Bohol Tropical Paradise (Island Hopping) ~ Day 2

We are keeping this vacation relaxed and casual, so I try not to over schedule our activities.  

While Bohol Day 1 is about the Country Side Tour, today is going to be a half day of Island Hopping.

The Standard Bohol Island Hopping Tour includes dolphin watching, Balicasag, Virgin Island and Turtle Watching. 

The elusive dolphins ~ were actually chasing us. 

Off to see some turtles and feed fishes.

Shots from the infamous Virgin Island.

Back to the South Palms Resort for R&R!

The "ART OF DOING NOTHING"!

This is Life....

Panglao Island Tour up next ~ Day 3.

Wow Bohol - Day 1

Bohol is a paradise known for its white-sand beaches, islands and diving sites.  It has been about a decade since my last visit to Bohol and I am really excited to be back.  This time though, it will be just me and my husband. We left the boys at home with the grandparents.  

Day 1 

Bohol is an hour and 30 minutes flight via Panglao International airport.  I am pleasantly surprised that Bohol airport has been upgraded.  It clean, spacious and nicely ventilated.   

We maximized our trip by bunding our airport pick-up with the Country-side tour.  As this is already our second time in Bohol, we skipped the other tourists' sites and decided to do the ATV ride by the Chocolate Hills and the enchanting Loboc river cruise.

First stop was the ATV ride.  

Compared to our Mayon ATV ride, which was quite rocky, Chocolate Hills ATV experience was chocolatey...  

It rained quite a bit that morning and the trails was quite muddy.  We liked it that way though as the weather was cool and navigating through the muddy trail was ha-ha-funny!     

This explains why they call the famous Bohol hills as CHOCOLATE HILLS!

The "We are so happy to be back in Bohol Jump".

Bilar Man-Made Forest

Lunch at the Loboc River Cruise ~ hearty and filling with live music entertainment.

Tired from our early morning flight we decided to finish the tour early and head back to our home away from home in Bohol ~ The South Palms Resort Panglao.

Follow our Day 2 ~ Island Hopping 

Boracay ~ Island Hopping (Day 3)

I think, I failed to soak in enough sunshine in our 2 days in Boracay.  Still NO sun-kissed skin and we only have a full day left in our vacation.  So for our last day, we went Island Hopping.  We wanted a relaxed pacing so we got a private small boat for our party of 7.  

We started the day with yet another hearty buffet breakfast at Two Seasons' Bar Lo Restaurant ready for today's physical adventure.

Then with a few more minutes left ~  we decided to get braids....  We thought, it would be nice for picture taking 😏😏😏

 

Our boat waits at Bulabog beach...

We kept our Island Hopping itinerary light and went for:

• Puka Beach
• Crocodile Island (for snorkeling)
• Helmet Diving

Helmet Diving

We ended the tour early, as we were worried my parents are already missing us...

Here is our welcome party, my parents having a grand swimming (from the looks of it,  they were not missing us at all)...

One good thing about, Two Seasons is its location which is literally just a few steps away from the famed White Beach...

  For our last night, we went the Real Coffee for light dinner (sandwiches, coffee and of course, their famous calamansi muffin).

Then back to D'Mall to buy "pasalubong".  

Here are pictures from our last day in Boracay...  we will surely miss....  

#AuraModeON 

If you missed our Day 1 and Day 2

Boracay - Day 1

Boracay - Land Tour (Day 2)

Boracay ~ Land Tour (Day 2)

One of the reasons of our Boracay travel is to take my senior citizen parents on a getaway, having been confined at home due to Covid for such a long time. 

We have decided on a Boracay land tour as it was easier for seniors than island hopping (hoping on and off a motorized banca).  

I found a local tour guide ("Alex") in one of Boracay DIY groups, that I have joined online preparing for our Boracay trip. Alex is such a sweet heart.  He is our driver, tour guide and photographer rolled into one.   He is pleasure taking to and it was apparent that he really loves his job.  We enjoyed our tour and did not feel rushed at all.  A big plus, he also takes real good pictures! The only problem though is he has taken hundreds of them (all beautiful), it was so hard to edit and decide which ones make it to my social media pages.   

You can contact him through FB Messenger>>> Alex Canindo

We started our tour at 8am, after a hearty buffet breakfast "Two Seasons".  (Breakfast starts at 7am, so we have an hour to fill our tummies and dirty our feet with a short beach walk as we waited for Alex).

(Check here my review of Two Seasons Boracay by clicking the link below>>> Boracay ~ 3 years after (Day 1)

Our Itinerary included: 

• Tambisaan Beach
• Mangrove
• Sinagpa Beach
• Diniwid Beach
• Keyhole - Boracay New Coast
• Puka Beach

We reserved two e-trikes (my parents, my sister and her family shares the other one).  TIP: If you are travelling with seniors, request for lowered rides, so they can hop on easily.

So many pictures ~ can't decide which to post :D

Our first stop is the Tambisaan Beach

At the Mangrove Park

Bulabog Beach

Sinagpa Beach is about 10-15 minutes picturesque stroll.  

You can see Station 1-3 from here. 

Note: It will be a bit difficult for seniors to walk as some of the steps were steep and will be slipper when wet. 

Keyhole ~ New Coast Beach

Puka Beach

We ended our tour with lunch at Sugba de Boracay at Station 1.

Our Tour Highlight... (hahaha)

This was a good way to end our day's tour.

Good service. Food fresh and delicious!  

This restaurant is A++ approved by my family...

Part 2 of our Day 2 is a Sunset Cruise.  

For this trip, we left the 60+ at the hotel to relax and recharge; and enjoy the white powdery sand of Boracay.

Now about our Sunset Cruise ~ for this tour we travelled via e-trike to Bulabog Beach where our cruise awaits.

I booked a sunset cruise, but unfortunately (yes, you read that right) got upgraded to a Party Cruise, with cocktails, beer, cheese and crackers to go.  I was told it was a lot more expensive than our original planned tour, but it was also loud with lots of young party people on board...  And we just wanted some quiet time ~ gazing at Boracay's beautiful sunset (which I think got scared of all the chaos on board, and did not show).  

There is a market for this kind of tour, but it was obviously not ours.  This tour left our eardrums numb :D

Alas, no Sunset too...

The tour ended 6pm and we took an e-trike back to our hotel. Ordered room service for Two Seasons' Four Cheese Pizza and Fruits shakes while we dipped and relaxed by the resort's pool.  

If you missed our Day 1 >>>>> Boracay Day 1

Follow my blog for our Day 3 in Boracay.  

Boracay ~ 3 years after (Day 1)

This Boracay Trip has been three (3) years delayed due to Covid.  

We originally booked a family trip for my parents, my sister's family, my brother and his wife (who were coming from the States) and my family of 4.  It was supposed to be a quadruple celebration,  our Parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary which was same day as my husband's birthday, our Wedding Anniversary the day after and my brother's Wedding Anniversary on the same month. We were crestfallen, Covid 2019 lock down took away what should have been a grand celebration.

An all paid for vacation turns to "travel fund".   

So when borders eased up this year (2022) ~ we booked our flight, called our hotel and went!  Unfortunately, my brother and his wife were not able to join (sad...).

Here enters Boracay....

Sharing here our 4day/3nights Boracay Adventure (near Post Pandemic style):

We left Manila via AirAsia for Boracay noon time and arrived at Caticlan at about 2 in the afternoon, it would take another hour and half to reach Boracay Island.  Transfers to Two Seasons from the airport was part of our package so everything was smooth sailing.

Though we had meals on board, the long travel made us all hungry :P 

So first order of business is FOOD!!!

We are staying at the Two Seasons, so it was a given that our welcome meal upon arrival was at the Bar Lo Restaurant.  

WELCOME TO BAR LO RESTAURANT

We ordered their much celebrated and Instagram famous Four Cheese Pizza, which many swore by as the best in the island.  Did I say we were hungry?  So we got 2 of those (finished everything), got their equally famous Oyster Sisig (which my mom can't stop raving about), a couple of Pasta sharing size (which were okay) and Calamares.

For dessert we ordered Halo-halo and Mais Con Yelo. 

I really liked both, but preferred the mais con yelo more.

How cool is this... with the white sand and beach as your view! #sarap

Be warned though that in our 3 nights stay at Two Seasons, the queue of guests eating at the BarLo Restaurant is no joke.  As we were hotel guests, getting seats was easy, however, can't say the same for the walk-ins.  Be ready for long wait!

OUR ROOM

We got 3 rooms for our group of 9 pax.  My parents stayed on the ground floor next to our room, while my sister got a room at the 2nd floor.  

We have a family suite with 3 queen bed (with one of the beds in a private room) with direct access to the pool.  The pool is just a dipping pool though, but was a welcome respite after a a busy day of beach frolicking.

The rooms are clean, linen and towels soft and nicely laundered. Beds were firm and comfortable to our liking.  The rooms and bathrooms are spacious. However, I find the rooms poorly lit and the fixtures a tad old, but it was not a big issue as the rooms were obviously well maintained. 

Hotel staff were friendly and courteous but not nosy. Room service was fast and efficient. 

That being said, I am generally happy with Two Seasons, location was perfect and that is all we really need.  

After we have rested, we took a walk from Station 1 to D'mall, portions of our walk barefoot and all! After all, this is why we came to Boracay!

At the D'mall in the hunt of Halo Mango ~

We can't seem to get enough of this fine stretch of white sand... 

(Me, my husband, plus my eldest walked our way back to the hotel, 

while my sister took the trike)

Click here for my post on our Day 2 - Land Tour >>>> Boracay Day 2 ~ Land Tour and Sunset Cruise