Bohol and Beyond

From pristine beaches to lush jungles, from the famous chocoloate hills to the cutest little tarsiers, Bohol doesn't have it all, if "all" means fast food restaurants and shopping malls. But not having it all makes Bohol all right, in my opinion. In four days and three nights, we were able to do a whirlwind trip along the river and to spend time chilling on a postcard-perfect beach.

Quick Tips:

If you are heading out to the beaches or other isolated areas, stop by in the city and grab some snacks before you head out there because there's not a whole lot of options elsewhere (that we saw...).

We were doing budget travel and trying to stay at cheap hotels...but it seems like in the Philippines just a few more dollars can make a huge difference in terms of standards.

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting around was one of the most challenging aspects of this trip. I wouldn't brave driving in the Philippines and we had to take a ferry to get to Bohol anyway, so I'm not sure you could bring a car...but people there knew you were stranded so the rates for taxis and jeepneys seemed to be higher than what we paid on the mainland.

The one thing we did learn and take advantage of was the fact that you could hire a car and driver/tour guide for an entire day. This worked out well for us and I'm convinced this was cheaper than paying the exorbitant taxi fares each time...this was especially true of getting out to Alona Beach.

The atmosphere of the hotel is definitely budget, but the prices are moderate. We actually had reserved the hotel for 3 nights, but after the first night we were so disgusted by it that we found other arrangements further down the beach.

The bathroom was all moldy and had the feel of a public restroom--like it hadn't been cleaned in decades (see photo). The door to the room didn't close right and there were bars on the windows. The sheets on the bed were dingy and the covering was an absolutely inappropriate flannel Mickey Mouse (again, if you don't believe me, check the photos).

I know this is a diver's resort, and I certainly didn't have high expectations for it, but it fell far below what I had hoped for. The highlights were a nice sized beach with a volleyball net set up, but to get a view cost extra. The lobby is actually decent, so I felt like there was a bit of a switch and bait here. There was no information in the rooms or in the lobby about what diving activities were available.

Boats depart hourly for lunch cruises along the Loboc river. The lunch was served buffet-style, serve yourself, except for the drinks and the atmosphere was very light hearted and casual. The food was pretty good, including such exotic things as miniature fried crabs (shell & all) and fresh bananas and watermelon. The price for the lunch and boat ride included entertainment in the form of a man playing a synthesizer and a stop at a little village where there were some people playing banjos and singing. I think you could have probably even started dancing, but no one did.

I'm usually not one for riverboat tours, but you've gotta eat, and this is pretty much the way to do it here. It was nice to spend some time out on the river because there were several little cottages edging it and things that we hadn't been able to spot from the roadside. We didn't have reservations and pulled up on the late side of lunch (around 2 pm) and were quickly shuttled on a boat which launched right away.

The highlight of the river tour was supposedly a waterfall, but the waterfall was more like a drainage ditch, in my opinion. Nevertheless, the lunch was a fun experience.

Bohol has two faces -- the seaside and the riverside. Both must be experienced if you are going to make the effort to get to this faraway isle. We went straight from the ferry to Alona beach -- which required an exorbitant taxi ride. I'd recommend finding other transportation, if possible. At the end of the ride through the Bohol barrios, you reach the gorgeous Alona beach, every bit worth the effort it takes to get to it.

Many charming, little beach bungalows dot the shore and there are several restaurants composed of plastic lawn furniture set out under the palm trees. We stayed on the diver's row, so nothing was particularly high class, but for next to nothing there were people offering to give massages and manicures on the beach and the food we found at the local places did not disappoint. Absolutely try the shrimp! They are so big and eating only 2 is a full meal, but there are so many fresh fish options, that it is hard to decide. You could find many amenities offered at higher class resorts, but you had to look for them. I would suggest stocking up on snacks, drinks, and packable foods before taking the long ride out to Alona beach because there are no affordable stores within walking distance. Instead, there are several little nipa huts selling the standard -- potato chips, alcohol, candy, and other junk foods...it was hard to come by fresh fruit and we had difficulty finding someone to make us a take-away lunch the day we hired a boat.

There are lots of little outrigger boats willing to take you out dolphin-spotting and to an isolated island, Balicasag, where you could allegedly see turtles. We hired one for about $50 and it was a wonderful day. A few recommendations for others interested in taking a similar adventure...we went to a "tourist" stand and negotiated a deal, but we didn't see the boat beforehand, which I regretted. It wasn't particularly sea-worthy and for half the journey I felt like I was gargling salt water. Check out the boat before you hire it! In the mornings there are several boat drivers waiting on the beach looking to pick up tourists, so I would suggest waiting until the morning you want to go and negotiating with a group of them...for the best price and the best boat.

Also, I thought we had negotiated the rate for a full day, but once we got to the isolated island the boat driver told us to come back to the boat in an hour. We were not prepared to do this, but I wish we would have made this absolutely clear from the start. State exact times so there's no room for confusion.

Otherwise, this boat excursion was a true highlight of the whole trip. There was amazing snorkeling to be had and we essentially had a gorgeous, deserted beach island to ourselves! Balicasag Island is something out of a fairy tale. Simply snorkeling we saw angelfish and coral, and on the beach we saw the most incredible glowing purple jellyfish I had ever seen. Even the shells were a delight -- so varied and beautiful! The dolphin-watching was interesting too, and we did spot the dolphins briefly, but the poor creatures were being chased by packs of boats and it just didn't seem ethical.

While there aren't any amusement parks in Bohol, there are thrills of the more primative sort--the man-made bridge. At first sight, this bridge is little more than a few twigs strung together and I thought, "there is no way that I am crossing that thing." That sentiment doubled when our tour guide pushed me in front and said, "You're the biggest, you go first." But after watching several tour groups tromp across the bridge, I also made the journey and here I am today: alive and recommending the experience to others! The bridge is woven with so many layers that it is sturdy and from the center of it, you can spot all sorts of things up and down the river -- water buffalo wading, children rowing, and the lush overgrowth.

The other side of the bridge doesn't have much to offer, except, I presume, if you live there. There is one store full of tourist junk and for a few dollars a man will demonstrate how he can husk a coconut with his bare teeth in under 10 seconds, an impressive task!

There are also vendors selling different varieties of bananas, which seem much sweeter than the sort available in America, and some sort of brown sticky substance in a coconut shell (we never found out what it was).

This bridge was, like a lot of the activities in Bohol, not exactly what I would think of as a good time, but I ended up enjoying it thoroughly. At least if I'm ever stuck on an island, I'll have an idea of how to start to make the bridge to get out of there!

You simply can't leave Bohol without getting up close and personal with a tarsier, a small creature that looks something like a cross between a miniature primate and a rat. At first I thought I would be a little bit disgusted by the creatures with their penetrating stares, not to mention that most of my experiences with 'wildlife' zoos in foreign countries have been disastrous (see trekking with camels in India and 'monkey puragatory' in Japan). So, I was a bit hesitant at first, but in the end I was pleased with the experience.

We went to a DNR-approved site, though, and I would highly recommend going to a site that has a similar state sanctioning. We were first taken into a separate cage and allowed to hold baby monkeys and to look at the native bats and flying lemurs (some of the strangest creatures I have ever seen!). Then we were brought into the tarsier cage where the soft furries were clinging to bamboo branches and peaking out at the many tourists cooing at them. None of the tarsiers moved voluntarily while I was there, but fortunately tourists weren't permitted to touch them or take flash photographs. Occasionally, however, the caretakers would place a tarsier on a tourists arm, but on the whole the animals seem to be well-treated.

Besides the animals, there was a dearth of any other sort of information about the creatures, their habitat, eating habits, or anything else. But it was simply amazing to see this creature which, before this trip, I would have thought was simply mythical or something inspired by a horror tale. Their huge eyes peeping out left an indelible impression on me and I will forever associate Bohol with the tarsier. It also explains why nearly all the souvenir artifacts include images of the tarsier. The real things, as usual, aren't nearly as cute as the stuffed animals crafted in their likeness, but they are certainly more thought-producing with expressions that looked positively human at times.

Just so you don't get in a fight with the taxis getting off the boat to Bohol...

When we got to Bohol, we wanted to go to Alona Beach and every taxi lined up in front of the pier insisted on charging us two times the meter to go there for the return trip. Now, we got ripped off in nearly every taxi ride in the Philippines simply because we were foreigners and we thought this was another ludicrous ploy. So we took a cab into the city just to get away from the pier and the same rates applied...so I guess that's what they charge. It ended up costing about $40 just to get there...which in the Philippines is insane!

Leaving Alona Beach, however, we were able to work the system. We booked a day long tour in a private car for $100 for 2 people, but rather than simply taking us to the Chocolate Hills and other sites and then back to Alona Beach, we had them take us first to the boat pier to buy our tickets, had our luggage in the car the whole day, and at the end of the day deposited us at the ferry terminal at precisely the correct time. I'd highly recommend this approach to others! If you do book a private tour in your own car (and the locals seem to pressure foreigners with money to do this), know that you can create the route you want.