018, 6 months after, accompanied with lots of drainage constructions, demolished establishments and investment restrictions.
Side trip from work and even if I was feeling sick, I decided to tag along, just really curious to how this beautiful island looks now.
Such a busy route, trips to the island are 24/7.
Although there are a lot of construction still going on on the island, it’s generally clean. Haven’t swam in these waters for the longest time as it was infested with algae, it’s like green muck all over.
But now…
Water is really clear! I certainly took a dip despite the scorching heat and my runny nose.
White BeachI get off days too!Puka Beach
There are still lots of tourists coming in but I guess it’s more controlled, no longer congested like before where you walk shoulder to shoulder with everybody else. It’s also really dim and quiet at night now.
Lots of leg room here.
And of course, the island still boasts of its pretty sunsets.
No filters needed.
Lots of sneezes but no regrets. Going to the beach was a good idea.
Long overdue bonding sesh with my cousins, finally got the chance to do an out of town trip after 3 years!
Photo set | Bohol
Left Bacolod for Dumaguete at 3:00am to catch the 9:50am trip for Tagbilaran.
If you bring a car, travel time from Bacolod to Dumaguete is 4 hours (with coffee in between). We took the fast craft to Tagbilaran ~ Oceanjet takes almost 2 hours from Dumaguete and fees are P700 for tourist class and P1,020 for business class. Trips are 9:50am and 2:30pm daily.
Day 1
Arrived Bohol just in time for lunch. Soooo hungry.
Since we still had half of the day to kill, we went to a couple of tourist spots in Panglao before heading back to my aunt’s place in Maribojoc.
Passed by this old church (forgot the name) that has a well inside, Mama Mary’s well they call it, where they get holy water. I think this was built in the 1920s, I’d have to verify with my cousin since she was the one who got a brochure of the place lol. Very pretty interior AND the ceiling was hand painted by someone.
Bee Farm
Just ate ice cream here actually. They moved their colonies to a different place since they opened up accommodations and kept one for demo purposes. Bought honey to bring home.
Hinagdanan Cave
Amazing how this is so well maintained! And the water is so so so clear.
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Day 2
Loboc River
Tried the Loboc river cruise, early lunch for us so to avoid the crowds. We had a good boat, it had a deck and was sat with a good view, great for taking photos haha.
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Wildlife and Nature Park
This opened 5 months ago, fairly new, just a few meters away from the tarsier conservation and they house around 25 exotic animals. Will definitely be back with the kids next time.
The famous tarsier Bohol is so known for, these were wild and we found two in the area
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Chocolate Hills
Another must see when in Bohol, was once declared as one of the seven wonders of the world. More than 1,268 cone-shaped hills spread over an area of 50 square kilometers or more and vary in size from 30 meters to 120 meters in height.
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After going around these “mandatory” spots, we headed to Henann Resort to check-in and just in time for sunset and happy hour.
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Happy hour by the beach, unlimited steak buffet at Amorita Resort and night swimming at the hotel.
Dinner buffet at Amorita Resort is P1,100 net, inclusive of taxes.
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Day 3
Woke up to breakfast and ate until the buffet closed haha.
Was supposed to go dolphin watching and island hopping this day but we decided to just savor the hotel amenities and laze by the beach.
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Already planning to go back in December with the kids. We fell in love with the place for sure.
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We left late afternoon to go back to my aunt’s place and to this feast! Everything was soooo fresh and soooo yummy, I couldn’t stop eating!
Day 4 | Homebound
Took the 7:30am trip from Tagbilaran to Dumaguete, bought silvanas to bring home and lunched at Royal Suites for some bulalo steak.
Same rates apply to Oceanjet trips from Tagbilaran to Dumaguete. Schedule is 7:30am and 12:30pm daily.
So good to have spent the weekend with family, major sepanx already.
Almost 1 hour plane ride from Cebu to Sayak Airport and we went straight to our first stop for the trip (which is just like 5 minutes away). We booked all our tours with Galatea.
Kawhagan Island
Pit stop for lunch since eating/cooking and drinking is no longer allowed at the Sugba Lagoon.
Sugba Lagoon
Very picturesque turquoise waters. Definitely a must see. Nice that when we went, it was not that crowded.
We left around 4pm to go to General Luna which is like 45 minutes away from the airport and checked in at the Bravo Hotel.
We had dinner at Harana and at 9PM they cleared the dance floor. Apparently, every night there is a different party at a particular venue. Saturdays are for Harana.
Day 3 | Siargao
Woke up around lunch time and headed off to Kermit. Food is really good, did not disappoint.
And we started our salubong sesh by the beach. Sundays are for Bravo. Super fun night, thank you friends!
Day 4 | Siargao
Party boat by Galatea. Happy birthday to me!
Daku Island
Clear blue waters, fine white sand, beer in hand, soaked up the sun. Lovely.
Birthday lunch 😋
Corregidor Island
Island is not as crowded compared to the others. You could snorkel and hike here too.
Naked Island
Toilet break.
Cloud 9
Regularly rated as one of the top 10 surf sites in the world. Bonus for beautiful sunsets.
WILD. But we’ll keep that to ourselves.
Thank you universe for yet another year of awesome.
One last beach trip with my boys before school starts and summer is officially over.
Photo set | Punta Ballo, Sipalay
Day 1
Thomas and Friends go to the beach
God’s art and my life in one frame
Day 2
Day 3
Punta Ballo is (I believe) an unspoiled beach paradise located south of Sipalay, approximately 4 hours from Bacolod City. A stretch of white sand, spectacular scenery, calm waters, clear skies — what an awesome weekend.
Went up to Michelle’s farm and stayed for the day. Chilled, hiked for a bit and had some incidental digital detox because there was no signal there (haha).
This and Risa’s cansi FTW!
What’s awesome with the farm’s area is that it includes a 20 minute hike to this hidden treasure.
And nice that the fam and some friends put up these signs along the way.
This is part of the Lunao sulfur river. Entry point is on private property and the owners decided to not keep it open to public to preserve this precious gem. It used to be open and shared to everyone but sadly lots of irresponsible tourists would leave their trash behind.
Portiko Trivia Night
First time to go and it was so much fun! Good brain exercise.
Team R-18! We’ve to stock up knowledge for next Wednesday.
Originally my flight out was 9am but Cebu Pacific moved it to 1pm.
Snapchat: chikiverd
Flight was 3 hours delayed and I was stuck in Manila traffic for 4 freakin hours. Hell.
Had late dinner at Gringos with Jobelle, mojitos and lights off by 12 midnight.
Snapchat: chikiverd
Happy birthday Surf trip
Road trip to Zambales to catch us some waves. First time to try surfing. Left Makati round 4:30am, arrived Crystal Beach 9ish, I think. Way to north was so picturesque and I made super cool new friends.
Good morning 32!
Such an awesome day to go to the beach, weather was great!
Who’s under your table?
They make surfing look so easy but it’s really exhausting! So got out of the water, bought me some beer and chilled on the beach. Perrrfect.
Sunset sesh.
Check out Crystal Beach in Zambales. The place is really nice, the instructors are so friendly and accommodating and the resort’s rates are affordable too.
Got back to Taguig around almost 10pm and had late dinner at Burgers and Brewskies (always) with this bunch. I just can’t miss their burgers, sorry.
Located in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, place is an hour drive from Bacolod and a 15 minute boat ride from the port to the island.
Day 1
First thing I saw when I set foot on the beach 😂
Checked in and they told us that the floating bar was closed due to the storm and we were like that’s what we came here for! Uncontrollable weather conditions. Left our stuff at our room, settled in, ordered lunch and had us some really cold beer.
Still a lot of construction going on in the island. They just recently opened the aircon rooms.
Hi April!
The queen has arrived 👑
Sky was getting gloomy and it was really windy, we were asked to transfer at the restaurant.
By this point, we’ve already consumed 60 beers. 60 BEERS. And a bottle of black.
Day 2
Had brunch, ordered sinigang for the hang over. We wanted to swim but the currents were really strong and it was still very windy so we just hung out at the beach.
Left the island after lunch, the skies were getting really heavy so we wanted to go before it would start pouring.
Passed by Archie’s family house to rest for a bit,
then went to Balaring for early dinner. Sunset sesh and yay seafood!
Weekend well spent. Welcome home Nicole!
Lakawon Island is so far different from how it was before. Place has improved a lot but everything is extremely overpriced. They also have to up with their reservation and food and room facilities. Staff on the island were very accommodating though. Wasn’t able to take pictures of the bamboo huts and the cluster houses because it was all up on my Snapchat (haha).
Density Runs 