In December 2023 I had the opportunity to add to my exploration of the Philippines. A week away tacked onto a work trip. Within this week I planned out a one side destination trip. Just one island, one day trip. So that I wasn't overwhelmed. And well acknowledging there may be other opportunities for more trips later. Yes the prior trip had physically broken me. I'm no longer 25.
I chose Coron Island over El Nido. Not because I knew it'd be better. I had seen enough videos comparing the 2 destinations to figure out you'd be okay whichever you choose. Both are a part of the Palawan region. I chose Coron Island because I could fly out of there easier on the time frames I had. A week away meant I needed to be more direct, in, out, no dilly-dally. There was no time for rain delays, nor contingencies if I had to ferry elsewhere.
Accommodation I had read up about had indicated that you need to be in the Town Centre if you want to walk about. And it often was overpriced and under delivered from the reviews I read. Sure you can find luxury resorts. But I am a solo traveler with just a need for a morning coffee. I don't plonk down on a day bed next to a pool, reading a book, and cocooning myself from the locals. So with that in mind I found a perfect little micro hotel owned and run by a local family. DKs Inn. The owners were wonderful and had been building their hotel. Unfortunately Covid hit just after starting and well they didn't get the opportunity until 2023 to start earning some of their investment back. They had only 4 rooms available at the time I visited and were finishing the next 4 rooms on the level above. Rooms ere tidy and clean, and well they were keen to ensure their hotel was catering to the western market as well as locals. No pool or spa. But that's not where you're there for. Coron is a Island Tour Town. A tour or 2 and perhaps a day in the town is their major market. Long weekenders from Manila,and the internationals bouncing from Coron to El Nido or vice versa.
The island hoping tour I chose was the "Ultimate" tour. This was one of the larger tours you could do taking in as much as possible in one day. I figured splitting into 2 days of island hopping might just have left me nursing a sunburn on the last day.
So instead of a second boat tour I used the last full day to complete a walk up to the top of the hill. Only I left to hike perhaps an hour before I should have according to my hosts instructions. It was hot, humid, and well 700 stairs were a lot more than I thought. But I made it before nearly eveyone that afternoon. Physical fitness was completed, and I wasn't left as an awkward loitering solo traveler hanging out on a hilltop waiting on a sunset.
Bohol was the winner of the competition between the islands of the Philippines on which island was to get my tourist dollar's attention on a first trip to the Philippines. It had been a close battle in the planning stages between the excitement of Palawan versus the traditional highlight reel, Boracay. But from the YouTube videos came a dark horse, or should I say a tiny monkey. And all of a sudden the eyes had it. And my what big eyes they were. This island had come from nowhere to snatch the victory. Bohol, for the win! Here I could still get the reefs and beaches as the other destinations promoted. But more importantly I could also get the nature in the form of animals and inland rivers. This was just another dimension the others couldn't match.
My transit to Bohol was just a two hour ferry from Cebu City to Tagbilaran and then 20 minute taxi from the terminal to the main tourist accommodation area of Alona Beach on Panglao Island. This was a small island off the bigger island of Bohol. Importantly though this was also now where the fairly new airport for the region. An important factor as from here I was off to Manila as my trip would effectively be coming to the end.
Alona Beach was the most Western tourist destination outside of Manila I stayed at on the trip. Here I definitely found the more mainstream tourist. Heck there was a McDonalds at the top of the main tourist loop street away from the beach. Nothing wrong with that if you are after more of the easy to book tours, and to have the comforts of home. And with the mainstream does come some level of certainty. I had managed to book my accommodation well in advance and so had a smaller resort along the main beach for a price palatable to my credit card. This meant I could walk out the from of the resort to be met by postcard views. Only those postcard views were not temperature identifying. Here in middle of March it was already 30 something degrees with a death ray feel from 10am. There was no enjoying the water until late afternoon. And well I also noticed there were spiny sea creatures, starfish and jellyfish of unknown danger levels near the shore for those not paying attention. This was why you could nearly always find the beaches mostly empty during the day, and the resort pool as the most important feature to be evaluated through photos on a hotel website. At least at night I could sit out in the restaurants along the front watching over the beach as if I was a big spender.
Fortunately I had already completed an island hopping tour. Hence I had no urgent need to get out and burn to a crisp. This allowed me to focus on the Countryside Tour as my number one activity from Alona. Word of warning for those looking at tours here. You get what you pay for, and well most of the time its the same thing included or not included. The other learning was book whatever away from the beach touts. Not rocket science to figure out that. But this price difference was stark and well often the difference was merely my budget tour didn't include the entrance fee.
Fortunately my mostly backpacker tour group were fairly savvy spenders. So we managed to leapfrog one stop when we all skipped the quad bike tour. But perhaps this was somewhat spurred by our falling for the cheap butterfly exhibit and terrible "animal prison/zoo" which had been first up. Anyway following the bad start the three main highlights of the tour were achieved. These being the Tarsier Conservation Sanctuary, the Chocolate Hills, and a Lomboc River Cruise.
I must admit I didn't do the sanctioned lunch buffet river cruise incorporating the captive local community dances as designated for the tourists. Instead I joined others in finding a local tour boat that did the same route without the overpriced buffet and karaoke. Such a better result to just see the beauty of the river.
My final full day on Panglao I gave into the bike hire touts. I hired a scooter. I spent time riding to Tagbilaran and around the island to a few destinations around Panglao. It was an easy island with safe roads I couldn't get lost on. Glad though I didn't try doing the countryside tour myself via this on one day. It was a decent ride around just on Panglao chugging along at upto 40km/hr to get to Tagbilaran. I could see why the YouTubers had made a full trip up to the other areas over days with the scooters. Bohol is deceptively small when you look at a map. Perhaps a case could be made for a later trip to the other adventure parks, zipline, and northern beaches.
