Bantayan Island

[tr|n|ty]

VersionTwo-don't worry, i'm anal about water..so i always bring my own mineral water and yes, even use it for brushing my teeth! hehehehe!

[caryatid_kitten]

Hi everyone! I just made intial reservations at the Sante Fe Beach Club..

So, Bantayan sounds good =D I'm getting more excited as the days go by...actually, wala pa final booking for flights and all...yikes. =P

for food for say around 4 days and 3 nights, magkano kailangan? Transpo to go to old church (I'm a sucker for old churches), etc..Hey, where are the old spanish colonial houses located?

thanks travel bugs

BTW, Trinity, how was your trip??

[aina_crazy_girl]

orangepink-OO NAMAN! i hate it when people leave their crap on the beach..nasisira yung beach. it's one of the most beautiful things about living here in the philippines..all the great beaches. that's why it makes me sad when i'm in galera or bora..there's so much trash(specially in galera)

Perhaps you went or stayed at the wrong beach.

My bf and I stayed at Coco Beach which really is a wonderful place. It's very private and most of the guests with us were European or Japanese families. Not Euro-trash, by the way. A few Americans had joined us as well.

The accommodations are fantastic, especially if you made your reservation early. The food isn't so great for the Filipino palate, though. Their kamote fries were good and chicken were okay. We were able to go snorkeling in the Coral Garden and even feed fish!

The only basura place we saw was White Beach. It is the most disgusting, vile and unappealing place there. White Beach is public, so when our rented bangka went there, we were pretty shocked at the stark difference between Coco Beach and White Beach. The food is for masa. The crowd is definitely jologs and full of lower-echelon gay people who are too noisy and too messy.
It was so gross that when I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, I saw that somebody took a crap on the floor. And it was fresh, stinking crap.

So, if you want a really good experience in Puerto Galera, go to Coco Beach. It's absolutely worth it.

P.S. The water was brackish, though. So we brushed our teeth with our bottled water.

[VersionTwo]

Hi everyone! I just made intial reservations at the Sante Fe Beach Club..

So, Bantayan sounds good =D I'm getting more excited as the days go by...actually, wala pa final booking for flights and all...yikes. =P

for food for say around 4 days and 3 nights, magkano kailangan? Transpo to go to old church (I'm a sucker for old churches), etc..Hey, where are the old spanish colonial houses located?

thanks travel bugs

BTW, Trinity, how was your trip??

hi! for food, usually it's about 150-200php per person per meal (that's based on Kota beach prices, and we were sharing food). you can also just buy food at the local market and have it cooked (way cheaper). as far as i can remember, there aren't a lot of fast food places in the town proper (lots of bread shops though that sell food as well). transpo to the town by tricycle would be around less than 100 pesos. it's a 10-15 minute drive.
the old houses are usually in the town proper, there's only two major streets, each about a kilometer long. if you see a green two story antilla house next to a vacant lot, that's our house! heehee
the church is in front of the town plaza, and another great place to see are the old cemeteries just outside the town. happy trip!

[gyveloso]

Hi everyone! I just made intial reservations at the Sante Fe Beach Club..

So, Bantayan sounds good =D I'm getting more excited as the days go by...actually, wala pa final booking for flights and all...yikes. =P

for food for say around 4 days and 3 nights, magkano kailangan? Transpo to go to old church (I'm a sucker for old churches), etc..Hey, where are the old spanish colonial houses located?

thanks travel bugs

BTW, Trinity, how was your trip??

Hi Caryatid_kitten. food is great in santa fe beach club! rooms aren't that that new and nice but they're clean and cozy though. and the beach is perfect in sfbc! the rooms in another resort, ogtong cave resort is better but then the beach isn't. same dude owns both resorts.

for your pocket money, I'd say 3K for the whole bantayan stay would be more than enough. and I think the only pasalubong you can buy there is danggit. bantayan's really such a relaxing place to be. people are also very friendly and sincere. the beach is great! I kinda not like the low tide though.. you'll know what I mean when you get there. enjoy your trip!!

[cornonthecob]

Hi Caryatid.

Sta Fe beach club faces the port were the barges dock, so the beach may not be that calm and pristine. Just make sure to visit the side of Kota.

Thanks,

Corn

Hi everyone! I just made intial reservations at the Sante Fe Beach Club..

So, Bantayan sounds good =D I'm getting more excited as the days go by...actually, wala pa final booking for flights and all...yikes. =P

for food for say around 4 days and 3 nights, magkano kailangan? Transpo to go to old church (I'm a sucker for old churches), etc..Hey, where are the old spanish colonial houses located?

thanks travel bugs

BTW, Trinity, how was your trip??

[caryatid_kitten]

Mahal naman ng pagkain!!!!!! heheheh....

Anyway, let me give you details of the trip, basically, we're around 8 going to the island. 3 nights, 4 days. Some of us are very specific about riding PAL if not, Cebu Pacific alang so that immediately takes off around 7000-8000...About the Santa Fe Beach Club, we can actually consider a least expensive option (even a few hundred peso difference will be fine :P).

Here are the rates for santa fe

de luxe - 4000
duplex -2200
room for 3 - 1600 w/ aircon
4 - 1800 w/ aircon.


I don't know how the rates are for KOTA beach please clue me...

Is there a local rate for Cebuanos??? I'm asking coz if there is, I'll just ask my friend from Cebu to make the booking instead of my travel agent

Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!


meow!!!!!!!!

[easy_going]

I have been to Bantayan...it was a great experience.

Its not as crowded as Boracay, there is a calm serenity to the place.

It you want to experience what was boracay 20 years ago, this is the place to go.

I stayed at Santa Fe resort, but I think Kota Beach Resort is better (cheaper), though the waves in that area are rougher while in Sante Fe is much calmer.

The only hassle is the trip going there from Cebu City. A 3 hour bus ride to San Remigio port, then a 90 minutes ferry (old ship) to Sante Fe, Bantayan.

Overall, I would like to visit it again.

[pretty_patty]

Oh, I just came back from Bantayan with a to-die-for tan!

It was my first time, despite having lived in Cebu since I was born, and it's beautiful! We took an exclusive pump boat from Maya to Bantayan and man, it took nearly four hours! But it was all worth it. I'd really love to go back there again. Iba ang ganda. Parang Bora-Bora.

[tr|n|ty]

i'm going to bantayan next weekend. super excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VersionTwo]

hi tr|n|ty! i posted some kota pictures for you


- the cottage (it was raining kasi...heehee)


kota beach


bantayan church

enjoy your trip!

[tr|n|ty]

i'm actually scared of the rains
sana naman hindi maulan.

[legolass]

I just got home from Bantayan. Went there on Friday and came back to Cebu on Sunday with my officemates. We stayed at the Marlin Beach resort, which I think is good value for money. Five of us rented a deluxe room with airconditioning, cable TV and shower/bath for P1,690 (plus P200 for 2 extra mattresses). Ang laki ng room, lima kami pero pwede pa kaming mag-disco sa loob. Their beachfront is clean, tapos puro sand at hindi ma-"bato," very good for swimming.

Medyo may unpleasant experience lang kami kasi the Governor of Cebu Gwen Garcia and Tourism Secretary Durano were on Bantayan Island for a DOT sojourn, may mga entourage pa yata sila. They decided to check-in at Marlin, and the staff were unprepared o hindi na-reserve ang room, or whatever ... so they asked us to transfer to a Standard room. Nainis ako kasi bakit kami pa ang pinuntirya nila. Kaya sabi ko, we were not moving out of the room for their mistake (sino ba yang Gwen Garcia na yan, anyway? ). Buti na lang, di sila nagpumilit kung hindi ... nakuuu.

Anyway, I spent most of my time swimming. Bantayan's best feature are its beachfronts ... malawak, malinis, tapos maganda ang sand. We also visited the Ogtong Cave and Beach Resort. Nice yung facilities, but do not go there if you want to swim sa beach, dahil palaging low tide doon. Pangit ang beachfront. I also swam in the Cave, pero medyo disappointing yung cave, because I've been to Hinagdanan Cave in Bohol and that one was much, much better.

Kaya lang, parang underdeveloped ang outside facilities sa Bantayan. No good places to eat there ... may dalawang resto, pero ang mahal naman. Pang-foreigner ang price. So it's either high-price or dyan lang sa tabi-tabi ka kakain (i.e. barbecue stands). No decent mid-price restaurants. What we did was buy in the market tapos pinapaluto lang namin. Kulang pa talaga.

Bantayan is good for outings, swimming, but it lacks Malapascua's rustic atmosphere, charm and initimacy. Malaki kasi ang Bantayan Island. Pero nag-enjoy rin naman ako, kaya sulit na din.

Some pics (courtesy of my officemate Joel):

[pretty_patty]

Hey tr|n|ty! How did the trip go? Come on. I'm dying to hear about it!

Babalik kami sa first week of June, before magpasukan! Yehey!

[TravelBug]

What's the fastest way to get there? Kasama na ba sa 5 hours yung trip from Manila?

[foxxxxy]

i've got 2 yayas for my kids who lived in kota beach.
maganda nga daw dyan.

[atomikai]

hoy trinity!

i'm soooooo excited na. bwisit.

[riza_arnaud]

Everything in Cebu is fully booked on Holy Week, even hotels... My family went there in 2002 a week after Holy week. Ang DAMI talaga tao at foreigners sa port pa lang, mga naguuwian na kasi sila.


Alam nyo ba na pwede sa Bantayan kumain ng meat pag Holy Week? THe Vatican gave them a special dispensation for that... Sayang nga hindi namin naabutan yun nung pumunta kami dun... So for "strict" Catholics that crave for white sands and great meat on Holy Week, head to Bantayan hehehe.

[VersionTwo]

^ lechon galore!

[pretty_patty]

^^^ Correct!!