Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Town Tour

After playing in the sand and taking some 50 pictures by the shore, we decided to sit in one of the lounge chairs to relax. That’s when a local approached us to offer a tour to Bantayan Town. It’s actually part of our itinerary because it’s where you can find the old Sts. Peter and Paul Church and the big public market where you can buy all sorts of dried fish – danggit being the most sought after – for pasalubong at a much cheaper price.

When we asked how much the tour is, it’s a whopping 500 bucks! That is way beyond our budget so we asked for alternatives. The local told us that we can rent his motorcycle instead and drive ourselves to the town at a rate of Php300/day + gas. We haggled because we don’t need an entire day but the cheapest that he can give us is Php150 + 50php gas. He said he can give us a lower price but he’ll let us use a motorcycle whose brand I only heard for the first time. Of course we won’t risk getting stranded in the middle of I-don’t-know-where so we still settled for the trusty Honda. Better safe than sorry! :D

Testing 1, 2, 3.

Jhay asked for directions then we’re good to go =)

We traversed a seemingly endless road for about 20 minutes before we reached what looked like a town proper. A few hundred meters more and we saw the town plaza, the old church and the market.

We decided to hit the market first.

Heaps of dried seafood everywhere!

Folks, meet danggit :) It’s at 500php per kilo if salted.

The unsalted ones are 30php more expensive.

Another yummy delicacy: pusit (dried squid).

It’s just about the same price, if I remember it right.

I’m holding a quarter of a kilo, meaning one kilo is really plenty. The packed fish in front of me is tuyo, a Filipino favorite for breakfast, and it’s at 60php per pack.

We spent a little over 800php in the market then proceeded to the nearby bakeshop to buy a loaf of bread for dinner and for tomorrow’s snorkeling.

And then it’s time to say a little prayer =)

The church interiors in its antiquity.

It’s getting dark so we opt to drive back to the resort. The best thing about Jhay driving is that I can ask him to pull over just so I can take pictures!

Maia’s is one of my options but when we saw this sign, I can’t be more thankful that I chose Kota Beach. Maia’s is just too far from the port and the main road!

I originally wanted to sit in the middle of the road for a dramatic shot for my header (Maude’s Avenue of Thoughts, remember? ^^,) but J won’t let me :(

So I had to be contented with this. Haha.

Thankfully we were able to get back to homebase. We dropped by the little market again to buy canned goods, ripe mangoes and bottled water. Our rule is that we can splurge for one meal per day so we’re having Century Tuna for dinner. Haha.

Jhay and I exploring a place we’ve never been to on a motorcycle was one great adventure. It’s so fun and it’s another one for the books!

Other posts from my Cebu Getaway Series:

Cebu Getaway: The Beginning
Cebu Getaway: East Capitol Pensionne
Cebu Getaway: SM Cebu and CNT Lechon
Cebu Getaway: Cebu City Tour
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Island
Cebu Getaway: Kota Beach Resort
Cebu Getaway: Snorkeling and Island Hopping
Cebu Getaway: Gran Tierra Suites
Cebu Getaway: Casa Verde
Cebu Getaway: Skywalk Extreme
Cebu Getaway: See you again, Cebu!

Cebu Getaway: Kota Beach Resort

Booking our Bantayan Island accommodation has got to be one of the toughest decisions in this trip’s planning phase. I had at least 4 options and every single day I change my mind either because beach X is cheaper than beach Y or beach Z looked prettier in pictures than beach X and so on. But when you drop the X, Y and Z, what do you get? Beach, right. It’s after all what we came to Bantayan for so I settled for the one with the best beachfront – Kota Beach Resort.

However, it is important to note that while past visitors of Kota were raving about the beach, it also has a lot of negative reviews all over the net – poor customer service, unkempt rooms, everything in the resort needs to be replaced, and the list goes on. I discussed it with J and what he kept telling me is that the only thing that matters is him and me together. Alright, I got that recorded, just in case he rants when we get there. Hahahaha.

Fast forward to noon of our second day in Cebu. We docked in Sta. Fe and as we made our way out of the ferry, I already saw this:

Transfers from port to the resort and back is free when you have a booking at Kota Beach.

We reached the resort in about 5 minutes. The shuttle driver, Kuya Dodong, is very accommodating, he even carried our things to the reception area. We waited awhile for the person in charge and when she arrived, she handed our key to Kuya Dodong who more than willingly led us to our room. I booked an Aircon Room Double but I requested him to show us the beachfront cottage as well since I’m considering an upgrade if I’m not satisfied with what I booked. He obliged :-)

Above is how a beachfront cottage looks like. It has 1 double bed and 1 single bed, a CR and its own veranda overlooking the beach. It’s very spacious, can probably fit 4 or 5 with extra mattresses. Kuya Dodong offered it to us for Php1500 instead of Php 1700. That’s when I realized a couple of things:

* I booked with i-link.ph and I kinda felt that it was a wrong move because eventhough they say that they don’t have booking fees, they stick with the standard rates. My only consolation is that they have a Manila line and I didn’t have to make long distance calls for inquiries. And they were prompt and patience in answering my e-mails.

* If I booked directly with the resort, I could have gotten our room at (maybe) Php1000 instead of Php1260 especially since it was lean season. Oh well, better luck next time.

J said that the cottage might be too big for us so we settled for the one that we booked. Let me show you pictures of Aircon Room Double.

From the outside. Nothing fancy, really.

Here’s the bed. We dived into it right away ‘cause we got too excited as it was a lot bigger and more comfortable than the previous night’s. The sheets were not exactly new but it’s not so bad either. We had a good night sleep that we failed to catch the sunrise as planned. Fail! Haha.

This side is right across the bed. The aircon is another thing that made J like this room better. According to him, it’s newer than that in the beachfront cottage (yep, he noticed that!) It met our expectations – we were both freezing in the middle of the night. Hahaha. And then behind the native blinds is a window looking out to the restaurant. I think it’s high enough for people not to peek into the room but we still get paranoid sometimes. Since it’s near a common area, there’s that feeling that anytime someone would accidentally break in. Good thing though there’s none :-)

The bathroom is clean enough for me. The flush works and the water supply is sufficient. However there’s no heater and there’s something about the water coming out of the shower. Ugh. Sorry I don’t know how to describe it but J said he didn’t feel a hundred percent clean after rinsing/bathing. Maybe it’s from a deep well or something. There’s also no bidet but when I asked for a pail and dipper, they were able to provide. So folks I’m happy to report that service isn’t as bad as depicted in the reviews. The Kota Beach staff was able to attend to us whenever we need assistance.

This time the reviews were right. The table and chair are kinda old.
I’m sure they’d appreciate a replacement ;-)

No cabinets as well, only this wooden shelf.
Not a big deal though ‘cause we prefer not to take our things out of our bags.

Now let’s go to the beach! :D

The vast serene sea and the clear blue skies were truly an amazing sight!

And of course, the sandbar that Kota boasts of!

You don’t always get to stand in the middle of bodies of water, do you? :)

One side of the beach. I just wish they do a little up-keeping.

Lotsa dried seaweeds on the shore.

Beach lounge chairs + shade of the coconut trees = the perfect spot to while away time

But it looks like J has other plans…

Hey, hey, where do you think you’re going, honey?
Come back here and take a picture of me first! Haha!

Please excuse that big tummy and just focus on everything else. Like the cover-up top that I’m wearing. It’s nice, no? It’s the perfect beach wear for those who wanna reveal a little but not feel too nekkid :)

Now it’s his turn to be photographed.

A semi-emo shot right there. Hahaha.

That’s me experimenting with the camera. Bear with it ;-P

As usual, the boyfriend trying out every jumpshot pose possible.

Let me just say how much I love this shot. He’s too happy for words. Agree?

It took a lot of tries before we were able to come up with those two shots.
Methinks they’re worth it :-)

Beach-bumming won’t be complete without scribbling on the sand. I forgot to take a photo of what I wrote but it’s supposed to be J & M @ 6 (Jhay and Maude at 6 years, that is!)

No pictures swimming? Yeah, I noticed that too but that’s because we didn’t swim on our first day there. I’ll just include our few water shots in my snorkeling and island hopping post.

All in all, I’m giving this resort 3.5 out of 5. If you, too, don’t mind basic amenities and would just want to marvel at the natural beauty of Philippine beaches, Kota Beach at Bantayan Island is for you.

Other posts from my Cebu Getaway Series:

Cebu Getaway: The Beginning
Cebu Getaway: East Capitol Pensionne
Cebu Getaway: SM Cebu and CNT Lechon
Cebu Getaway: Cebu City Tour
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Island
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Town Tour
Cebu Getaway: Snorkeling and Island Hopping
Cebu Getaway: Gran Tierra Suites
Cebu Getaway: Casa Verde
Cebu Getaway: Skywalk Extreme
Cebu Getaway: See you again, Cebu!

Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Island

We started our 2nd day very early because it’s time for some beach lovin’ at Bantayan – an island at the northern tip of Cebu. We woke up around 4:30, took a quick bath, fixed ourselves and our things then rode a cab to the North Cebu Bus Terminal. Cab fare from East Capitol Pensionne to the terminal is a little short of 100php.

We asked around for the bus to Hagnaya Port, San Remigio but we were told that we’re unfortunately a couple of minutes late for the 5:30AM trip. We settled for the next bus departing at 6AM. According to travel blogs, most buses to Hagnaya are ordinary but we’re lucky to chance upon an air-conditioned one so we didn’t mind waiting (even if we’re the first passengers there… haha!) Jhay bought a local newspaper to pass time and it turned out to be a good buy because inside it was this:

Now there’s no more guessing when it comes to ferry schedules ^_^

The bus left shortly and our journey to Hagnaya began. Bus fare is Php 150 each and estimated travel time is 3 hours. It was a long ride but I managed to entertain myself by marveling at the beauty of Cebu countryside. The alternating greeneries and sparkling seas were truly a sight to behold. Too bad I forgot to charge our camera so I don’t have snaps to share.

We reached Hagnaya Port at around 9:40 (yeah, it took roughly 3.5 hours from the city to the port). I hurried to the ticket booth hoping that the 9:30 trip didn’t leave on time but it did so we had no choice but to wait until 10:30. We paid Php 170 per head (one way, that is) plus the Php 10 per head terminal fee. It was a pleasant surprise that the ferry is really big and I don’t have to call on all the saints I know to get to the island in one piece (just like we did on our way to Puerto Galera last year). In no time, we docked at Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island where the Kota Beach Resort shuttle is waiting for us. After 10 minutes, we were greeted by this breathtaking view:

It took a lot of self-control not to take a dip right away!

We cooled down awhile in our room then looked for a place to eat. One advantage of Kota is its location: the market is just 2 blocks away and the restaurants and eateries line up the same street.

For lunch, we chose between these two restos mostly mentioned in travelogues:

Because the place looked more inviting, we settled for D’ Jungle.

Native materials all around for that perfect island feel.

We ordered 200 grams of shrimp (because it’s their minimum) priced at Php 120 per 100grams. Cooking charge is included in the said price. Rice is expensive though – a cup costs Php30. Serving time was around 30 minutes so don’t go there if you’re starving because you’ll really have to wait while they cook your food.

Shrimp Sinigang is okay but I’ve tasted a lot better. And, it looks like a hybrid of Sinigang and Nilaga – see the pechay leaves and black pepper in the soup?

This one I really liked! The lemon garlic butter dip (that’s according to their menu :P) perfectly complemented the hot-off-the-grill shrimp.

Our lunch cost around Php 400 which I think is kinda pricey for one meal (especially in a province where seafood is a staple). Considering the food, service and value for money, D’ Jungle gets 3.5 out of 5 for me.

Moving on, we went back to the resort in a trike for only 5php/head. Unbelievable! =)

After a few minutes of siesta, we changed into our swimming clothes then hit the beach, but that’s for another post :P

Other posts from my Cebu Getaway Series:

Cebu Getaway: The Beginning
Cebu Getaway: East Capitol Pensionne
Cebu Getaway: SM Cebu and CNT Lechon
Cebu Getaway: Cebu City Tour
Cebu Getaway: Kota Beach Resort
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Town Tour
Cebu Getaway: Gran Tierra Suites
Cebu Getaway: Casa Verde
Cebu Getaway: Skywalk Extreme
Cebu Getaway: See you again, Cebu!