Renting a motorcycle in Bohol

Michael Zabate and Ethelyn Albano on the scooter

It was 3.30pm when we reached Tagbilaran port, the sun was still shining and we could really feel the summer heat already consuming our excitement.  Before the boat made a complete stop most of the passengers were already standing and ready to disembark.  I thought it was ridiculous because we all have to disembark anyway.  It seems that everyone was doing it, except for us and some few foreigners who were also wondering what people were doing.

We waited until most of the people left the boat and we didn’t have to get into a line to get out of the boat.  Once we were outside, there were many people with signage greeting us, representing their hotels/resorts.  We still didn’t know where to stay so we just completely ignored them and headed to the exit.  Along the way there were people who were asking us if we would like to hire a van, taxi or tricycle.  Our minds were already made up and we wanted to hire a motorcycle.

Some part of the port is under construction, so I wasn’t sure where we can find a motorcycle for hire.  There were a line of tricycle and drivers were also hanging around waiting for passengers and I asked some of them where we can hire motorcycles.  They pointed me to the security guard at the port, a little hut in the middle of the road before taking a turn to the port. 

Me and Joey Carey

The security guard was very polite, and when I asked about the motorcycle rented he immediately told us he will call someone.  When he did not get an answer he told us he will just go and pick up his friend that owns the motorcycle.  We waited about 5 minutes and he showed up with the motorcycle and the owner.  My partner negotiated the price and we got 2 scooters for 500 Pesos per day each.

It is easy to rent a motorcycle in Bohol, all you need is to sign a paper agreeing with the price per day and leave a valid ID and pay the total amount.  And we were off driving to Panglao.  I was a bit worried that the scooter did not come with helmets, but in Bohol you can drive around without it.

The route is also easy either you asked the locals how to get there, get a local map from the Port or activate your GPS.  Google map is a big help, but if your phone is running out of battery, you can opt to use an app called MAPS, it doesn’t consume as much battery compared to google maps.

The motorcycle that we rented had no gasoline included so we had to stop at the nearest gasoline station on our way to Panglao.  We had it full for 100 Pesos.  20 Minutes later we reached the beach area of Panglao, it is much cheaper to rent a motorcycle than to commute.  And you have all the freedom to go anywhere you want, anytime you want.  Our next task was to look for a hotel by the beach.  

What happened to Boracay Island?

While I’m sure not many people would agree to my opinion, this is what I think and please feel free to make a comment if you disagree with what I’m about to write here.

About 20 years or more ago, boracay island is one of the places you must visit in the Philippines, not only that it has the best sunset scenery, beautiful white beach but also laid back, relaxing and CLEAN.  But that was then.  Some people would recall Boracay to be a dream vacation, a long lost paradise.

Now however, it still has its beautiful sunsets but you will be shocked to find out that the white beach is packed with so many people you can’t imagine where to find a place to relax on the beach. There are thousands of people sharing it with you day or night along with plastic bottles and whatsoever afloat on shore and on the sand. There are also so many individuals on your beach walks that would offer you expensive services from scuba diving, parasailing, boat trips, massages, etc.  Sometimes it’s helpful but most times it’s annoying and then you found out later that if you go directly to an establishment for their service you pay a much lesser price.

It’s a great party place though if this is what you only want on vacation, however it becomes monotonous after 2 to 3 nights, every where you go offers the same or similar things, fire dancers everywhere, hookas (shishas), dancing and drunk tourists, so there isn’t really special about it after you’ve toured it in one night.

There are pretty much garbage everywhere, and what's more disturbing was during rainy season the drainage would over flow, it would smell on the beach front and sidewalks in the main road. This would mean that the beach is dirtiest when it rains as the stream would go to the beach from the drainage.

I was also confused that the peddlers or people selling peanuts or the famous “balut” were not allowed on the beach front but beggars are everywhere. Does this mean begging is allowed instead? I’m sure it is not. However, they still exist everyday and I haven’t seen anyone while I was there that has taken any action to remove those beggars there or enhance the way they live as I understood that they are really the original inhabitants of Boracay.

There are so many hotels and establishments under construction everywhere you go on the island and I cannot imagine how it will become soon.  Already with what it has now it is already very crowded and dirty. Imagine adding more to it. I hope the local government would do something to this trend as well as have a plan to preserve what’s left of this once an island paradise. 

It's funny that I wrote this blog a few years ago and the Philippine government has closed down the island for rehabilitation only this year.  That means for many years people have been swimming in a sea of shit.  Im glad Boracay is now being rehabilitated to preserve the natural beauty of the island.

Update Feb 25, 2015 : High Bacteria levels found in Boracay water

Lambug Beach, Badian Cebu

The next on the list from the ‘trisikad drivers” recommendation was Lambug Beach.

image is mine

From Badian town market, we drove about 10 mins.  At first we missed out the turn so we had to go back and look for the turn, there was no indication on the road which way to go.  We were only told to take the turn towards the Golf Hotel.  So we had to drive slow to search for the sign of Golf Hotel. 

When we found the sign we were also confused as there were no arrows that indicates where to turn so we just had to cross our fingers and decide which way to take, same as when we reached a forked road, we just have to make a choice, unfortunately we took some wrong ones and we had to back track again.  I guess this is part of the adventure, its continuously discovering places as we go along, whether we are lost or on the right track.

After a few wrong choices we found Lambug Beach.  There were no hotels or accommodations on the beach area, just some wooden huts that can be rented for a day, more like a shed than a room.  There are also no shops to buy food or snacks or even drinks in the area, so this trip has to be planned ahead.

It looks like heaven – isolated white beach! Not a single person was on the beach apart from us. We thought it would be good to have a tent and sleep over night, but we were not equipped for such an adventure.  So, we just stayed there for an hour and left.

We thought we would come back here another time and just sleep under the stars.   

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.