Bohol-Panglao: Dili Mapanglaw Sa Panglao

 Day 5: Bohol

In early history, Panglao was known to Chinese, Malay, Siamese and Indonesian traders. In 1803, Spanish explorers came to the shores of Panglao in search of fresh water. At the time a couple of natives on the seashore were making fishing devices called "panggaw". One of the Spaniards asked what the name of the island was. The natives--who thought the visitors were asking what they were making--then replied "panggaw". Hence, from that term, was derived the name Panglao.

The main attraction in Panglao is the white sandy beaches along the coast. Here you will find many hotels and beach resorts such as Alona Beach, Bohol Beach Club, Danao Beach, Dumaluan Beach, and others. The beaches of Panglao are also used as a jump-off point for boat tours for dolphin watching, island hopping to Balicasag and Pungtud/Pontod Islands (more popularly known to tourist as Virgin Island), and are also popular with divers.

Alona beach is about 250 meters (ca 10 minutes on foot) from where we stayed. The resort actually lies just about on the second row away from the beach, but the new "Hennan Resort" already closed the pathway to the beach, so the guest from flower garden resort and others have to go around to the main street and walk past the village centre onto the beach.

A bit annoying is the neverending call "Do you want a ride?" from the tricycle drivers or the people who haggle you with their "Do you want a tour?"  dialogue. Before we reached the beach, we have made a stop at a restaurant, right between the ATM and the Tourist Information where we booked a "Bohol tour". Everyone was friendly and very helpful. The bank (BPI) is almost always online, so one can always use the ATM. In this shopping street, there are actually pretty much everything you need - in addition to numerous restaurants at the beach, there were bakeries and grocery stores and stores where you can buy postcards, t-shirts, bathing needs etc.  On the way to the beach just at the end of the road is also the booking office for the ferries going to Dumaguete, Dapitan, Siquijor and Cebu.


During high tide, the beach area is limited since the cafes are already on the beach. You cannot walk without bumping into the chairs and tables. During low tide, swimming could be a little tricky since you have to walk far on the tidal flats until you can reach the shallow waters with seagrasses. On the beach, there's a lot of vendors selling all kinds of items, and masseurs walking around to find customers.  

Bohol-Panglao: Who is Alona?

Day 3: Manila - Bohol

We were in Tagbilaran in no time. It already looked great from the air, a lot of green, water, and mountainous landscape. The airport is pleasantly small compared to the chaotic Manila. After getting our luggage, we just got out and immediately got a shuttle van that drove us for about 20 minutes directly to Alona Beach in Panglao Island. We paid 600 pesos for this bit of comfort and were brought straight to our hotel, the Flower Garden Resort.

This was our favourite place during our internet research of places to stay in Panglao, at least in this price category. As walk-in guests, we were lucky enough to have an apartment with our own kitchen, refrigerator, a ceiling fan and a functioning new digital air-conditioning unit. It was indeed searing hot in the island, and my body was in trouble acclimatising to the 30-40°C tropical climate. I have to tell you that I haven't been back in the country for 9 years, so that explains it I hope. There was a swimming pool in the garden which is 1.6 m at its deepest. We're allowed to use it 24 hours as long as we don't make noise at late hours. That was perfect since I've always needed to cool myself off.

We didn't book the flower garden beforehand because they needed some deposit and we didn't want to do it. It was good since our itinerary was messed up due to the typhoon in Legazpi City (Albay). There was already a reservation for the last good room at the gardens, but they also didn't pay a deposit fee and did not confirm their reservation, so we got the room. An alternative was a smaller room at the main house. During the lean season, I guess you don't really need a reservation in Panglao. There are some excellent hotels next to where we stayed in the same price category like the Regents Park Resort or the very artsy ChArts Resort. It is really worth it to check out TripAdvisor for what other guests say.

                                                                    

Alona Beach is a well-known stretch of white sand beach in Panglao Island, where most of the tourists come. It was named after the Filipina actress, Alona Alegre who was the first to wear a swimsuit at this beach!