Seeing the pristine white sands and the crystal clear waters of Bantayan Island was love at first sight! I've been to a lot of beaches in my hometown but never one as flawless as this. Truly, Bantayan has maintained its name and its promise.
My first visit here would definitely be NOT the last. Especially that this marks one of my major travels with my boyfriend.
Where we stayed
We stayed at the Adelaida Pensionne House which we had booked on Airbnb weeks ago. The staff were supposed to meet us at the port but they failed to do so because their service vehicle accidentally broke (?) We resorted to renting out a motorbike that very instant. It was raining hard but we managed to find our way to the house in the pouring rain. We arrived at the property soaking wet. Relieving that the host greeted us with a warm welcome while he handed over the keys and showed us everything of importance.
It wasn't exactly how I imagined it to be especially that it was my first time in the beautiful island. Bittersweet -- but we managed to just laugh it off.
Day 1 - The Virgin Island
We didn't have a well-planned itinerary. We just sorta went along the flow and visited beaches we were most familiar with. The first thing we did was to take a nice warm shower, hung our soaked clothes in the balcony, changed clothes and went out for a day trip to The Virgin Island. Our host referred us to someone he knew who could take us to the island. We rented out a boat for 800 PHP for a round trip good for 2-5 people.. Thankfully, the weather wasn't feeling so bipolar anymore.
Baby-ik has been here with his friends a few months back. He says that The Virgin Island was one of the highlights of his Bantayan visit. It was my first time and I was expecting soo much from it especially that my boyfriend blabbed about it nonstop. AND IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
The white sands were very fine, the waters, crystal clear! The photos would never suffice to the wonderful scenery I have encountered in this beautiful island! We lowkey just took a lot of selfies together, took a dip, tried swimming in all corners of the island barefoot.
A few hours after, the baby-ik took me to this hidden cliff diving spot. I'm not sure if it's meant to be hidden, it's just that it's a bit far from the beach proper and they had no visible signs of it. My boyfriend spent a lot of time here while I took photos and videos of him jumping off the cliff.
We basically had the place all to ourselves.
My boyf gave me a little scare when he jumped off the cliff and never came back up. It turns out he's been hiding under the bamboos and behind the rocks and intentionally went silent for a couple of minutes. I was too afraid to go down but I still mustered enough courage to check while screaming his name. Out of nowhere, a burst of laughter emerged from underneath the bamboos and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack right then and there. That was mean!
It was already late afternoon when we decided to finally head back. The skies weren't that cooperative as it started to rain again. The waves were furious and I just sat there trying to hold my fear in, seeing the sea change its colors from teal to a darker hue as it reflects the color of the sky scared me. It felt like the water was gonna swallow me alive.
The rain stopped when we arrived at the pensionne house. We took another warm shower, had dinner and then went on a night stroll around the island on the motorbike. Half an hour later, it started to rain again, so we just headed back and slept quite early at 8pm.
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How to get there
To Bantayan Island: From the North Bus Terminal, we rode a bus to Hagnaya Port which costed us more or less 150 PHP each. From Hagnaya Port, we rode a ferry to Bantayan Island which costed us more or less 150 PHP each. Some says fare varies depending on the day but I'm not sure about this.
To The Virgin Island: You will have to take another boat for you to get to the island. It would cost around 700PHP-1500PHP. I suggest you travel in groups as you would save a lot more.
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