My friend also told me that the paint used on the...
Touring Bohol Part 5: Panglao Tour
On our third day, our plan was to tour the island of Panglao by car in the morning then spend the rest of the afternoon back at the beach. There are not too many sites to see in Panglao Island so people don’t take this tour quite often.
Here’s the list of places included in the tour:
- Alona White Beach (or Dumaluan if you’re staying at Alona)
- Panglao Church
- Hinagdanan Cave
- Dauis Church
- Bayoyoy the Dwarf
- Bohol Bee Farm
This is the viewing deck in Bohol Bee Farm
The tour doesn’t take too long since the island is small. You can hop on to one place to another in 20 minutes max. The highlight of the tour would probably be the Hinagdanan Cave and Bohol Bee Farm.
We left the resort at around 9 AM with our driver Jesse and started off to Alona Beach.
Alona Beach
I’ve talked about Alona Beach on a previous post and there’s nothing much else to say here. If you missed breakfast back at the resort, you can opt to stay here for a while to grab a quick one.
Alona Beach in the morning
We just took a few shots of the place then went on our way.
Panglao Church
Also called St. Augustine Church, this church was constructed in 1894 by Spanish Recollects.
Murals on the ceiling above the altar
It is famed for its ceiling murals including the dome above the main altar which has a mural of the Blessed Trinity surrounded by eight divisions of angels.
Hinagdanan Cave
Next stop is the underground Hinagdanan Cave in the town of Dauis. It started out as two holes on the ground to fetch water from an underground pond then as it became popular, a ladder was improvised on another hole found nearby.
Entrance to Hinagdanan Cave
There will be a guide to tour you inside the cave and explain its history and features. Watch your steps and your head as you go down.
Watch your step and your head.
There are no bats inside the cave but instead there are small birds (swiftlets I think) inhabiting it. Our guide said that the cave is also being harvested for bird’s nest. Just pray that no bird poop will drop on you or your camera.
Those are birds, not bats. Careful of poop.
The deepest portion of the icy cool pond is 10 feet deep and there are parts of the walkway that gets submerged during high tide.
The cave was also used as a location for a movie who kinda desecrated the place by drawing some cave paintings without the knowledge of the people of Dauis.
I forgot our guide’s name but he was good with the camera as he offers to take pictures for us with my digital camera.
Entrance Fee: P20
Dauis Church
The present version of the church is the 5th one and was constructed in 1863 by Recollects. It is one of the complex structures in Bohol and just like the Panglao church, it has gorgeous paintings on its ceiling.
Bayoyoy the Dwarf
On our next stop, we paid a short visit to Bayoyoy in his house in Dauis. Bayoyoy has the condition called “dwarfism” and is the smallest man in the Philippines at only 2.5 ft. tall.
We were greeted by her sister who’s the one taking care of him after their mom died a few years ago. We chatted with her for a short while and according to her, there are 12 of them with 6 (including Bayoyoy) being diagnosed with dwarfism. Unfortunately, Bayoyoy is the only one left among his dwarf siblings. He has no joints on his arms and legs and can only consume milk and oatmeal.
There’s no charge visiting Bayoyoy but try to share some of your blessings with his family.
Bohol Bee Farm
Last part of our Panglao trip is located a few minutes away from Dumaluan Beach so we saved it for last.
Bohol Bee Farm is a resort that promotes healthy lifestyle with organic food and materials. Aside from being a resort and a bee farm, it is also a farm for different ingredients used in their food.
One of the restaurants in Bohol Bee Farm.
They can offer you a short tour of their place showing different plants and trees that they grow, their bee farm, livelihood projects they do as well as the resort itself.
Hey I'm a bee farmer.
They serve really good food but we weren’t that hungry so we only tried their halo-halo. If you’re not going to have lunch there, you should definitely try their halo-halo.
This halo-halo is really good! Haven't tasted anything like it.
Tour (optional): P25
Conclusion
Well this is the end of our tour in Bohol. We just spent the rest of the day back at the resort and prepared for our flight the following day. We really enjoyed our trip although we could use more sun and less tourists during our Chocolate Hills tour.
Bohol is really a wonderful place with lots of scenic spots. I don’t recommend getting the all-in package like we did unless you have no time to plan. Just do a bit of homework and talk or haggle with your tour guides to save money.
For a tour guide who can arrange things for you, try Ritchie.
Part 2: Chocolate Hills Tour
Part 3: Alona or Dumaluan Beach?
Part 4: Dolphin Watching and Boat Tour
Part 5: Panglao Tour
You might also be interested in:
- Touring Bohol Part 4: Dolphin Watching and Boat Tour
- Touring Bohol Part 2: Chocolate Hills Tour
- Touring Bohol Part 1: The Plan
- Touring Bohol Part 3: Alona or Dumaluan Beach?
Filed under: Travel
bagay sayo maging bee farmer. hahahahahaha
Ahh! First time ko nakita ang face mo! May mukha na si Calvin, hehehe.. pero malay mo, baka maging negosyo mo ang bee farming kaysa sa internet.
Kawawa naman si Bayoyoy, buti ok lang na walang charge ang dalaw sa kanya.
calvin: hahaha. di ko kaya maging beekeeper. walang PC.
andun din kaya mukha ko sa tarsiers pero baka ito yung una mong ni-view.
im interested to go in hinagdanan cave how many hours we will spend of going there? and how much they will charges panglao tour.tnx.
hi jocelyn, you might wanna contact ritchie for his current rates sa panglao tour. i think inclusive na usually yung mga entrance fee eh which was only P20 last time we went there.
hi thanks for the info! will you still suggest to grab the panglao island tour? is it worth it? thanks
if you don’t have much time you can scrap it. noteworthy places lang naman is the bohol bee farm (for the food) and maybe the hinagdanan cave.
hi calvin! do you have an idea on how much is the firefly tour? Your info helped me a lot in planning our trip! thanks!
hey oye. i don’t know how much it costs. i just found out about it recently through a friend. maybe you can ask ritchie for a more accurate price.
ok! thanks calvin!
Hi Calvin! Thanks for sharing your bohol vacation accounts. My family will be spending 4 nights in Bohol this coming May. We are taking our moms (my husband’s & mine). Our kids (9-16) will be with us too. Which of the tours would be suitable for both kids & seniors? The grannies are in their late 70′s and are unable to walk/climb too far & high. Would appreciate your recommemdations. Thank you also for givong out the names and contact numbers of those who have helped you with the tour. Will surely get in touch with them.
God bless!
hi ochie! the only thing i can think of not suitable for the elderly is the climb atop chocolate hills but there’s a place where they can stay and relax below. and syempre the snorkeling din at the balicasag island although they can stay at the beach and relax.
Hi Calvin,
Me and my wife are planning to go to bohol next month. May mga tanong lang po ako para maging smooth ang travel namin as this will be our 1st time to go out of town.
1. Both of us dont know how to swim, tingin mo pde sa amin un snorkling sa balikasag? I heard kasi mababaw lang daw usually un site ng snorkling. Pls enlighten us.
2. san po maganda pde magpareserve ng resort? Any recommendation po.
3. May mga atm machines po ba sa tagbilran or nearby areas?
thank you very much in advance.
Hi Roy,
Glad to answer your questions,
1. pwede magsnorkeling kahit di marunong magswim since may vest naman na iproprovide. hindi sya mababaw dahil parang underwater cliff sya ng mga corals so biglang lalim. nakakalula pero may rope naman na pwedeng paghawakan. and your guide can swim with you para magbantay. calm din naman yung water sa umaga.
2. uhmm mas preferred ko talaga sa dumaluan side of panglao kasi nga maspeaceful in my opinion. dumaluan beach resort 2 or bohol beach club. i’m not sure kung may mga bagong resorts na nagsulputan sa area.
3. i’m sure may atm machines naman sa tagbiliran. just inform your driver/tour guide to stop by sa atm if you need to.
medyo late na magpareserve baka wala na kayong rooms. better hurry. may tour guide na kayo? suggest ko sana si ritchie, dami na syang natulungan na galing sa site na ito.
hi calvin!
thanks so much for this blog.
my hubby and I with our 1 y/o son are going to bohol in september. we’ll spend my bday there.
when do you think is the best time to have a reservation in dumaluan 2?
would you recommend the balicasag tour for us since we have our 16 mo. old baby with us (at that time he’s already 19 mos then).??
ung 2k ba na rent ng avanza kay ritchie eh includes all the entrance fees and other taxes etc..??
im still finalizing our itenerary for i also want to drop by to cebu.. if we would go to cebu on our last day, do you think sulit na ung pagpunta nmin dun, i mean mpupuntahan na kaya nmin ung mga nearby tourist spots dun na hndi kmi mahuhuli sa flight nmin to manila which is around 4:55pm in tagbilaran airport??
thanks so much!
hi amieh,
reserve as early kasi mabilis silang maubusan ng rooms.
ok lang siguro balicasag tour for your kid para makakita ng dolphins. pero other than that wala ng ibang magawa. hindi suitabel for kids yung shore ng balicasag island and virgin island.
yun rate ni ritchie hindi kasama yung entrance fee (yung loboc river tour lang ang mahal since kasama na yung buffet lunch). walang tax na kailangang bayaran.
if you leave early for cebu kaya yan although paspasan. important places to go is magellan cross which is also near the old church which is only in downtown. kung may time baka pwede niyo pang i-squeeze yung mactan shrine.
good luck on your trip! enjoy!
hi calvin!:)
i truly enjoyed reading your site. you have an eye for detail! your travel blog of Bohol is both entertaining and informative. we will definitely try doing the activities outlined in your itinerary. like you, we will stay at Dumaluan Beach Resort 2 for 3days/4nights. i guess there’s nothing much left to do on our first day than enjoy the beach since we will arrive there very late in the afternoon.
Just writing to say THANK YOU for all the information and i will definitely contact RITCHIE or DODONG?
Thanks again:)
thanks for this comment jane! i appreciate it. Do contact ritchie and dodong and send them my regards.