Our Cebu itinerary is jam packed and sadly we can only allocate one night for Bantayan Island. We have to travel to Moalboal the following day so we need a good night sleep. Fortunately for us, we are able to book a family room in Ogtong Cave Resort. My first option for our over night accommodation in Bantayan is Kota Beach Resort but because they do not have a family room and the double occupancy room costs P2,300 each, we decide to pass. I search for other accommodations in Bantayan that won't cost us too much and found Ogtong Cave Resort. I want to visit Ogtong Cave which is located inside the resort and it will cost us P200 entrance fee per person if we are not checked-in guests, so that's the reason we have decided to get a room there. They have Family Room Triple which only costs P3,400 which is cheaper compared to when we book two rooms in Kota Beach. However, when we call to reserve for a room, we are informed that there are no more vacancies for the Family Room Triple. The only available Family Room is the one that costs P4,500 which is good for 5 persons. It is still cheaper than the one at Kota Beach and we can save P800 entrance fees for the Ogtong Cave. So we grab the deal and reserve a room.

The staff I talked to on the phone is very courteous and accommodating. Reservation is also easy and the resort staff is very responsive to queries.



Upon arrival at the resort after our island hopping tour, we are greeted by courteous staffs. Our room is located just behind the private pool (exclusive for checked-in guests) but quite far from the beach and from the cave. However, I still like the location of the rooms because it gives privacy to the checked-in guests. Also, there are lots of trees surrounding the resort. The resort grounds is also wide and there are lots of room to take photos.



The Ogtong Cave can be crowded during weekends and summer season which will make it harder for you to take great pictures because of lots of photobombers. I think it will be better to get here early (cave opens at 8:00 AM and closes 4:00 PM) so you could have the place all to yourself before people start to flock in or you could visit during off-peak season.



We are not able to swim in their private pool nor in their public pool nor in the beach because it is very hot at 3:00 in the afternoon. I also don't find their beach quite inviting as I see some lumot in the water. We also are not able to fully enjoy the resort's amenities because we arrived there at 2:00 in the afternoon and after taking a quick dip in Ogtong Cave, we washed and proceed with our land tour. So we are only able to fully utilize the use of our bedroom for sleeping and thank goodness we are able to sleep very well that we woke up a little late than intended.



Aside from the not so pretty beach, I also didn't like that the aircondition of our room is not able to completely make our room cold. It is probably because our room is very large and the aircon unit is a little old. However, the management provided two electric fans which helped in cooling the room. The room doesn't come with free breakfast by the way, so it's quite a let down.

Apart from those mentioned above, I have no other complains about this resort. I like how big our room is and that we have so much room to move around. love the bathrooms. Our unit has two bathrooms. The other one has toilet and shower combo while the other one only has a shower. It is very helpful that two persons can take a shower at the same time. The beds and pillows are very comfortable and the resort has provided basic toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper) and clean towels. I feel that we really get value for our money because we are able to have the rest that we need.

On a side note, I give this resort a plus point for the clothesline they set up outside the bedrooms for guests to use. It is very helpful for guests to have a proper place to dry clothes. I have not seen that many resorts who have this, that's why I appreciated it so much that the management of Ogtong Cave Resort has thought of it. Don't worry though as the clothesline are placed strategically that it won't be directly visible to most guests and that it isn't necessarily an eyesore.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay in this resort and I will highly recommend it to friends and family.

I've been to Cebu a couple of times already but mostly just within the city. I have only toured the historical sites of the city and mostly passed by Cebu to get to Bohol. This time around, I have decided to visit some of Cebu's tourist attractions outside the city. This trip is supposed to be a family trip with my siblings but most of my siblings bailed out so I ended up vacationing with my husband and my two younger siblings. Despite the major change of attendance, the four of us still enjoyed our vacation to the fullest.

Our first stop is the beautiful Bantayan Island. We woke up as early as 1:00 AM to get ready to catch the 2:00 AM bus trip to Hagnaya Port where we are to aboard a Ferry going to Santa Fe, Bantayan. However, we haven't made it to the bus because we found ourselves agreeing to alight the van right outside the bus terminal. We were persuaded to take the van because the driver said we will be able to make it to the 5:30 AM ferry schedule.



We leave Cebu at around 2:15 AM and arrive at Hagnaya at  5:20 AM and we are just in time to get tickets for the 5:30 AM trip. It's actually already boarding while we are getting tickets. At around 5:45 AM, the ferry left for Santa Fe. We arrive an hour later and is greeted by trike drivers. We pay no attention to the drivers as I learn from other blogs that we need to go through the tourism office and pay environmental fee. When we got out of the Port, more trike drivers hound us. We talked to one trike driver and got a good deal. He offered us island hopping tour to 2 destinations for P1,500 with free drop off to our accommodation. At first, I reject the offer because I read somewhere in the internet that they only paid for P800 for the boat rental. Then the trike driver lower his offer to P1,200 with free cooking of our food and even let us borrow plates and will drive us to the jump off point for free so we accepted. We also book 2 scooters for 24 hours as our transpo for the entire duration of our stay at the island.



After buying all the supplies we need we head straight to the boat waiting for us at the sand bar near Kota Beach. Our first destination is Hilantagaan Island. Travel is around 15 - 20 minutes. When we arrive at Hilantagaan, I am really disappointed as the beach is full of lumot (algae) and not very appealing to swim. Later we learn we are not going to swim there, we are only stopping by to get the cookwares and plates we need. Then when our boatman, kuya Tata, return, he bring us to our first stop, just a few minutes away from the shore. We stop in the middle of the sea and saw from our boat the rich marine life underneath. We are snorkeling for free. As kuya Tata fix our boat's anchor, we change to our swim clothes. Kuya Tata's boat is spacious, good for 10 - 15 people. We bring with us all our luggage and bags but it's tucked safely inside the boat so there is no fear of getting our things wet.

The coral reefs under water is so beautiful and marine life is so rich and there are so many fishes. I could snorkel the whole day if only we are not pressed for time.




After an hour, my sister complain of being very hungry as we have not had our breakfast yet. So we get back to the boat and head to our second and last stop, the Virgin Island. I am already informed that we need to pay P500 entrance fee for the first two guests and P100 for the succeeding guests. It is very pricey so if you are on a tight budget, you can opt to just stay at the snorkeling site and haggle with your boatman to give you a discount on the boat rental.

Virgin Island is a mid-range resort. It's a beautiful island with so much room to roam around. So many instgrammable places to do photoshoots. The water is clean and also full of fishes. However, I am very disappointed with their bathrooms considering they charge a ridiculously expensive entrance fees and table rentals. The girls bathroom do not have a proper shower and change rooms. The water is also salt water so better shower at your resort accommodation (which is what we did). Despite the expensive rates, we still enjoy our stay there and we get to roam around the resort and swim to our hearts delight.
























After lunch we decide to head back to the mainland to check-in at our resort accommodation. We have chosen Ogtong Cave Resort as our accommodation because it is where the Ogtong Cave is located which we intend to visit. The resort is large and beautifully landscaped and laid out. I also appreciated that they provided sampayan for the guests to use. It makes drying clothes so much easier. I also liked that there are lots of trees in the resort. I just noticed that some of the rooms are located farther from the cave and the beach but I don't mind because it gives more privacy to checked-in guests from the walk-in guests. I just wish they put cemented pathway towards the rooms because it gets muddy when it rains.




Later in the day we drive our scooter to the OMAGIECA Obo-ob Mangrove Garden or famously known as Camp Sawi Mangrove Garden. There aren't that much guests when we arrived because it's already late in the afternoon which is good for us because we can take our time taking pictures of the place. However, there is nothing much to do in this place apart from following the bamboo bridge from the entrance to the exit. All you see are mangrove trees and the Camp Sawi and Camp Wagi signage. If you are not familiar with the Camp Sawi movie and is easily bored with redundant scenery better skip this one.There are also lots of rats playing around the mangrove trees which freaked me out.



After our tour at Camp Sawi Mangrove park we stop over at the German Ruins and Diving Cliff. It's just beside the road leading to our resort and there is no entrance fee. Nothing very spectacular about this place. Just an unfinished house and a cliff. The husband said it looks like the cliff doesn't look safe for diving because the water below doesn't look very deep for diving.






We intend to visit Sandira Beach a.k.a Paradise Beach. It's one of the attractions in Bantayan and from the photos online the beach looks really beautiful. According to what I read online, this is a secluded beach but going to this place needs a little trekking because there is no proper road access. However, due to time restrictions, we are not able to make it to Sandira beach. We are also not able to visit Kota Beach which is the main location of the movie Camp Sawi. We plan to visit these spots in the morning but also failed because we are so tired and woke up late.

The next time I go to Cebu I intend to spend more days in Bantayan to fully enjoy what it offers. For now, I am satisfied with what I've seen and experience so far. Especially the hospitality of the people. Residents of Bantayan are friendly and helpful.

Another thing, restaurants are abundant in Bantayan so getting good food won't be a problem. We had a buffet dinner that costs P198 per person. The food selection isn't very wide but all tastes good. They have seafood, soup, lechon, and fried food.

How to get to Bantayan Island:
Go to Cebu North Bus Terminal. From Cebu North Bus Terminal, ride a bus bound for Hagnaya. Hagnaya is where the port is located. There is also a bus going directly to Santa Fe, Bantayan but once you arrive in Hagnaya you will still need to get off your bus to buy the ferry ticket. The bus fare doesn't include the ferry ticket so you need to purchase it separately. (If you prefer the van like we did, I cannot give the exact location of the V-Hire terminal because it was only by accident that we ended up riding the van. It just so happens that there is a van right outside the bus terminal so we get on it instead. As per this article, Onecebu Info, there are V-hires in the North Bus Terminal.)

Overall, our short stay at Bantayan was indeed a very fun filled visit. I intend to come back in this place again in the future. I think I will never get tired of going to this place.

I've been to Cebu a couple of times already but in my past visits I haven't spent my entire stay in Cebu. I am mostly in Cebu for a layover for Bohol so I wasn't able to really explore this beautiful province properly. Fortunately this year, I, along with my husband and two of my younger siblings are able to come back to Cebu for a proper tour. We are able to visit the Island of Bantayan in the north and Moalboal in the South.

It is pretty exhausting traveling from the north to the south. Traffic is unforgiving and bus transfers is quite a hassle. However, all the tiring travel is worth it because I have not been in so much awe as I have been in the places we visit. Also I find the people in the farther provinces of Cebu are more hospitable and friendly (it's probably due to the laid back island living).

Another thing that we enjoy during our visit is the food. We get to try out different food places with different price points. Our short visit to Cebu is fulfilling to both the eyes and stomach.


How to get to Bantayan Island:
- Go to Cebu North Bus Terminal. From Cebu North Bus Terminal, ride a bus or van bound for Hagnaya. Hagnaya is where the port is located. Travel Time is approximately 3 hours (but if you travel at dawn by van travel time is approximately 2 - 2.5 hours). Van fare is P170.

- From Hagnaya Port, board a ferry bound to Santa Fe Port in Bantayan. Travel time is approximately one hour. Ferry ticket cost P185. Terminal fee is P10.

There is also a bus going directly to Santa Fe, Bantayan but once you arrive in Hagnaya you will still need to get off your bus to buy the ferry ticket and pay for the terminal fee. The bus fare doesn't include the ferry ticket so you need to purchase it separately. (If you prefer the van like we did, I cannot give the exact location of the V-Hire terminal because it was only by chance that we ended up riding the van. It just so happens that there is a van right outside the bus terminal so we get on it instead. As per this article, Onecebu Info, there are V-hires in the North Bus Terminal.)

Upon arrival at Santa Fe port, you will need to pay environmental fee of P10 through the tourism officers.

Scooter rental is the best mode of transportation in Bantayan. Scooter rental ranges from P250 - P300.


How to get to Moalboal from Bantayan Island:
- Ride the ferry at Santa Fe port bound for Hagnaya port. Ferry ticket costs P185. You will also pay Terminal fee of P10 twice so that's a total of P20.

- There are buses and vans bound for Cebu City waiting at the exit of the port. Van fare is P180.

- You can drop off at SM City Cebu where the vans usually drops off passengers or you can tell the van driver to drop you off at the North Bus Terminal whichever you prefer. (We get off at SM City Cebu because we have decided to take our lunch there before traveling to Moalboal).

- Ride a jeep (or in our case taxi) going to the Cebu South Bus Terminal or to Librando Bus Terminal. If you prefer the Cebu South Bus Terminal you can catch a bus bound to Moalboal or bound to Badian as it will pass by Moalboal as well. If, like us, you prefer Librando then you ride the bus bound for Badian. Travel time is approximately 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on traffic situation and how many times the bus stops to pick up passengers. Librando bus fare is P156.

Tell the conductor to drop you off at Moalboal bus stop. Also you can ask the other passengers to tell you when to get off the bus. One nice lady in the bus helped us on our way there.

- Upon getting off the bus, you will be greeted by habal-habal drivers. We ride a trike so I don't know how much the habal-habal fare costs. Trike fare is P150 going to Panagsama area.

There are also motorbikes and mountain bikes for rent in Panagsama area. Motorbike rental costs P300 a day.


How to get around Cebu City
The cheapest way to get around Cebu City is by jeepney. However, in our case, we navigate Cebu City by Taxi which is an expensive option if you are alone. Since there are four of us dividing the costs it wasn't very expensive. Also, I had a bad experience with jeepney rides in Cebu City in my past visits. Not that I have been a victim of any pickpocket or robbery but most of the drivers of the jeepneys I happen to ride back then are not very helpful with directions. Me and my friends keep riding the wrong routes and the drivers doesn't have the time or effort to teach us the correct route to take. So the taxi is our best option of not getting lost.


Here is our Cebu itinerary and expenses. Some figures are approximation because I accidentally erased my expense notes.

Saturday June 8	Activity	Location
7:30 PM	Arrival	Cebu International Airport
8:30 PM	Check-in	Zen Rooms by Mayflower Inn
9:00 PM	Dinner	Jollibee
Sunday June 9
2:30 AM	Depart from Cebu to Hagnaya by van
4:45 AM	Ferry from Hagnaya Port to Santa Fe Port
6:00 AM	Arrival at Bantayan
6:30 AM	Buy supplies for Breakfast + Lunch
9:00 AM	Island Hopping
2:00 PM	Check-in	Octong Cave Resort
3:00 PM	Ogtong Cave swimming + strolling Ogtong Cave Resort
4:30 PM	Shower + Prep
5:00 PM	Visit Camp Sawi / Obo-ob Mangrove Park
7:00 PM	Buffet Dinner	Big Jel's Restomeat
Monday June 10
9:00 AM	Breakfast	Karinderia outside the Santa Fe Port
9:30 PM	Depart from Santa Fe to Hagnaya
10:30 PM	Hagnaya to Cebu by van
1:00 PM	Arrive in Cebu + Lunch
3:00 PM	Depart to Moalboal	Librando Bus
6:30 PM	Arrive in Moalboal
6:45 PM	Check-in	Zen Rooms by Gerty's Place
7:00 PM	Dinner	Little Corner
Tuesday June 11
6:30 AM	Trike to Tourism Office
7:00 AM	Island Hopping	**Gerty's Place offers island hopping for P2,200 inclusive of tourism fees
	Breakfast	take-out from Karenderia
9:15 AM	Shower + Check-out
12:00 PM	Lunch	Pizzaro
1:45 PM	Depart form Moalboal to Cebu	Ceres Bus
4:15 PM	Arrival in Cebu South Bus Terminal
5:00 PM	Check-in at Hotel	Zen rooms Center suites
6:00 PM	Visit Temple of Leah*
8:00 PM	Dinner**
Wednesday June 12
7:00 AM	Buy pasalubong	Taboan
10:00 AM	Brunch	Burger King
12:00 PM	Check-out + Wait at Airport for our 4 PM flight

*You can adjust your travel time by having to-go lunch and eat inside the bus so you could squeeze in a visit to Sirao Flower Garden which located within the area near Temple of Leah.

**After Dinner if you still got the energy and time, you can take a quick visit to 10,000 Roses located in Cordova.