Alona Beach, Philippines

Our next destination was Alona Beach, Panglao Island where we spent 5 amazing days snorkelling, swimming and eating our way around the island.

We made the gruelling decision of Alona Beach over Boracay. I can see the shock on your face as your read that… Alona has got the reputation of being ‘the mini Boracay’. We didn’t want resorts and clubs, we wanted the local, cultural experience. Alona was touristy enough for us.

Travelling from Tanawan to Alona Beach? From what I can tell there are 3 options. They all cost roughly the same.
1. 4 hour bus to Cebu – 2 hour ferry to Tagbilaran, Bohol Island- Tricycle/bus to Alona Beach, Panglao Island.
2. 1 hour(?) bus to Lilo-An – boat to Sibilan – bus to Dumaguette – 2 hour ferry to Tagbilaran – Tricycle/bus to Alona Beach.
3. 3 hour boat direct from Tanawan to Alona Beach

This last option was not easy to come across in my search online when first planning our trip. I started reading some travel blogs (I find them much more informative than tourist sites) and eventually found that you can in fact, get directly from Tanawan to Alona Beach. We opted for the direct boat which cost 1000PHP each.

I think I now know why tourist sites don’t advertise this option… It is a voyage ran by locals on a boat that I don’t think would pass OH&S regulations here in Australia. The image above is the boat. See those ropes and wires essentially tying the boat to the bamboo rafts? Well, they all snapped mid-journey… and we live to tell the tale!

The trip took around 3-3.5 hours. This included stops for big swells to pass, as well as boat breakages that required fixing for us to continue the journey. Although there were some mishaps, I would choose this option again. Firstly it was an experience in itself, but it also took us doorstep to doorstep.

If you choose this option, simply ask any of the staff running the whale shark show or like us, enquire with the staff of your accommodation. Tip: ask for a boat bound for ‘Bohol’. We first asked about ‘Alona Beach’ and they had no idea where that was! Although Bohol is a different Island, they pull up right on the shore of Alona Beach. Don’t worry!

There was a sigh of relief for all on board when we reached Alona. Even better, we pulled up on the beach right out the front of our accommodation! We stayed at Isis Bungalows, a beach front oasis (at the western end). We booked a standard air-con room which was ~1000PHP cheaper/night than their ‘bungalows’ and was everything that we needed. We booked directly through them as Agoda showed no vacancy. We were extremely happy with our little piece of paradise. The staff were lovely and extremely helpful. They even invited us to join their staff Christmas party which was so much fun. We couldn’t have been happier with our choice!

The trip up until this point had been quite hectic with a lot of travelling so we spent our first day and a half sleeping, eating, swimming, relaxing by the water ( listening to the ‘Serial’ podcast), having massages on the beach (~$8AUD for 1 hour full body!) & watching the most beautiful sunset.

On our 2nd day in Alona we rented a scooter for the day for 500PHP to explore the island of Panglao. We had a few places we wanted to visit such as Dumaguette Beach and the Bohol Bee Farm, and found many more getting lost, discovering little villages and waterways. If you ever find yourself at Alona Beach, please be sure to explore the rest of the Island. You can do this either by hiring a scooter/motorbike as we did, or there are plenty of local buses or tricycle drivers that will get you from place to place.
If Alona wasn’t quite as white sanded and pristine as your expectations had you hoping for, Dumaguette Beach will revive your faith in the rumours of Filipino beaches. Don’t get me wrong, Alona is beautiful, but it acts more of a gateway to incredible snorkelling and diving opportunities, rather than a beach itself. Dumaguette is a long stretch of white sand where you can set up camp with no one around and swim till your heart’s content. There is accommodation available on Dumaguette Beach, only 2 resorts. You would also need to hire a motorbike to get to/from Alona as the only food option are the resort restaurants.

Day 3 in Alona involved a boat tour to Baliscag Island and Virgin Island. We left bright and early at 6:00am so we could catch pods of dolphins frolicking in the Philippine Sea. There were too many dolphins to count swimming along with our boat.

We then moored at Baliscag Island which has some of the best reefs for snorkelling around Panglao Island. It was a true ‘Finding Nemo’ moment. The reef is shallow (you are able to stand up) and then suddenly drops off into the deep blue. We found Nemo and Dory! There were more species of fish than I had imagined. Every colour of the rainbow dance their way around the coral, putting on a spectacular show for you.

Our last stop of the tour was Virgin Island. This island is uninhabited, just stretches of white sand and coconut trees. A true paradise.

Something that came in handy throughout our entire trip, especially for boat trips like this was dry bags. You will get sprayed (sometimes a lot) from waves & swells on every boat you go on and it was good to know that our wallets, phones & cameras were safe no matter how  wet we got. We took these Kathmandu ones – the different sizes were great, depending on what you needed to take.

I highly recommend you do this tour. There are boat owners and tour guides offering to take you there every time you step out of your hotel room. Play hard to get, don’t commit to one until late the night before (or even get up early and find one that still has spots available that morning) and you’ll get it for a much cheaper price. I think we got it 400PHP cheaper. FYI you also have to pay an additional 100PHP entrance fee to snorkel at Baliscag Island – some include this, some don’t so be sure to check. Another tip: you will leave at 6:00am and return at ~1pm so it’s a good idea to pack some snacks. We picked up some savoury muffins and honeyed banana chips from the Bohol Bee Farm cafe the night before to fuel our grumbling tummies between snorkelling pit stops.

In terms of dining out in Alona Beach, there are so many options. Restaurants line the beach front, and at night they set up tables on the sand for a true waterfront dining experience. An unavoidable inclusion of dinner is the locals kids singing the latest pop hits for some money. As soon as you shake your head they move on to the next victim, but our bleeding hearts sometimes overcame any common sense we may have and we let them belt out a tune for us. It was also worth it when you reached for your wallet and their enthusiasm spiked.
For dinner, all of the restaurants also set up tables of fresh seafood, meat and vegetables & a bbq on the sidewalk for you to choose what you would like to be grilled. We had fish, crab, pork, squid, prawns & corn done like this. Amazing! My breakfast order became quite predictable – mango pancakes & either a pineapple or watermelon juice.

We had a great time in Alona, but if we were to do this trip again, we probably would have cut a day off and headed to our next destination earlier. It was one of our highlights and we didn’t want to leave… in the next edition of my Filipino travel diary.