Bohol: Balicasag Island

October 17, 2013


After that wonderful experience with the Dolphins, our next activity for the day was interaction with different kinds of fishes, and when I say interaction that means we're going to swim with them. That sounds so exciting, doesn't it? Well, it did excite me. I wonder how big those fishes would be! I grew up near the ocean and corals but to swim with big fish, that's something I had not done before.


From where we saw the dolphins, the boat headed toward south where Balicasag island is located. As we moved closer to the island, my attraction to the place had doubled. I couldn't believe I was seeing what looks like a paradise to me. The island is being surrounded by a pure, crystal clear water and that truly amazed me! I grew up in a huge island and our house is by the beach but our seawater is not as clear as what I'd seen in Balicasag. Their water is pretty much amazing, with blueish and greenish water on, I wonder if there has been a mermaid around the island or if Poseidon does even exist!


By just seeing the blue green water, that made me want to go ahead and jump and swim! But I couldn't no matter how much I love to swim. With intense heat of the sun, I knew my skin would get burnt. :) Nah, I'm exaggerating, but it was really hot by the time we reached the island. Astounded by the beauty of nature, I found myself being captive in my photography world and took as many photos I could.

Gord likes to collect corals and seashells so when he got on the shore, he walked around and looked for some corals. I used to do that when I was a kid.

Balicasag seemed like a very small island to me, so when I learned that there are people residing there, that surprised me a bit because it's too far from Panglao so I wonder how those people act on certain emergencies. There must have been a large supply of food and gasoline in the island.


Some of the residents there rent out snorkeling gears. Some make bracelets and different kinds of accessories from corals and seashells and sell them. They have a very good source of living. The island itself is already a good one.


When we had all the gears we needed, we hopped in a small boat that would bring us to the fish sanctuary. It was a very tiny boat and considering my weight and Gord's, I worried the boatman would have hard time paddling, but it looks so easy on him. Well, we were floating and we were moving so I must trust his strength :)

This is Vincent, the boatman

After few meters of boat ride, we reached the sanctuary where I got to see a lot of fishes that I don't even know what they are called. I'm a fisherman's daughter but I'm familiar with only few fishes, just fishes that my dad would catch :)  The moment I got myself down into the water, my body got surrounded by those beautiful fish. Some fish bit me somewhere in my body but that didn't hurt. 

It was fun having those tiny creatures around me and I felt like I belong to them at some level of perspective. Then, my wild imagination got me and I thought I of being a mermaid or the ocean's queen and Gord's the king in the ocean.

Snorkeling is all fun especially when you get to see those beautiful corals and different kinds of fish, and our snorkeling in Balicasag is the best of all. It's far way better than our snorkeling in Donsol and Caramoan. I wish I own an underwater camera and could have taken photos of those beautiful things that appeared right before my eyes, including my baby who was having so much fun swimming around with the fish, like I did.

Spending some time at the island was one of the best moments in my life that I will cherish forever. I used to dream of a sweet and romantic date on an island when I was in my high school, and I would say I am lucky to get what I dreamed of. Gord was my ever first date, and a date in an island, that was just so perfect. I wish we could stay longer or spend a night in Balicasag like what we did in Caramoan.


There was another island to visit, the so-called Virgin Island, but we decided to head back to the resort. I guess we'd seen enough. Besides, it was almost lunch time and my tummy was already crying for food.  

UP NEXT: Panglao Tour




Ma Cristina
Mandaluyong City

Bohol: Dolphin Watching

October 17, 2013

One of the best things to experience in Bohol is Dolphin Watching. I had seen different kinds of fish in my childhood until college as my father used to catch fish for a living. But Dolphins? I had not seen one, except in movies or television shows. Dolphin is not a typical fish that one can see anywhere else in Philippine seas. So when the resort offered Dolphin watching, I was happy and excited. At last, I'm gonna get to see dolphins without going to Ocean Park or Subic.

That excitement began to banish when the staff informed us that we needed to wake up early as dolphins usually show up between 7:00 - 9:00 o'clock in the morning. I got reminded of what happened during our supposed to be whaleshark interaction in Donsol. To read my travelogue about Donsol trip, please click this.  We were supposed to swim with the whale sharks but we didn't see any whale shark, and that was disappointing and I wouldn't want to end up with that same fate in this dolphins. Anyhow, the tour must proceed as planned.

After we had our breakfast at the resort, Kuya Roger, the resort's contact fetched us at the resort and led us to a motorized boat. It was low tide at that moment so we had to walk about a hundred meters from the resort to the boat, and it was a pretty nice walk on a beach! I could feel the smoothness of the sand and that early cool breeze from nowhere! Wow, that was really awesome! My boyfriend was also having a good time with such early walk.

This is the boat that took us to where we're gonna watch dolphins.

After 30 minutes of boat ride, we were still not seeing dolphins so I was getting hopeless. I was thinking the same thing would happen like what we got on a search for whalesharks or Butanding as we call it in local tongue.

Few more minutes and the tour guide, Kuya Roger, told me to get ready with my cam as we were approaching the spot where whale sharks were! Yeeeeyyyy! That sudden delight was all over me! I got ready with my cam and made sure I got the proper settings and I was all set! I was ready to take photos of the dolphins!

They were not big dolphins but they were still dolphins :)  I cracked a joke and told Gord that Dolphins in Bohol were Filipino-sized so they were small :D

He's excited. I'm pretty sure! :)

Anyway, it was was all fun seeing those dolphins and other fish go fly and swim freely and disappear and come back again! They were playing in their own play ground and that was really fun watching! By the manner they swam together, they looked like they were dancing altogether and that they don't fear being caught by fishermen or being eaten by other big fish. And that was truly astounding!

I felt like I was having a magical moment of pure simplicity and beauty that life offers. And what made it more enchanting was the fact that I was given that opportunity to see God's creations with my boyfriend, someone I love the most and who loves me too.



UP NEXT: Island hopping and actual swimming with the fish in Balicasag Island! This sounds very exciting, doesn't it? Please click here to read the blog.

Balicasag Island

Ma Cristina
Mandaluyong City
Metro Manila

Bohol Tour

October 2013

Next on the bucket list is Bohol, an island located in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. It has been one of the famous tourist destinations in the nation partly because of its Chocolate Hills, a conglomerate of hills in one of the town in Bohol.


A couple of days before our scheduled tour in Bohol, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 had shaken the Central Visayas and its neighboring regions, causing huge damage to major infrastructure and facilities in Bohol and Cebu. My boyfriend and I were saddened. We thought the tour would have been cancelled and we would head back to Manila without even seeing the beauty of Bohol Island. But we were lucky! Panglao, an island where we're going to stay during the entire visit was not tremendously impacted. Upon receipt of confirmation from the staff of Dumaluan Beach Resort that tour would proceed as booked, with exceptions to some tour destinations included in the package, I got thrilled and so was Gord.


Going to Bohol

From Cebu, we took Super Cat Ferry to Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol. I thought we're going to take same old ferries that transport passengers from Allen Northern Samar to Matnog, Sorsogon but the ferry looks better and well managed. It's air-conditioned.

After an hour or so, we reached Tagbilaran port and what I noticed the most was a very clean port and an organized disembarkation of passengers. There were some cracks on the pavement and roads as well due to earthquake.

Port of Tagbilaran

The staff from Dumaluan Resort

The first time I got into the island, I was already amazed by its beauty. Everything in the sea is mainly colored green, from shoreline to most part of the sea water, something that is not usual to me because ours, in my hometown, it's blue. It's all blue unless you get near the corals.

Panglao is a small island located at the lower side of the main Bohol island. It comprises two municipalities or counties: Dauis and Panglao. The resort where we're gonna stay is Dumaluan Resort and its located in Panglao municipality. From the port, it takes 30 minutes to get to the resort so it's good that a private van picked us up at the port for our convenience. That was part of the services offered by the resort.



The Resort


Of all the resorts in Pangalao, I chose Dumaluan. It has been in the business for more than 50 years according to its website and all reviews I read were positive. And I would say we had the best experience in the resort! The staff were all courteous and friendly. We had a very comfy and huge room with bath tub. We were served with best food. All the itineraries went on as planned, with exceptions to Bohol country tour and Loboc as those places were not reachable by the time we were there. The earthquake damaged the bridges and major roads and they were not passable yet.


The fact that the resort is by the beach, that was already a best part of it. It's always best to go swim in the ocean with immediate access to shower or bathroom when necessary. That's just so perfectly convenient for me.

  

The Beach


One of the things I like in their beach is the sunrise. In my place where I grew up, we don't see sun rise but what we could witness by the sea is a lovely sunset every afternoon.

The Sunrise 

The beach in the morning

 The beach was just so lovely that I wanted to go and swim the moment I saw it! But it was 2 in the afternoon when we reached the resort so just imagine a very hot temperature and I would go swimming? That doesn't sound fair to my skin.


With a beautiful beach and a very nice weather, it felt like we were in a paradise island. It was so awesome, and with the activities we had on the tour package, I just couldn't wait to begin the actual tour. I was so excited! Very excited.


For the tours we had, please click on the following below:


Dolphin Watching
Balicasag Island
Panglao Tour



Ma Cristina
Mandaluyong City
Metro Manila
October 16, 2013