an account of the trip: bantayan island, malapascua, and bohol

for this trip, the group was initially separated into two. we took one of cebu pacific's budget fares. i was with jub, mark, omar, zel, and michael. kr, lei, and jeo had to take an earlier flight since the flight we were on was already fully booked.

november 23 - day 1 super typhoon mina was reported to have reached the philippine peninsula. flights were either cancelled or delayed. there was slight chaos in the group as kr's group was informed by cebu pacific that their flight was cancelled and passengers were being moved to other flights. the earliest flight they could transfer to was around 4am the next day. tension a bit as this meant they would have to miss other trips planned by the group. after zel used some coaxing and a bit of her "people" skills with one of the airline's agents, jeo and kr were finally on the same flight with us. however later on, the group's flight was still moved to a later time.
at the airport, the only rice dinner offered by the terminal was red egg and tomato for php60. i went for a hotdog sandwich instead. after a few hours of waiting, we were asked to board. flight was not as bumpy as expected. cebu, surprisingly, was dry. we were informed the rains happened some 2 days ago.

at mactan airport, we rented one of the vans outside the airport. they would usually have receipts kung di sila cholorom. the group was charged somewhere around php500. the cars would charge php300, i think. we then headed to the house of michael's friend where they served us dinner. this was where we stayed for the night.

november 24 -day 2
2:30am
the bus terminal was just a few steps away from the house where we stayed. the bus ride cost around php80 to maya pier. it was a 4-hour trip with some surprises.
on the way to maya pier, a motorcycle overtook the bus we were on. the guy who was naka-angkas was waving his gun aiming at nothing. usually, this would not be a problem except that this time i was seated in the front seat of the bus. immediately behind the windshield. directly beside the driver. if he decided to start shooting, i doubt the windshield is sufficient protection for me. this intermission ended when they turned left in one of the barangays we entered. further, halfway the bus trip, our driver decided to race with another bus. i would usually be cool with this as well except that it was still quite dark, the roads were dangerously curved..isipin ang isang mahabang zigzag, and they were continuously trying to overtake each other. by this time, i was wide awake, i was promising myself not to sit in the front row again, and i was looking from my friends to the driver and then back on the road.

Malapascua
11am
we reached maya pier and were waiting for the boat. we were individually charged 200php for the boat to malapascua and another 20php for the boat transfer, meaning the smaller boat. the boat transfer meant transferring to the bigger boat while in the middle of the water. this would take balance since the waves were quite strong and we had to avoid banging ourselves with the boat we would transfer to.

since there was a storm, we crossed the waters towards malapascua braving some waves bigger than our boat. this was a trip!


at malapascua, we stayed at Dano Beach resort. our cottages were beach front and we were only charged 1080php per room. that's 360php per person since a room handles 3 persons. each room has its own bathroom. bathroom water tastes salty tho.

we had both lunch and dinner at ging ging's flower garden restaurant. the food presentation was simple. tables were merely arranged beside one of the local's houses. i liked the atmosphere here. you get the feeling as if you know someone from the island, much like as if someone is welcoming you into there home. a meal is between 50-100php.










by late afternoon, we had the tour of the island riding the habal-habal. you can either backride or drive your own bike. aside from not knowing how to drive, i preferred the backride so i could take photos while on the road. it's 100php an hour. worth it since they'll take you to the other beaches of the island.



































november 25 -day 3
we woke up before the sun rose, mga 4am siguro. as the sun was rising, we were far away from the island and on the way to meet some thresher sharks having their ritual of morning cleaning.
tho i was used to only having 1 dive master during a dive, divelink, the dive shop we went to, was generous to allow us to have 3 divemasters that time. and yes, we saw a thresher shark and it was an 11feet beauty.



Bantayan
some time before lunch, we rented another boat to go directly to bantayan island. it was a good 3 hour trip on water and some 260php charge on our pockets. upon reaching the shores of bantayan, our boat had some difficulty getting near the beach. we had to get off the boat while the waters were still waist-high. i had to change in the boat's makeshift restroom. yep, the type where half your body is exposed and you're able to see the blue waters underneath sparkling in between the planks.

we then stayed in budyong beach resort. the room cost us some 960php for a night, i think since we were 4 in the room and each had to chip in 240php. we took one of the non-airconditioned rooms and it was still comfortable.

before evening came, omar and i went to the next town which was santa fe. that's because one, the only atm on the island was in santa fe. i was very short on cash since i wasn't able to withdraw before leaving manila. malapascua didn't have an atm. and, i already started borrowing money from people in the group. two, it was a sunday so best to go hear mass. hehe.. we rented a habal-habal to bring us to and to wait for us after the mass. we each paid 60php. the ride was less than 20min to the church. on the way, you'll see different poultry farms which shouldn't be surprising since bantayan is one of the egg baskets in the area.

we heard mass at the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish. it was only now that i found out that it is the oldest parish in the visayas and mindanao region and was built in 1580AD (http://www.cbcponline.net/cebu/html/parishes.html). it's not the oldest church since 4 or 5 churches have already been built before in the area however, these were either destroyed by the moros or by some calamity. the location would turn into a tourist destination during holy week. and yes, some people have a belief of making a wish when visiting a new church. and no, i didn't make a wish while i was there. i forgot to make one.

at budyong resort, nagpaluto lang kami sa mga manong ng resort. sila na rin ang namalengke. :) that cost us some 120php each or a good 1080php for the whole group. also, other things you can do at bantayan is rent a bicycle and go around the town.




november 26- day 4
before lunch, we rented a pedicab, to bring us to the pier. at the pier, we took a ferry to bring us back to the main island of cebu. the ferry trip cost 135php with the 5php terminal fee. reaching the pier, we took a bus which will bring us back to cebu city. the bus cost 88php. at cebu city, we took a cab to the pier 1 cebu port area, checked out the scheduled departures of the fastcrafts bound for bohol, bought tickets from Oceanjet (600php round trip to bohol. think there was a promo thus the price), and had a very late lunch near the pier.









Bohol
dinner was at bohol. we then stayed at bohol diver's resort. we took another non-airconditioned room. the shower did not have the salty taste of the ocean. however, the only thing separating the bathroom from the room itself is just a shower curtain and not an actual door. the overnight stay cost us 1100php since the room was only meant for 2people but there were 4 of us in the room. additional mattresses were charged 150php. original charge if it's only 2 people would be 800php.
the entire day of travel was capped that night with a few lapses in the pool and a bottle of pale pilsen by the beach. best thing about that night...you can catch a glimpse of a few shooting stars every now and then.

november 27- day 5
in the morning, the group went snorkeling and were greeted by some dolphins along the way. i was not able to catch this since i stayed in the room all morning.
before lunch, we had to leave the resort to catch the fastcraft. yep, the van's door was already open while the vehicle was still moving. we ran to our backpacks and were running like mad towards the fastcraft before it could close its doors. :D

lunch was at CNT lechon house just infront of sm cebu. said to have the best lechon in town. their lechon could easily go out within 2 hours after their lechon arrived.

before the day ended, we were back in manila. :)

thanks for the following for sharing their pics: mark, jeo, omar, zel, michael, and jub. thanks jeo for the videos :D