Leaving Bantayan Island for Home of Love

After our very peaceful and sunny beach day in Bantayan Island, we decided to cut our trip short due to the weather report forecasting strong winds the following day or possibly in the next couple of hours.  So, we decided to go back to Cebu City on the next ferry out.  As we were getting ready, "Kulut" (the guy who rented us his motorbike) - came to see us, he was just coming by to check if we need his assistance however, he found out that we were planning to leave.  Although, not in the least happy but he was very understanding and was very helpful getting us to the pier and bought tickets.  We managed to get on a ferry on the last minute, and I guess people rely on weather forecast more in Bantayan Island coz believe it or not - the ferry was full.

Kota Beach

The sea was calm when we left Sta. Fe Port and soon enough we realized that the ferry we were on was slower than the one we came by with however it is bigger compared to the previous.  Half way through the channel the wind picked up and the boat started to rock.  I was a bit scared but pleased that we made the right decision of going back.  I've overheard from the locals chatting behind us that the wind usually picks up in the afternoon and that it is wiser to get on the slower ferry, it is bigger and safer.  I was contented to hear this despite that I felt nauseated the last half of the journey.  When I saw the pier from a distance, I felt relieved.  The ferry - although slightly bigger but it was the same smell of smoke and engine roaring and hammering your head the whole time, much worse coz the floor we were sitting or standing on constantly vibrates from the engine.  It maybe because the boat was large and therefore uses a bigger engine? whether this is right or wrong - the vibrating adds up to my motion sickness. I didn't really know how I survived the trip without complaining or better yet - without getting really sick but I'm happy I manage to keep my cool.

Built like a tank!

We got off the ferry as soon as possible when it we were told it was ok to leave the boat.  Loquito - being so tall and built like a tank, he managed to pull me and our bags passed all passengers rushing to the exit. Size really does matter! As soon as we got out, we collected the car from the covered parking space.  I was praying the drunk guy isn't there, tough luck he was, I guess my prayers didn't reach God in time.  We settled our parking fee and I had Loquito handle the guy.  Hell! - drunk or not - he should be intimidated by the man that's twice his size and also very good at pretending he doesn't speak English! hahaha..this does the trick most of the time.

When we left we decided to drive through a different route than when we got there, and also too that we will visit the Home of Love orphanage.  It was something we been wanting to do since our vacation begun.  According to google map, from Hagnaya Port to Tuburan was 47 kilometers - I hope its not a lie! Coz it doesnt sound like it was that far.  However, it was the first time we took that road, and also the first time to visit the center in Tuburan and we have no clue how to get there but to rely on google map directions.  We drove for about half an hour and I realized we were running out of fuel. I was getting really worried, the road we were on  was mountainous, going up - down - blind curves - and the houses were far apart, there were hardly any people on the street and some road doesn't even have any visible houses by the road side and it stretched on for a few kilometers, let alone a gasoline station out of nowhere.

according to google map

Loquito told me to drive slower so we could conserve the fuel, should be enough to get us to Tuburan town center.  As we got nearer we can see some people walking on the street and I felt relieved, that it felt like we were back in civilization and less of the mountains scenery.  We checked for the gasoline station right away and then we asked around how to get to the Home of Love.  Apparently the orphanage is famous as Pink Sisters coz the nuns that run the center wears Pink!  So after, asking a couple of people we found a narrow road leading to the center.  It was a very steep climb, I was told by the Nuns to leave the car at the foot of the path but Loquito wanted to take it up, so he took over the wheel.  There was no way in hell I could make it up if I were to drive, the center was position on top of the hill. When we got there, indeed we were greeted with the Pink Nun and a lot of lovely children.  Although it felt like we were driving forever and we started to feel tired, but when we hear the kids laugh, it was all we needed to feel good again.     

Kota Beach Resort

So, we reached Bantayan Island and had no reservations whatsoever, but with some tips from the motorbike driver "Kulot" - who rented us his motorbike, we found Kota Beach Resort.  Although this was after 4-5 resorts that refused us because they were full,  we were so glad to have found a resort with a beach front - this is all we need and we knew we were in the right place, after all - the purpose was to find any white beach in Cebu we can set our foot on.  The rooms were facing the beach and most of them occupied by long staying guests, some of them stay for months. The rates are affordable - it's between P800 - P3000 depending on the location of the room.  The resort was very basic no other facilities besides the restaurant and reception - the beach is the only thing they have at best and the rooms - although, facing the beach those were made to disappoint, it was already run down and the fittings were just as old and tired - Seriously needs some renovation.

beach front cottages

I've been to Bantayan Island a couple of times before, I have an Uncle (my Dad's brother) lives there and my bestfriend Leila's Dad - grew up in Madredejos (one of the three municipality on Bantayan Island).  However, I have no clue which side of the island has the best beach, as usually when you travel with locals in the area they just drag you all over the place and you have no idea where you were, how you got there, after all you did that day.  So, finding a beach front view rooms and white beach was a feat for Loquito and I, somehow it was like threading in unchartered territory.  It was raining when we arrived but we managed to swim in the dark in between the interval rains.  It did felt creepy at some point swimming in the water that you cant even see whats in there, except you just struggle to keep afloat and ensure not to touch your feet underwater.  The beach front didn't have lights on, and we were only relying on the reflections of the lights from the resorts restaurant a couple of meters away and the light post from a resort next to ours.  There were other people swimming, so it was not that scary staying in the water. Actually it was easier to stay in the water than out of it, the wind was a bit of a chill and it was was more scary to you get out of the water.  The beach was really nice and swimming made us feel better, despite the darkness and after a long day of driving, boat ride and then motorbike in the rain it was a treat.  It does sound like a long day does it? I would like to say "it was Fun" but i have difficulties extracting the words from my head since there was a point when I was wet shivering cold on the motorbike under the rain.

Local fishermen

After swimming, we had dinner at the resorts restaurant. Ding Dong Restaurant! I don't know who would name a resorts restaurant Ding Dong but it was it's name.  We couldn't help giggling - not with excitement but with pure sarcasm.  The menu was a big selection, however, a lot of the ones we wanted to order were not available but, they still kept it in the menu (after all these years - I guess!).  "Sigh". After a long struggle with the Menu I ended up ordering vegetable fried rice, i thought it would be the safest choice since Filipinos are really fond of rice - so you can't go wrong with any rice courses and Loquito looked at me as if my choice was from the menu outer space.  When the food came after about an hour of waiting, my food was unbelievably a poor choice.  I ended up eating what Loquito ordered and hardly touched my fried rice and I swear - I will never order fried rice again.

Loquito found his white beach and the perfect blue sky

The night was short due to the rain, and then it was pouring hard and harder and then some very loud thunder, it felt like the walls would break - we didn't have a choice but to sleep.  We woke up with a really nice weather the following day.  The sun was up and it was really hot.  After breakfast at Ding Dong Resto (this time breakfast was inclusive of the room rate) although it was just toasted slice bread, a powdered juice mix, coffee or tea, butter and jam - it didnt matter, we were more excited with the beach than food.  We took a walk on the beach and went all the way to the last resort in the area and notice all of the ones that refused us but we were so happy to realized that our resort has better beach.  There were very few people on the beach, and it felt like we had our own private white beach.  I knew most people were hiding from the sun and we just did the opposite.  We found a spot with very fine sand, so we laid our towels, swam for a while and then lay there to soak up some sun - as if I needed more colour, seriously I couldn't be more darker from all the beaches we been already.

not sure if those two are out on a romantic cruise

Bantayan Island is a great place for honeymooners and beach bums I guess, there was little trouble that disturbs your peace.  The beach is amazing, the sand is white and very fine like sugar and no crowded place.  It's like a little peace of heaven, however with a bad weather there is a possibility that you will be stuck on the island, because the ferry company doesn't operate when the wind is strong, the sea could be really rough.

Bantayan Island Cebu

For Loquito's vacation in Cebu, we did a road trip around the whole province,  South first and then went up North looking for the best white beach we could set our foot on and perhaps do some scuba diving in the area while we're at it.  The north of Cebu is usually Bantayan Island that would come to mind first, although there are other places along the way and also islands around but Bantayan island is easier to get to and offers more accommodations for those like us that comes without reservations.

farmers transporting coconuts

We drove from Mactan Island early morning so we could get to Hagnaya Pier in San Remegio - almost the tip of Northern Cebu to catch a ferry that would take us to Bantayan Island.  It was like island hopping really...only - we were using a car instead of a boat.  The drive was long, from 8am to 11.30am we were on the road with mostly greeneries and massive sugarcane plantations stretched towards the horizon.  We saw farmers transporting their produce, either vegetables, fruits, sugarcane or coconuts. It was my first time driving there with only goggle map to rely on, as if I really know how to take directions from a map!!! I wasn't really sure if we took the right road most of the time.  Luckily, we only got lost once!  The funny thing was, when we realized we were on the wrong road, we stopped to asked for direction with the only person we saw by the road side and it was an Italian guy who hardly spoke English let alone tell us where we are and how to get to where we should be.  We laugh most of the way, we flipped the car and head back to the main road, and as per goggle we were actually on the right road, little did we know that there were two piers that caters for Bantayan Island.  One with ferry shuttles and one with local pumpboats that you can privately hire.  And we head to the latter, but we realized it soon enough so we took the other road that leads to the right pier for us.

little girls selling budbud (sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves) on the road

When we got to Hagnaya Pier almost at lunch time, the ferry was leaving in 15 minutes and we had to decide whether to take the car or leave it at the pier.  There were covered parking available for P125 overnight as oppose to paying for the car P2,500 each way aboard the ferry, it was a cheap no-brainer decision.  At the pier while parking the car there was an annoying drunk guy trying to help me park the car as if I just learned to drive yesterday, only to find that he wanted  a tip more than 20 pesos for his unsolicited assistance.  Not only he demanded more money but he also asked for imported chocolates, seriously?!! I just glared at the guy like my eyes was barking at him. But at the same time I was worried he might do something with the car, so I let it go without a fight.

on the ferry leaving Hagnaya Pier

We hurriedly bought tickets, there were about 5 men trying to help me get to the ticket booth as if it was the most difficult thing to do and then all of them surrounded me while I was buying the ferry ticket and they told me to pay the pier terminal fee.  I really don't know why they were acting the way they did.  I could have known this easily, there is only one way to get inside and whether you like it or not you have to pay the terminal fee or they don't let you in even if you have the ferry ticket.  We were told that the boat ride was an hour and half - this wasn't true - it took more, the sea was not that rough but it was not calm, however, the ride was bearable except that it smelled like smoke as if the boat was built like belching machine and the sound of the engine was like a steady hammer poking your head.  It was difficult to relax or even read a book so, we decided to stand on the side of the boat to have fresh air and less with the hammering noise.

a ferry at Bantayan Pier

When we arrived Bantayan island it was around 3pm, however since we didn't have a room reservation, we didn't know where to stay. Luckily or unluckily - there were an overwhelming crowd of persistent motorbike drivers and owners that will do anything to get you to rent a bike with them but somehow gave us an idea where to go.  So, we rented a bike from a guy named Kulot (this is a local word for curly hair), although he had a spiky blonde hair but there were some stubborn curls on the side, so perhaps thats how he got his name. After, exchanging phone numbers with Kulot, we drove around the place.

Sugar beach - Bantayan Island

We went to about 4 or 5 resorts before we found one with a room available, we took it without even bargaining for the rate since it was getting dark.  We dumped our bags in the room and drove to Bantayan City proper, it was about 20-25 minutes non-stop on a dangerously dark road with only the light from the vehicle to rely on and it was raining on and off.  We were dripping wet when we got to the city, only to find out there was really nothing else to do.  The place was deserted, locals sleep early and there was no single place for entertainment.  We drove around their Plaza and discovered a bakery that sells the best hot bread with melted chocolate on this trip we ever had - to this day I still dream about.  We drove back to the resort since there was no other place we know or open that serves dinner, as we got back to the resort we were already dried - the rain stopped somehow along the way and Loquito was driving like we were participating in a race. At least we got back to the resort in one piece, not even lost along the way and ready for dinner.