Good morning Panglao! Our 3rd day in Bohol was more on water activities. On our day two I asked the hotel reception if we could make an island hopping reservation for the next day. The boat fee is Php2500. I deposited Php500 and was advised that we will be picked up at 6:00AM. Our itinerary consists of Dolphin watching, Snorkeling at Balicasag Island and Virgin Island.
We woke up at 5:00AM and had breakfast as early as 5:30AM and at 6:30AM we are on our way to see the dolphins. It's like an hour boat ride from Dumaluan to the Dolphin watching area near Balicasag Island. By the time we arrived in the area it's already almost 8:00AM and as per boatman, during this time the only specie of dolphins that we will be able to see are the flat nosed dolphins. By the way there are two types of dolphins that can be seen in the waters of Bohol. The flat nosed and bottled nose dolphins.
Good morning Mark and Mike!
First stop, Dolphin watching - we knew it right then that we've arrived in the area when we saw several boats circling around and not so long enough we get to see a group of dolphins ahead. I was so excited that I almost fell off the boat trying to be in front of it. lol.
Our first encounter with the dolphins
And another
Watch my video of a dolphin jumping. Forgive me for yelling on this video. I was just so ecstatic to see a dolphin. lol. We stayed for about 20minutes.
Not too far from the Dolphin watching area is our second stop, Balicasag Island - is a 400 meter marine sanctuary of healthy corals where you can do snorkeling and diving. You can explore the island in 45minutes. The island is covered with palm trees and different species of bougainvilleas. The sands are white and there's a lighthouse tower in the middle of the island. Although we're not able to check the lighthouse I can assure you that it has two (old and new).
This is the picture of the lighthouse (new) when we visited Bohol in May 2010
Anyway, let's do what we came here for, Snorkeling! There's a Php150ea. entrance fee on the sanctuary. If you do not have a snorkeling gear you may want to rent for Php150ea. as well as the aqua shoes for Php300ea but since we already have a snorkeling gear provided by the resort only get to pay Php450 (aqua shoes and entrance fee).
You can also have your lunch here in the island. They have a "paluto", you can buy fresh seafood or meat and you can tell them how you want it to be cooked for a fee (Php250). To be honest, we really kind of spent too much on this island but I told them it's the only source of income for the people in the island that consist of 100 families (aside from fishing, ofcourse). So I guess we can just consider it as a help to them. Just be friendly! I guess it also helped that I'm able to speak and understand their native language, we're able to negotiate on the food prices. lol.
Motorboats are not allowed on the Marine sanctuary, you have to transfer to a smaller boat for you be brought to the snorkeling area.
The fishies!! These are the same fishies I saw in Palawan but a bit bigger and more friendly!
And here is Mark, just sitting on the edge of the boat. I didn't know that he cannot swim. lol. We were like teasing him because he was like too scared to even dip his head on the water. lol. So that explains why he never do diving even on the pool, he just stand there. lol. Mike and I were laughing while snorkeling because Mark even payed for an aqua shoes and snorkeling gear that he never even get to use. lol. Peace Mark! But he said he's pretty much enjoying just staying on the edge of the boat feeding fish.
Me and Jaydee
Mike
More fishies!
and more
We stayed for like an hour just snorkeling. When we got back to the land our lunch was ready! We had Sweet & Sour Lapu-lapu and Fried Chicken. I'm not saying that I am a great cook but I kinda thought that they could have done better on the food. =P
And so after lunch we headed to the Virgin Island.
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