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.          

Oslob - Snorkel with Whale Sharks

Since I got back in Cebu I been hearing about whale sharks sightings in Oslob. Its a 3 hours drive down south of Cebu province from the city.  This place is not famous and no one would hear about Oslob until the whale sharks started appearing in shallow water of this sleepy town sometime in September last year.

Apparently, during this time of year it is the season for the fish locally known as "bolinao" or the "Philippine Anchovy".  During the bolinao season, the local fishermen would group together to catch "bolinao" with their big fishnet.  What happened this time in Oslob was, when the fishermen were catching bolinao, the whale sharks were pitching in from their catch.  Most of what they have left of the bolinao were half eaten.  So, the fishermen decided to have 2-4 fishermen assigned everyday to feed the whale sharks while the rest catches bolinao and they split the catch equally amongst themselves.  They went on like this for a couple of days until one day, 2 of the smaller whale sharks followed their boat to shallow water thinking that they were following the source of food.  This was the start of this amazing whaleshark phenomenon in shallow waters of Oslob that stirred Cebu since it was sighted.

I drove there with Loquito, since we were already in Moalboal doing some scuba diving.  Although I've seen whale sharks before but the excitement of seeing this huge creatures again in my home province is more than exciting - it's ecstatic.  So we drove after lunch so we could still do one more scuba diving before leaving Moalboal.  I have not tried driving to Oslob from Moalboal before and I haven't been there in a long time so I was not really sure how to get there, but it looked like there was only one road according to goggle map.

We drove about 2 hours and  got there at about almost sunset.  It was easy to find, we just followed the signs and definitely there is only one road to get there - we never got lost!  Apparently the whale sharks are gone after lunch time, so there wasn't a chance of us to see it when we arrived.  We decided to stay over night and head to sea first thing in the morning.  There were many cottages for rent overnight and we found one by the beach where the whaleshark watching happens.  Aaron Beach Resort. It was a house but converted into an overnight hostel sort of, 3 rooms, cable TV, kitchen, dining and they have a dive shop.  I was told it is owned by an Australian guy married to a local lady, but they prefer to live in Australia and only come for vacation in Oslob.  The care taker of the house were very friendly and accommodating, we were also allowed to cook if we want to, otherwise they will cook for us and charge accordingly.  It was cheap either way.  

At the break of dawn, we were already awake, too excited to let any minute pass us by, we got up and had breakfast with the guys working at the house. Then we were led to get tickets to watch or snorkel with whalesharks.  Tickets vary depending if you are a local and foreigner.  HAHAHA, I had the biggest laugh. I got me a local ticket while my companions were made to pay 50% more than I did. But to be honest I wasn't proud of this.  People should enjoy this at the same price regardless, the experience will be the same for any of us no matter how much you paid for it at the end of the day.  But anyway, they were just happy to be able to see this huge creatures and didn't really mind if they paid 10 times more.  It is an experience to be had, I must say.

So, we paid and got our tickets, we were given our snorkels and lifejackets.  We were told to get on a native boat that took us about 5 minutes, which we could have had just walked on the beach to the venue for the whaleshark watching briefing conducted by the local government.  The briefing took about 5 minutes, of which we were told the do's and don'ts. Somehow, I was glad they implemented something like that, it's good to know that this is not just a sightseeing but also some sort of a learning experience as well as the local government was taking care of those huge creatures.  After the briefing we got on the same boat and headed towards the group of whalesharks being fed by the other boatmen. Our boat guide, was very strict with the lifejacket while on the boat. I tried all excuses to be exempted but it didn't work with him, which was I think good for most visitors that doesnt know how to swim, at least whatever happens they will float for sure!  I was surprised by how close we were to the whalesharks, we can almost touch it, but as per the briefing we were not allowed to, so we refrained from doing so.  At the same time, I felt bad that those gigantic creatures hits the paddles or the bancas (wooden boat) when they try to surface to feed themselves with krill that the fishermen were feeding them with.  There were 14 whalesharks in the area and I was overwhelmed that we had 5 just around us. Even if I've seen them before, it is still something to get excited. Amazing experience.