Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Welcome to Bohol, Island Paradise :)

The Island Paradise of Bohol is located in the Central Visayas Region in the Philippines. It is one of the current top tourist destinations and Panglao Island, a small island part of Bohol, has always been one of the world's best divespots.

First off, how do we get to Bohol?

1. By plane - from Manila (Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific) to the Tagbilaran Airport
2. By boat - from Cebu (OceanJet) to the Tagbilaran pier. Another alternate route is through the Tubigon pier.

How much are the fares?

1. Plane fares from Manila cost approximately P6000-7000 roundtrip for peak season (December to June I think), and half those prices for off-peak.
2. From Cebu, it's P500 one-way via the OceanJet.

Who should go to Bohol?

1. Families
2. Barkadas
3. Honeymooners and lovers
4. Photographers
5. Foodies
6. Really stressed people
7. Nature-lovers and trekkers
8. Divers
9. Beach-lovers
10. Anyone who wants to get value for money on a trip =)

How long should we stay in Bohol?

Personally for tourists I think the optimum time would be 4D/3N. =)

What dialect/s do they speak there?

Boholano or Bol-anon is essentially Cebuano, save for the J-dominated words. Since it is a tourist hotspot Boholanos are very fluent in English and Filipino-Tagalog.

Why should we go to Bohol?

1) quiet, pristine white sand beaches and resorts
2) cheap food and accommodation
3) Loboc river cruise
4) old original churches that date back to the Spanish era, esp. in Baclayon
5) the national tarsier sanctuary
6) a wonderful man-made forest in Bilar
7) Chocolate Hills
8) Hinagdanan Cave
9) Sikatuna-Legazpi compact site
10) dolphin and whale watching
11) places like Panglao and Balicasag which are one of the best diving spots in the world
12) Bohol Bee Farm

Where can we stay in Bohol?

For a comprehensive list of resorts and transient places, visit the official website of Bohol.

Great forums on Bohol:
Bohol 1
Bohol 2

I believe there are a lot of YouTube videos on Bohol too. :)


***
Yay, I finally started this blog. I've been meaning to start one for Bohol for the longest time. I plan to include write-ups on the different tourist sites in Bohol for interested tourists. I'm not an official tour guide nor do I own any travel agencies or resorts. This is just for fun. I am based in Metro Manila but I fly to Bohol at least once a year (and my mom, almost monthly!) because my grandmom lives there. I have been helping friends and people online plan their trips to Bohol for several years now. The same questions keep coming up and so I thought of starting a blog.

- Ivy