Panglao Island

We had a much more leisurely rise than yesterday, just catching breakfast before it finished at 9:30 (we’d assumed it finished at 10, very lucky). The breakfasts are relatively average, but good enough to fuel us for most of the day when we invariably have a very late lunch (I think the average is about 3ish). Our plan today was do a general loop of Panglao Island, which is the more touristy part of Bohol and connected by a bridge. With this in mind we headed over to the Hinagdanan Cave by trike, basically a souped up/blingy motorbike and sidecar. Upon arrival the first thing that stuck me was how many tourists there was and how geared up this place was for them. There’s a load of market stalls selling souvenirs, food and shakes (actually ideal as the sun was fully out and very very warm), loads of scooters all parked up haphazardly and a few tour busses (air conditioned luxury). The cave itself has loads of stalactites hanging down and a large pool of water which you can swim in. Weirdly the temperature in the cave seemed to be higher than outside, so we left rather sweatily. Next up was virgin island, just off the southern tip of Panglao. We walked a while down the road before an empty trike picked us up. The transport system here seems to work by just starting to walk somewhere then something/someone will pick you up for a negotiable price. The internet had suggested there is a public boat that regularly goes out to Virgin Island, which is literally just a spit of sand with one bar and some sunloungers. However this is not the case. There’s a load of private boats available to hire at a relatively high price, so not willing to pay this we carried on down the road to Alona beach, the area that all the tourists stay at. Here our technique of walking then getting picked up didn’t work, we ended up just walking the entire way. Very hot. Very sweaty. Slightly fractious.

Upon arrival at Alona beach I immediately jumped in the water to cool down. The beach itself is busy, with probably as many boats just off the shore as tourists on it (an exaggeration but there was many many boats). After my quick dip we took a quick look along the whole beach and chose a bar back where we started from (classic us). 

We’d heard great things about the Bee Farm, which is just north of Alona beach. This time we managed to get a trike successfully and arrived at Bee Farm just in time for lunch, at half 3. I’m not sure whether Bee Farm does actually have a Bee Farm (assume it does), what we found was a beautifully done resort and restaurant, set into the hill going down to the sea with brilliant views out to the ocean. After moving from one table due to an ant infestation we ordered a carbonara (authentic Filipino food) and Amelia got mango chicken (much more authentic). Amelia isn’t feeling in top shape so she didn’t really eat much, and I probably ate too much. So, with very heavy stomachs, we headed back to Hotel Gabriella (trike & jeepney) to rest.