Bantayan Island: Heaven
Finally!... The long wait came to an end. I personally witnessed the exotic beauty of this infamous island after years of thinking, planning and convincing some friends to take a trip to the said place.
Bantayan Island is located at the northern part of Cebu province, divided into three (3) municipalities: Bantayan, Madridejos and Santa Fe. We stayed at Santa Fe.
Let the travel begin:
We met up at the North Bus Terminal at around 4:20 AM; we opted to get the first trip to avoid the traffic. We took the bus with the sign board "Hagnaya" (air conditioned). The fare was Php170.00/pax. Travel time to Hagnaya was approximately 3 hours.
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| Ferry Terminal |
The bus stopped right in front of the ferry terminal where we waited for the ferry that would take us to Santa Fe. We paid Php170.00 for the ferry fare and Php10.00 for terminal fee. The ferry trip from Hagnaya to our destination was about 1 hour.
Welcome to Bantayan:
I was speechless when I caught a glimpse of the island. Ohhh the pristine, blue-green water and the white sand took my breath away. Finally the ferry docked. I couldn't wait to set foot on the island!
It was almost lunch time when we arrived. We hailed a tricycle to Mayet Resort, about 20 minutes from the port. The tricycle driver offered us an island hopping tour and after a quick discussion, we decided to grab it. We asked the driver to wait for us while we checked in at the resort then asked him to take us to an eatery.
We took the big room (good for 6-8 people). After we settled, we headed back downtown for our lunch.
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| our cottage --- and models ;-) |
The tricycle driver told us that we could rent bikes for Php200 each, and we can use them until our last day in the island. Yikes unlimited use! Okay we rented bikes, but since I don't know how to use it.. we only got three.
Lunch was done.. so we went back to the resort to prepare for our island hopping adventure. Geared up! All set! And off we go! At exactly 1pm, we left the resort and rode our bangka for our island hopping.
Originally, we planned to go to Virgin Island but then we decided to just stay at Hilantagaan Island. The island was beautiful and captivating enough to make us stay.
Hilantagaan had fine white sand shoreline and crystal clear water.
We asked our boatman to get us fresh fish. And yes we got a super fresh, milky grilled fish! Oh so sumptuous.
The Hilantagaan Island has a small community. From the shoreline, we could hear the children from the nearby school.
After an hour or two, we moved to the other part of the island where we could go snorkeling.
There were foreigners (Japanese) who also went snorkeling on this part of the island.
My friends went on snorkeling, I stayed at the boat and took a quick nap. I felt so sleepy after that mouth watering food we had.
Time to go back to the resort. It was low tide, so our footprints on the sand were very visible. We rested for a while before going out for our dinner.
The Nightlife:
With the help of our bikes, it was easier to navigate around the town (ehem I had a driver *wink*) Muchas Gracias Señor!. We went to Anika Resort to have a dinner. It took us a few minutes to get to the resort.
It's a lovely place. The ambiance was so cozy and relaxing. Their rooms were made from recycled container vans (I think) and they looked so nice. The restaurant's wooden interior gave a classic touch to the resort.
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| Dinner.. where's our dinner!? |
While waiting for our food, we took some photos. Then dinner was served!
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| CouCou Bar |
After our delectable dinner, we looked for a good place to chill. We had a particular bar in mind but it was jam-packed when we arrived, so we decided to look for another. And bwala, we found this uber-homey place, the CouCou Bar - Hotel and Restaurant.
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| having fun guys? |
The place and the timing was just perfect! When I enquired for a vacancy, the customers on this particular spot were done. It was really meant for us! ^-^ I so love the place! See how relaxing it is? The atmosphere was unbelievable. Shhh, I almost fell asleep. After maybe an hour or so, we headed back to our resort. Before bedtime, we did stargazing err cloud-gazing (shape guessing whatever). It was a cloudy night... Then we called it a day.
Second Day Adventure:
We woke up early to make the most of our last day on the island. So we explored the white sand beach in our resort. And of course, picture taking again! >_<
Then we searched for a place to have our breakfast, Filipino style breakfast was good. Now, time to burn the calories by biking towards Ogtong Cave. The cave was nearby our resort, probably less than 10 minutes by bike. But since we went to the town proper for our breakfast, it took us about 20 minutes bike ride.
We paid Php100/pax entrance fee at the Ogtong Cave. With just 100 pesos, we were able to enjoy the cave and the pool. woho!
I didn't have any idea how the cave would look like, then I saw it. Some parts of the cave were preserved from it's original form, if I should say it that way. But the reconstruction of the cave was pretty apparent if you'll scrutinize it. Lights were installed inside the cave, which were very helpful to avoid tripping on the rocks.
We got inside the cave. The water was cold yet relaxing. There were even shrimps in the water. Yikes! I was scared. haha We stayed for a while, talking and laughing..... Then we decided to transfer to the pool.
The pool looked so enticing from a far. I was so excited to take a dip, then I got disappointed. The design of the pool was so weird. I didn't understand why the 6' deep level was just next to the 4' deep level, while the 1' level is situated next to 5' level. In short, the one big pool had different levels, from 1 feet to 6 feet. Did I make sense? Oh goodness.. I couldn't even explain it! Next!
Since I don't know how to swim, I just stayed at center of the pool (1' deep), laid down and savored a laid back moment.
I liked the landscape outside the Ogtong Cave. It's so pretty and peaceful.
Before we knew it, it was time to go back to the resort. We have to prepare our things as we needed to leave by 3PM.
We had a quick lunch, then relaxed at the hammock outside our cottage, just killing the time. I fell asleep for almost an hour. When I woke up, it was time to go. *sad face*
It was indeed a perfect getaway!.... Bantayan Island truly captivated my heart.. Hopefully, I can visit you again, it may not be anytime soon.. but someday.
Here's a short video of how much we enjoyed Bantayan Island.
Video courtesy of tara.
Hasta La Vista Bantayan!
Feb. 7-8 '15