Hot Pink Coconut

Cebu, We Love You: Bantayan Island Beaching, Eating, Touring, and Beaching Some More

(This is the second half of a two-part post. Click here to view the first part.)

My boyfriend and I woke up on March 7th at 5 in the morning—an hour late for our 4 am bus trip to Bantayan Island. After panicking for a bit, we hurriedly packed our bags, freshened and dressed up, then contacted Kimi. She’d been calling us for a good two hours, but we were so deep in sleep we never heard the phone ring! I asked her the necessary details: what bus to take, where to get off, and how much the fare was. Armed with the details, my boyfriend and I rushed to the North Bus Terminal.

We took the 6 am Ceres Liner trip to Hagnaya, the jump off point to Bantayan. The fare was 80 pesos, and travel time was three hours. At around 9 am, we reached the pier in Hagnaya. We rode the Island Express Ferry (fare was 120 pesos), that left as soon as we boarded. We reached Santa Fe, Bantayan in an hour, and were greeted by the smell of the sea and dried fish. From the swarm of people offering all kinds of resort packages, we managed to locate our driver waiting for us (well, he was carrying a placard, hehe). After a ten-minute drive, we reached Kota Beach Resort. The sun was burning hot by that time, and I was itching to swim, so we headed out to the beach with Kimi right after arranging our luggage.

Unlike Malapascua, which is perfect for young and old couples and smaller groups, beach moments in Bantayan is better enjoyed with families and big groups. And enjoyed it, we did: there were 16 of us in the group. We rented out four cottages that were big enough to accommodate up to six people. We were able to enjoy the cool water and the hot sand for a full hour before we headed out for lunch, which was in a carinderia at the wet market nearby. Earlier that morning, Kimi, Marye, and Mitch went to the market to buy fish and vegetables and had them cooked, similar to what one would do in a dampa.

After lunch, we headed back to the resort to rest a bit before we went snorkeling. We rented out a boat for the afternoon for two thousand pesos, and visited two dive sites. On the first site, the water was calm, the corals were pretty, and the fish were colorful. We went crazy under the water—Marye ‘eating’ bananas underwater, Kimi diving to whisk the schools of fish away, and staying underwater without mask and snorkel to see how long we can last and for the photos to turn out great. The second dive site wasn’t much of an attraction: it was nearer the shore, most of the corals were dead, and there were very little fish to see. Still, we couldn’t resist the water so we headed out as far as we could.

A bit exhausted after frolicking too much underwater, we decided it was time to head back to the resort. We reached the resort when the sun was about to set already, and we love how it gave the beach a beautiful orange glow we couldn’t resist. So we went crazy again: cannonball dives on the mini-’beach lake’, countless jump shots, and attempted and successful handstands amidst the setting sun.

For dinner, we went to Balikbayan Restaurant, a semi-fine-dining restaurant in Santa Fe, Bantayan. I originally ordered for pasta carbonara sans meat; however, the cook misunderstood my order: he decided that the dish tastes better with meat and still retained the bacon. Not wanting to make a scene, we didn’t return the dish and just ordered for vegetarian pizza, which was a delicious, cheese-filled, closed pie. My hon ordered for seafood pasta, which he had to eat after he finished off my carbonara. (Poor guy. Hehe.) Although the prices were a bit high, and the service was really slow, we enjoyed the food so much that we vowed to eat at Balikbayan again when we return to Bantayan. By the way, my boyfriend and I celebrated our 19th month together that night, so it was extra special.

After dinner, we walked back to the resort to chill and talk before we went to bed. We woke up early the next morning for our tour of the town of Bantayan. We stopped at the Bantayan Municipality marker, where we took a few photos, before we headed to the old Sts. Peter and Paul Church in the town plaza. We took photos of the church’s interiors, small gardens, and convent; lingered inside for a while to admire its architecture; and then went outside to the church’s pricket stand to light a few prayer candles.

We were supposed to go to Ogtong Cave as well, but due to a misunderstanding with our trike driver, we decided to just go back the resort and hit the beach for the last time before packing up. The sun was burning hot, but we didn’t mind as we were having so much fun: we swam and dove underwater to catch a small group of (probably puffer) fish, took underwater photos with our sunglasses on, and had a pseudo-pictorial with two naked local kids (hehe).

Finally, it was time for us to leave for Cebu City. We hastily took our showers, packed up, and boarded the van to the port, hoping to catch the free RORO ride to Hagnaya. Lucky us, we were right on time for the free trip. This awesome promo is the brainchild of some ferry companies, and they offer three absolutely free trips each in the morning and in the afternoon. It was a lazy, one hour ride so we just camwhored our hearts out, watched a sailor dog hold on for its dear life after getting thrown into the sea by its sailor owners (cruel, I know), and amused ourselves watching local kids dive for coins thrown by ferry passengers.

Four hours later, we were in Cebu City. Ida and Tita Babeth went ahead to Sampaguita Suites, while Kimi, my hon, and I went straight to Tabu-an. The rest of the group (Marye, JC, Mitch, Kate and Mark), waited for JC’s father, who apparently took them on a quick tour of Cebu City. I’ve been to Tabu-an before and I didn’t enjoy the experience, but dried fish and seafood for pasalubong is mandatory (haha) so I had to deal with it. We bought dried danggit and dried pusit, chorizo, dried mangoes and magorinds. With our bags heavier, pockets lighter, and clothes smellier, we boarded a jeep to Sto. Nino Church. We were looking for the stalls selling souvenir trinkets in front of the church, but apparently, peddling/hawking has already been banned after the renovation project. Last time we went there in 2007, the place was like a Sunday market. Anyway, we went to the nearby tiangge where we bought our souvenir items for friends back home.

After a few more photos in front of the Sto. Nino Church, we went to Shamrock in Fuente Circle to buy otap, turones, rosquillos, and baked polvoron. A handful of hundreds poorer, we then took a jeepney back to Sampaguita Suites at Mango Avenue. We smell of the stink of dried fish and seafood, so we took a bath before heading out to the Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu with Kimi and Tita Babeth and friend for dinner. We chose the Dessert Factory, which has the most amazing selections of cakes! Too bad they don’t have a Manila branch yet. After dinner, we checked out the British Council’s exhibit and took a lot of photos. Camwhorage done, we dropped by Gelatissimo for take-out gelato (yuuum). I wish they’d open a Manila branch as well (hehe). I must say, I love the Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu: it has the look and feel of Boni High Street, Serendra, and Greenbelt: three places I absolutely enjoy going to.

Tired and full, we headed back downtown. My boyfriend and I decided not to check in for the remaining few hours before our flight back to Manila; instead, we killed time by making a quick walking tour of Osmena and Fuente, and spending an hour in an Internet cafe to check my blog and email. We headed to Mactan Waterfront Hotel, stayed at the lobby for a while, then entered the Mactan Cebu International Airport a little before 3:30 AM. We took quick naps in our seats, and before we knew it, it was time for us to board the plane. Forty-five minutes later, we’re back in Manila tired, a bit broke, sunburned, and sleepy, but very happy nonetheless.

Cebu, we absolutely love you. We’ll visit you again real soon.