Day 6. Bohol Island Hopping Tour

We got up and met Arniel at 6am. He took us on a motorcycle to the loading area to save us 15 minutes of walk. We then hopped on a boat and started our tour. 

Dolphins

We first went to see spinner dolphins. There were a dozen of them jumping along the boats.  

Balicasag Island

We then arrived at Balicasag Island. Our boat captain went to arrange for us the snorkel tour and fins rental. We waited at a restaurant and pre-ordered some food so that we could eat after the snorkel trip.  Then a tour guide from the island came and took us on a snorkel tour. Following his advice, we bought two packs of crackers from a lady who turned out to be his mom. He then took us on a kayak and paddled to the other side of the island to see turtles. He explained that the turtles were on this end of the island whereas the fishes were on the other end and that we would start here so that we would swim following the current.  

The water was crystal clear. We saw five turtles along the way. The guide took our Gopro and dived down to take good photos and videos for us. Below were photos that the guide took with Claire swimming next to a turtle. 

We saw many things along the snorkel: sea urchins, blue starfish, sea cucumbers, clown fish. It was the most vibrant and beautiful reef I have ever seen. 

We swam half of the island already. The guide then helped us to get back on the kayak and paddled to the fish spot. There were many people there so we just stayed next to our kayak. The fishes were everywhere. Our guide dived down, spread some cracker to get fishes in front of the camera, and took amazing videos with Claire and me.

Our time was up quickly and we had to go back to the shore. Our guide told us that the souvenir selling lady was his mom, so I let Claire buy a peal bracelet from her for 400 PHP.  

It was 9:30am, perfect time for a brunch. Our food came quickly. I had garlic butter shrimp and Claire got fried chicken. We also got a bottle of water. All for 1000 PHP. We both loved it. Since we were the first to eat at the restaurant, the island dogs all came to our table begging for food. Later when people at the other tables started to have food, the dogs went to them. The lady who cleaned the tables dumped all food scraps for the dogs.

Balicasag Island the the best snorkeling place I have ever been to in my life, better than Hawaii, Caribbeans. Even though this place was crowded, and you only got limited time, it was still an absolutely amazing experience.  

Virgin Island

This is just a sandbar. We played in the water a bit before we decided to go back.

Back in Panglao

We were back to Alona Beach at noon. On our way walking back to the hotel, we saw a Bohol Bee Farm ice cream stand, and bought some ice cream. They were uniquely flavored (ube, malunggay, dragon fruit etc) and were all really good. Claire and I both loved them.

When we went to the hotel, the friendly front desk girl mentioned that the bee farm also has a restaurant on the beach, so we decided to there for dinner.

Claire went playing at the hotel pool. After a shower, Claire went to take a nap. I went to a travel operator next door to buy Oceanjet ferry tickets for the next day. Oceanjet tickets turned out trickier than I thought. I should have booked it several days in advance. I booked on KKday first, but the order status was stuck on processing for more than 24 hours, so I cancelled it. I then tried to book from the Oceanjet website, but my credit could not go through. Ariel told me that I could get tickets from the travel agent nextdoor to the hotel. So I went and they booked the tickets for me: tourist class 900 PHP per person. 

I chatted with the hotel front desk girl a bit. I heard from the guide at the firefly tour that there was a coconut wine, so I asked where I could try it. The girl said that the wine was called tuba. She called many places and talked to many people, and finally found a place that was selling it in 1L bottles. It was 15 min drive from the hotel, so I decided not to go.

Later in the afternoon, Claire and I walked to the Buzz Cafe by Bohol Bee Farm. The restaurant had a great ocean view. We had ice cream again. I ordered salad. It was beautifully decorated with flowers. I also had grilled squid, it was good too. Claire ordered fish and chips, it had a bad fishy smell and had fish bones, we did not like it. Claire ordered another ice cream.

After dinner, we went to sleep early.

Tip

We booked the island hopping tour from our driver Arniel. We paid 3000PHP for a private tour + 300 fins rental at Balicasag island + 200 Virgin Island Environmental fee. I would totally recommend the private tour. The flexibility and no waiting is worth the additional 600PHP than the group tour (they call it joiner tour here).