Bohol is known as the home of the famous Chocolate Hills, the Tarsier and fantastic beaches like Alona and Panglao beach. This would be my second time to visit the City and I would say a lot has changed from the first time I was here because of the tragic event that happened almost a year ago when Bohol was hit by a 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake in 2013, but despite this tragedy the place is still wonderful. I must say Bohol is on my top 5 lists of my favorite Philippine destination.

We only had 3 days to explore the city and because of that I had everything arranged ahead of time. We were set to depart Manila at 8:25 in the morning and arrive Tagbilaran Airport at 9:40 in the Morning. Our first activity for the day was Island hopping so our tour guide picked us up from the airport and went straight to Balicasag Island for Snorkeling and Lunch.

Balicasag Island had a lot of corals in the shore which make it hard to walk with just your feet, luckily the aqua shoes we brought was very useful. The water was very clean and clear you can easily see the rich marine life even without snorkeling.

Bacalinsag Island where we had our lunch.

The locals informed us that the government of Bohol has a law that every person who wishes to do snorkeling should pay Php150.00 for boat rental and Environmental Fee; this is because of an accident that happened in the past. The boatman will bring you a little far away from the shore since the shore was really full of corals and it would be very hard to swim.

There was only one store in the island where we can have lunch, thus they took advantage of it selling their items at a very high rate. A kilo of fish costs Php600.00 when normally we can buy that kind of fish for only Php200-300.00 per kilo, a cup of rice is Php 25.00 and 1.5L of coke is Php100.00. Paying Php1500.00 they served us Sinigang using 1 fish, 1 Grilled Fish and 2 pcs. of Sweet and Sour Fish plus 5 cups of rice and 1 bottle of coke. Food was just normal, nothing special plus the service was really slow.

After Lunch we left for Virgin Island, it was low tide so on our way to the virgin island we saw a lot of starfishes and sea urchins. Virgin Island is similar to Camiguin’s White Island however the difference is that Virgin Island had some structures build that was dedicated to Padre Pio. The sand is powdery white and was clean. There are no entrance fee’s collected to enjoy the beach, also Navy guards are also visible in the area since they strictly enforce that there should be NO vendors in the area.

Virgin Island.

Some of the starfish and sea urchins we saw.

Padre Pio in Virgin Island.

At 4pm, we decided to go back before the sun sets and the waves are high. We were fetched by our land tour guide and brought us to Flushing Meadows. Flushing Meadows was our hotel for day one since it is near the beach area. When we arrived at the resort, the staff welcomes us with a small glass of Four Seasons Juice. After check in we were escorted by their staff to our rooms. Our room was a typical standard room with 2 beds, hot and cold shower, cable television, air conditioner. We just fixed our stuffs and head to the resort’s infinity pool. We were lucky that day the resort only had a few visitors so we had the pool all ourselves. The resort has a lot of facilities that came free like Pool table, kayak, pedal boats, Tennis court, Vide-oke Rooms, a fitness gym, infinity and children’s pool, Children’s Playground and WiFi connection.

Infinity pool before sunset.

After sunset, we decided to take a bath then have dinner in their restaurant. Food was pricey, but was worth it. Food was very delicious and one order is good for 2-3 persons. Their staff was also very accommodating and the place was clean and neat. After having dinner, we were all tired and instead of having a round of beer the boys decided to call it a day.

Day 2, I woke up very early to catch the sunrise. I was fortunate to capture a photo showing half of the island still dark and half starting to be bright. I woke up the boys at around 5:45 AM for breakfast since we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 8:00am. The hotel reservation I had comes with free plated breakfast, and as expected breakfast was delicious and made me so full. I had a plate of fried Dangit, garlic rice, scrambled eggs, orange juice and mixed fruits.

Watching the sun to rise while the half of the island is still dark.

At 8am, our tour guide already arrived to pick us up. Our first destination was Bohol Bee Farm. During my first visit Bohol Bee farm had a farm tour and a lot of bee’s however now we were informed that they no longer have Bee’s. We just enjoyed then the view and also brought home some pasalubong.

Bohol Bee Farm Overlooking Panglao.

After Bohol Bee Farm is a 45m drive to the Tarsier Conservation Center. This was better from the place I visited the first time since Tarsiers were not enclosed in a cage, they were free living in their natural habitat.

Bohol tarsier.

Next Stop, Butterfly Sanctuary. Upon arrival we were welcomed by a tour guide who gave us information about what we are about to see, what are butterflies and moths. We also had an encounter with real butterflies and learned a lot of things about them.

Entrance of Butterfly Sanctuary.

A butterfly landed on my head.

Next stop, Chocolate Hills. As we have read after climbing the 215 steps viewpoint, the chocolate hills were formed due to weathered formations of a kind of marine limestones. There are some legends also saying that the chocolate hills were formed because 2 giants were fighting and threw stones and sand to each other that lasted for days, but eventually they made up and left the island. The mess they left is now the famous chocolate hills we see.

After Chocolate hills, we stopped at the Man-made forest to take some photos. This Man-made forest became a famous spot for tourist to take photos. This was made to be part of the reforestation project in the Island then the Hanging Bridge before we were headed to the river for our River cruise Buffet Lunch.

Bilar Man-Made Forest.

The boy’s posing at the Hanging Bridge.

It is almost 1pm and everyone is hungry, so we were off to a River Lunch Buffet Cruise. We arrived on time and boarded immediately the pawikan cruise. They had crabs, shrimps, lechon kawali, pancit, kakanin, bbq and a whole lot more. We were also entertained by a local singer who also knows some songs in Chinese and Korean that impressed the foreigners. The trip was around 2 hours with 2 stop over’s. During the first stop over, I had the chance to dance tinikling which is a famous Filipino Folk Dance. You will also see a lot of Mangroves during the duration of the cruise.

Locals dancing Tinikling.

After eating lunch.

Ati Tribe (The last stop of the cruise before going back).

After lunch, we only had 3 places left to visit. The Python, the Baclayon church (which was destroyed by the earthquake last 2013) and the Blood Compact site. We were informed that Prony the Python already died a few months back. He was the longest captured Python in the world. They had a new snake, but not has big as Prony. His bones were displayed at the exit of the garden.

Prony Entrance.

Max holding one of the snakes.

Bohol blood compact.

After the tour, our tour guide brought us to Dao Diamond where we are spending the night. After check in we went out again to buy some pasalubong. We went to the Factory of Peanut Kisses and bought a box full of Peanut Kisses. After which we went to Island City Mall to have Dinner and buy some Beer the boys can drink when we get back to the hotel.

Dao Diamond is an owned by an NGO who helps the Deaf. Half of their employees are Deaf and I appreciate this acts done to help them get their own job by not being discriminated because of their inability to speak and hear.

On our last day we just stayed in the hotel, had breakfast and fixed our stuffs. Dao Diamond offers free airport/seaport transfers so we didn’t have a problem getting to the airport. This trip was short, but fun. I truly enjoyed our stay and adventure in Bohol even if it is not my first time. We have learned a lot and spent quality time. This would be all for now, leave us your inquiries, comments and suggestions below.

Peanut Kisses Pasalubong.

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