Bohol, Panglao and Alona!

I spent a great weekend away with my husband & 3 friends from school in a remote beach of The Philippines from 23rd to 25th Feb 07. The map below shows where we were on the south of Panglao Island, in a remote resort called Belleview Rock Resort. We were literally on a cliff!!


This is the view from the resort, which was really great. If not for the isolated location & bumpy road accessing the resort, it would have been an ideal romantic gateway. :-)

We spent 3 days and 2 nights on Panglao Island. The first day, we went snorkelling a Balicasag Island. That is where our Belgian friend Nicolas got burnt as red as a beetroot. On the way back, we saw a mantra ray spin out of the water! Obviously that was difficult to get on tape so you'll just have to believe me :p

The 2nd day, we went on a day tour of Bohol by renting a van for 2,500PhP (approx 80SGD). It was a standard itinerary with sights around the huge island of Bohol (I say huge in comparison to Singapore :-) such as Chocolate Hills, a lunch cruise down the jade green Loboc River & many more interesting places. Unfortunately, we didn't get to eat at the Singaporean Claypot restaurant in Tagbilaran, which is the only city in Bohol and also where the airport is situated.

The 3rd day which was also our last *sob*, we arose bright and early at 6am to go out dolphin watching. After 1hr on the boat, we were about to give up hope when we spotted a line of dolphins swimming in front of us! Lady luck began to shine on us as we caught sight of school after school of dolphins. In fact, once you follow them, they are difficult to miss. We must have seen at least 30 that morning. Can you spot the dolphin in the picture? :-)

We returned to the hotel refreshed for an early breakfast. My husband and I left while we left John, Nicolas (la frite) and Laetitia to their last 1 1/2 days in the island paradise. :-) Hope they enjoyed their diving lessons!