Dumaguete To Panglao Island the Long Way (1200+Km)

Our latest little adventure was a motorcycle ride (130cc scooter, actually) from Dumaguete around Cebu Island, across to Leyte then Bohol and finally returning to Dumaguete through Argo, Cebu.

Day 1

We left home at 7am, March 2nd, heading for Bogo, near the northern tip of Cebu. We planned to cross from San Carlos to Toledo but, at the last minute, decided to cross at Amlan since the ferry was boarding when we drove by. This turned out to be a good idea for a few reasons: the Maayo Shipping Amlan crossing is faster, cheaper (only P302 return, including bike and passenger) and has more crossings. We got off the ferry at 9am and headed north along the west coast of Cebu. The roads were good with little traffic and beautiful coastal scenery. After stopping for an early lunch in Moalboal, we continued our trek northwards through Toledo (you must head inland after Dumanjug towards Carcar then turn left on a poorly marked road back to Toledo). Again the scenery was beautiful and the mountain road winds back down to the coast with new concrete almost the entire way. After Toledo, we continued north to San Remigo then east to Bogo. We arrived in Bogo around 4pm, got a room and headed over to the pier area for a barbeque supper. If you know Cebu City, then you have probably heard of Larsian’s barbeque near Osmena Circle? The food choices at the Bogo site were basically the same; good quality and reasonable prices except that we were sitting out by the sea watching the sunset. Later that evening, we sat out on the pier with a couple drinks before hitting the sack. It is a popular hangout for the locals.

Day 2

Super Shuttle runs the ferry across to Palompon, Leyte, a three hour trip and no hassles except for the usual departure delays. We met a group of dirt bikers on the ferry planning to explore the back roads (trails) of Leyte and Samar. They were from various countries, touring with “Extreme Philippines Dirtbike Tours”. Seems like a real adventure but too tough for me. They have a website for any of you real adventure seekers: Philippine Offroad Adventures. First ones off the ferry at 3:30 pm, we headed north along the coast to visit my wife’s relatives in Calubian. Except for 3 km of gravel road, the route was, once again, exceptional for a bike ride. Calubian is a small village; not much going on there, but the strait between Leyte and Biliran Island is full of cultured oyster beds, so fresh oysters were definitely on the menu. We didn’t have time to tour Biliran Island on this trip but apparently it is worth a visit; caves, hot springs, waterfalls and some nice beaches on the islands just off the coast.

Day 3

The road out of Calubian is terrible with about 30 to 45 minutes of rocks, mud, and gravel although they plan to complete the concreting by 2015. Once out of there, we met up with some relatives and backtracked to Jordan Spring on the Coast near Villaba; nice clear water and pleasant surroundings. We swam, had lunch, and, of course a couple wet ones (beer for you non-Canadians!)

Day 4

Off to Tacloban, stopping at Breakneck Ridge; site one of the bloodiest battles in the “liberation” of the Philippines during the Second World War. The battle claimed about 900 Japanese lives and only 26 Allied casualties. It is a nice lookout, providing panoramic views to the north coast of Leyte as well as the hills and valleys south of the ridge. We also stopped in Palo to see the monument commemorating the promised return of McArthur to liberate the Philippines. Tacloban, is a busy little city of over 200,000 (bigger than Dumaguete with a lot more traffic). It has some decent resaturants (we ate at Giuseppe’s that was very good), a nice resort on the bay, Leyte Park Resort Hotel, decent parks and walkways along the bay and apparently better nightlife than the Dumaguete area. We didn’t make it up to the San Juanico Bridge because of rain but it is worth the drive because the Strait is really beautiful.

Day 5

South from Tacloban, we burned up the asphalt at our blistering 60 KPH towards Bato and Maasin to cross over to Ubay, Bohol stopping at Hill 120; another WWII Memorial (first American Flag raised in the Philippines during the liberation run). The internet didn’t provide accurate ferry schedules (no surprise there) so we eventually found out that there were no more ferries from Maasin to Ubay and that there was an unpublished night ferry from Bato at 10pm. We took the late boat, eventually leaving the pier at 11:15pm. Of note, we bought some live Pitik lobsters at a Resto near the pier for only P350 per kilo! Somehow, we managed to find a lodging at 2am in Ubay; the GV Lodge (there is a small chain of these fleabag lodgings and I wouldn’t recommend them after sleeping at one in both Tacloban and Ubay).

Day 6

Got up late; had a quick shower and breakfast and headed west towards the Chocolate Hills in Carmen. We opted for the route through Trinidad then south instead of the suggested route through Alicia. The roads were good and little traffic. An hour and a half later, we were on top of the lookout in Carmen. I had read that it was not worth visiting but we really enjoyed the 360 degree panorama and I would recommend it. After snapping the required photos, we headed south again, stopping at the Tarsier Conservation Area. Cute little things; tarsiers are one of the smallest primates in the world measuring in at 4 to 6 inches (plus tail). Although their eyes were blinking, I am still not sure if they were alive or just elaborate, staged, fakes for our photographic pleasure, haha. Anyway, 30 minutes later we were back on the road to our next touristy stop, the Loboc River Cruise. Between the two however, the road winds down a slope among a large reforested area that is stunning on a motorcycle. We all really enjoyed the Loboc River Cruise and Buffet but I didn’t appreciate the way they charged us a P100 conservation fee after we had already paid our cruise tickets! Doesn’t matter though because I believe it was ten bucks well spent. The cruise lasts about an hour, filled with photo ops; the Filipino food was decent; and the local singer onboard didn’t even stress out my brother! Did I mention that the beer was cold? Along the river, we stopped at a pier that had about 30 locals in period costumes performing local folkloric music and dance for tips in a strategically place Tip Box. There were tip boxes everywhere in the complex, including the washrooms so you can choose where you want to empty your pocket shrapnel (coins).

It was now 3pm so we finally motored off to Panglao Island, our original destination, to try to find a room. We opted for the Alona Beach area, hoping to find some exciting nightlife. Rooms were, of course, more expensive in this area; one place advertising a single, Fan Room for P2700! We found a nice little spot hidden away across from the Tourist Police Outpost, called Lyn Ting’s Inn. My wife negotiated the panties right off the poor clerk, knocking off P300 per room/ per day, thus saving us a healthy P1200!! Thanks, dear. Lyn Ting’s was quiet and well located. The rooms included aircon, hot water, and cable TV. They were clean and modern and they had their own little convenience store with all the necessities (beer and hard drinks) and some of the more frivolous things some people might want, like shampoo, soap, and tooth paste. The nightlife in the area was disappointing (basically non-existent except for few mediocre acoustic venues) but I heard there was a disco up the road with free shuttle, called Aliens and a bar called “One4daroad” was advertising a reggae band for Saturday night (we left Saturday morning).

Day 7

After a local breakfast and a walk on the beach, we headed in to Tagbiliran to verify ferry schedules, etc. Lite Ferries provides the boat from Loon to Argao (read Catagbacan to Taloot). As with my previous experience with Lite Ferries, the internet schedule was wrong. There was no 10 am ferry (only 6am and 4pm). We then headed out to Island City Mall where we ate lunch at one of the best restaurants I have found in the Philippines. It is called Frankies and has an international menu with plates from Russia, the Mediterranean, Italy, and Mexico. The owner has a Russian mother, Italian father and he was raised in California, thus the logic behind the meal choices. We sampled 6 different sumptuous plates and I will surely go back one day and try everything else on the menu! It all looked good; just too bad that he is situated in a mall and that he is not franchising.

The rest of the day was uneventful and I was a bit disappointed with Alona Beach, in general. It is definitely not a Little Boracay but I am sure the area will grow rapidly because it does have a healthy tourist base. As a vacation choice, there is quite a bit to do in the area as I mentioned earlier: tarsiers, river cruises, Chocolate Hills, as well as caves, old Churches, good diving, zoo, island hopping, adventure tourism, etc., all easily accessible from Panglao.

We had a late supper just off the strip at a place called Cherry’s Home Too, an uninspiring tourist home. We all opted for schnitzels with fries at only P180. There were two big cutlets on each plate and a healthy portion of fries; the best meal I had during the trip at the best price; probably the best schnitzel I have eaten outside Germany / Austria / Switzerland.

Day 8

The voyage home. Our first day of hard rain dampened the road but not our spirits on the route from Panglao to Loon but the weather cleared up as we were crossing the strait, a 1:30 hr. trip on a brand new, Lite Ferry barge. The evening trip down to west coast of Cebu wasn’t much fun; lots of aggressive busses on the road but we made good time and just caught the Maayo ferry to Sibulan at 7:30 pm (a newly scheduled trip on this route). After a quick bite, we were home by 9pm with a load of dirty laundry and a pile of fond memories and amazing photos.

 

Great report, what were the ferry costs for passenger and bike?

 

Ferry prices including driver and passenger to the best of my memory: Maayo Shipping to Tampi or Liloan, Cebu P302 (return), Super Shuttle from Bogo to Palompon around P800, Medallion Transport from Bato to Ubay P1170, Lite Ferries from Loon to Argao about P820.

 

Steve, great trip report, thanks. Do you have standard size street tires on your bike?

 

Hi Pat, I put 3.00" X 17" on the back and 2.75" X 17" on the front; better handling for only a couple extra dollars. I like Isumi or Deestone uni-directional tires for the front and a semi-agreesive rear tire (not too knobby though)

 

Hi SteveB, Good comentary on your trip. I am comming to Bohol in a couple of weeks and one of the attractions we are going to see is the choc hills, i beleive the best veiwing hill has about 200 steps to climb to the top, I'm an above knee amputee..is their any easy way to the top or as i think i'll look from the botttom and let my GF do the walking and take pics.
I'm in Dumaguete also for about 10 days, if u see a long nose 1 legged man getting around ..say hi, i don't bite.

 

You are right, there is a long stairway to get to the very top of the lookout but there is also a ramp that winds back and forth to the top although it is also relatively steep. The view from the parking area is almost as good anyway.