Panglao Island - Alona Beach

On the morning of May 10, I left Tabilaran by taking a jeepney bound for Panglao, where the Alona Beach is located.

I was dropped off by the jeepney at the entrance of Alona Beach. A man in orange T-shirt came up to me and offered to drive me to the beach for 10 pesos. I had no idea how far I would have to walk and my backpack was heavy, so I agreed. I asked him to take me to a cheap guesthouse with rooms priced at 500-600p.

The man took me to Bohol Diver's Resort, which offers economy single room at 500p/day. The small room was equipped with a fan and a bathroom. I found out later the tap water was not fresh water. So I had to buy some bottle water for some cleaning needs. I was staying there for only one night, so I guessed I would make do with the room.

Of course, there are some high end resorts on the beach. But I planned on being a budget traveler, so I didn't mind where I stayed very much.

What matters are the views outside, which are spectacular on a sunny day.

Later, I found out that the man in orange T-shirt wanted to make more than 10 pesos from me. He started to sell me island hopping, snorkeling and dolphin watching boat tours after I settled down in my guesthouse. I was traveling alone, and I would have to rent a boat just for myself if I couldn't find someone to go with me. The boat man said he would give me a good price. He quoted 1500p. I checked out other places that offer boat tours. A boat for three costs 2400p, but if you cannot find someone to go with you, you will have to pay 2400p for just yourself.

Later, I ran into a Canadian traveler, who was willing to go on a boat tour with me and share the costs. The boat man said the price would be the same for two people - 1500p. He said he would knock at our doors at 5:30 a.m. the next day. But we waited almost until 6:00 a.m., he still hadn't shown up.

So we got down to the beach to look for him. He was waiting for his other customers. He said we could use a bigger boat,which, according to him,would be safer. The bigger boat costs 2000p. We agreed on 1500p the day before, and he stood us up and tried to sell us a more expensive tour. I found this kind of practice repulsive. What worried us most was that the weather looked really bad, and we were afraid that we were not going to see much in this weather. So we decided not to go. The boat man wanted us to pay a cancellation fee.

What was he talking about?! He stood us up first and he had the gall to ask for cancellation compensation? Of course, we disregarded his unreasonable requests.

The weather really didn't look promising when we got up. Many people were waiting for the weather to change for the better.