Dolphin Watching and Island Hopping

The morning of our third day in Bohol was spent for dolphin watching and island hopping off the nearby water and islands. Dolphins appear only during early mornings so we had to leave a little after 5:00AM as we set sail towards an unmarked destination in the middle of the sea. The sun had just started to rise as we left the shorelines of Alona Beach.


boats early in the morning


The dolphins started to show themselves little by little, by 6:00AM. First we saw one of them and had to wait for around 5 minutes before more started to appear.


Most of the time, it's only the fins that were showing, and it's quide hard to capture the moment in photos because the movement is very fast and they appear randomly out of nowhere.


I had a chance to capture one dolphin with its head and mouth showing a bit while submerged in the water. We also saw a couple of dolphins do the flip but no pictures were taken of them.


As the day drew bigger and the sun shined brighter, we headed towards Balicasag island for the snorkelling activity.


We docked along the white sand shoreline of the island and a man from a small boat tried to persuade and contract the group to get his service. He wants to bring us to Balicasag Island Marine Sanctuary. Jojo and Patrick M. have proceeded with the activity while Patrick O. and me decided to stay in the island and explore.


small boat for snorkelling in the sanctuary


Walking around the shore of the island, we realized that there is nothing much happening from that side of the island. We were told that there are resorts on the other side but we have to walk across to reach them.


While walking around, waiting for them to finish snorkelling, we grew tired and thirsty and then we realized we didn't had our breakfast yet that morning. We saw coconuts in one of the stalls and each had one for PHP35, a bit pricey but we had not choice.


Talking with the locals while sipping the coconut juice and eating its meat, we were informed that a pathway leading to the lighthouse that we saw as we approached the island is just nearby.


There are two lighthouses in the island an old one and a new replacement lighthouse.


old lighthouse (left) and the new lighthouse (right)



The new lighthouse is modern and majestic on its design, painted in white, towers the island and the one that can be seen from far away.


The old lighthouse is rustic and different from the usual lighthouse structure.


Nearby the lighthouse is the chapel of Sr. Santiago Apostol.


Minutes later and the snorkellers have gone back. We boarded our boat again and proceeded to our next destination.


Another island near Panglao that is starting to get famous is the Virgin island.


The island is actually just a small sandbar with a few plants and trees. Unlike Balicasag, this island doesn't have any structure built onto it.


We just explored the island appreciated the beautiful white sand and pristine and untouched location.


the shores


me


log


This is also the place where Jojo shot his "farewell video". It was a memorable place and the shooting had at least 8 takes because of distractions around.


Before lunch, we headed back towards Alona Beach again to check-out of our resort and proceed back to the city.


eateries along Alona Beach

Bohol Bee Farm and Hayahay Pizza

Capping off our Bohol road trip that day (see part 1 and part 2 for more details), was a visit to this queer farm-cum-resort located in a remote and hidden area in Dauis, Panglao island called Bohol Bee Farm. I had reservations and was skeptical going here at first since it sounded boring and too childish, but nevertheless I just went with the flow since it's Patrick O. who have arranged all these.


The farm have a shop of selling goods and delicacies they have produced and it is an ideal thing to take home something that is to your liking.


We first went to have a 30-minute tour about the farm. The guide showed us some local produce and had a few leaf samples for us to smell and to taste.


She then went on to show us how they grow and harvest the plants, and explained how they tried to make everything as organic as possible, thus producing better products.


me and patrick o.


And then we went to a demonstration on how they handle the bees and how they get honeys out of it.


On a man-made box, they created a synthetic "hive" for the bees to live and showed us how it works. It was a bit eerie if specially seeing all those little creatures moving around, but it was cool.


me, holding one of the slabs


the bees.. eek!


Our guide then led us to this small enclosing and I was surprised that she started to escavate something over all those dirts around her.


She actually wanted to show us the process of vermiculture, the process of putting together organic materials and waste, and by use of earthworms to convert them to compost.


earthworms galore!


Then, she brought us to the livelihood center where a woman was steadily weaving craft materials.


sample works


bags on display near the store


That ended our tour and then Jojo and Patrick M. went off for the shop. Pretending to buy something right or in for the free tasting? :)


woven Philippine flag


We then explored the resort a bit and saw some of the rooms, restaurant and the surrounding place.


Overall, it's not as bad as I initially thought. In fact, I liked it because it was educational and it was an interactive tour we had with our guide. Right after, we then went back to our hotel and rested a bit.

Hours later, we had dinner at the famous Hayahay Pizza in town which claimes to have the best pizza in Alona beach.


waiting for the food


We had two types of pizza, namely . I liked the pizza because of its crust but toppings is just okay. Jojo didn't seem to like it that much though.


Because we just had two pizzas which served as our appetizer that night, we yet had to transfer to another place (which happens to be where we eat just the night before) - in Lost Horizon Beach Resort grill restaurant.


For dinner, wee had grilled squid, fish, eggplant and pork belly. Yummy!


The rest of the time was spent chit-chatting and updating each other on what's happening all since it's been a while since we got together.