Country > Philippines > Bohol > Panglao
Date > 2024 > April
Activity > Chilling Out

April 24, 2024

Kat's Birthday at Oceanica

Location : Panglao, Bohol, Philippines

Abundance in Bohol
Bohol Yoga Festival was the genesis of many synchronicities for me in Bohol - meeting interesting lives I've later reconnected with, getting a one-week yoga teaching gig + house sitting, a day of dive and beach with Joan / Fred / festival crew, and now, an invite by Jen and Kaye to Kat's birthday celebration at the posh Oceanica Resort.

Kat
Kat was a pleasant surprise during this trip. She has many layered dimensions to her - a mother of a precocious little yogini, a lawyer with powerful connections, outspoken, unafraid to think aloud about her notion of an idealized planet, an A.I. specialist, a conscious being, a mover/shaker of things...and yes, add charm and beauty to all that! Our conversation ranged from Alpha brain waves to AI, the human factor, service to humanity, female empowerment, etc. We could talk for days and not repeat ourselves.

all smiles with the birthday girl

Ending Thoughts
Getting invited to Kat's birthday celebration is the latest of many veiled 'persuasions' I'd been getting from my benevolent universe. I'm not sure if it's telling me to forego Bantayan and settle here in Bohol, or simply giving me a tap on the shoulder for being a good boy. But I'm listening. If the message gets clear in no uncertain terms, then I'll simply say "Yes"...with gratitude for clutter-clearing a path on where I grow roots.

As if to answer that question, after having purchased my boat ticket for Cebu City, and hours before my boarding, I received a message from Kat that would change the course of my journey.

Thank you Kaye and Jen for the invite and thank you Kat for simply being.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Kat's Community Invite

(Apr 28 - May 19, 2024) Feeling like I've already exhausted Bohol's abundance with all the events I'd been invited to with nothing else on the horizon, I bought a boat ticket for Cebu City and secured the Coastguard documents for my motorbike. But just hours before boarding the boat, I got a message from Kat. Without much deliberation on my part, I let the boat leave without me.....more »»

Next Chilling Out story:

Chilling-out at the Floating Cottage with the Tagbilaran Walkers

(October 11, 2024) At the old airport where I do my morning yoga, I occasionally bump into a group of established elders who make a daily fast-walk at 5 am. One time, they invited me to join them for some R&R on a floating cottage....more »»

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

Bohol Travel Info/Tips

Bohol FYI / Tips

the tourist area where most of the hotels, restaurants, ticket offices, tour operators are, is located within the Alona Beach area
the tourist attractions in Bohol are far apart and spread-out. It would be difficult to visit them all using public mass transit. Better hire a van (P3500/day) if in a big group, or rent a motorcycle (P400/day + gas)
Bohol relies on its tourism for revenue. As expected, everything they can capitalize on from tourism is extensively used and developed

Tagbilaran Port to Panglao

You can charter any tricycle from the port all the way to Panglao (~P300), but if you want to do it on the cheap,

don't take the tricycles lined-up inside the port. Walk past the port gate and immediately outside, you'll see many tricycles. Take one to the bus terminal in Dao (~P15)
in Dao, take the jeep that plies the Panglao route (~P20)

Tagbilaran (Bohol) to Cebu City by boat

** schedules and rates keep changing, call for latest schedule

Weesam Express - departs 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 4:00 PM
one way: Economy (aircon) P500.00, Economy (non-aircon) P400.00, First Class P600.00
round trip promo (at least 2 days advance booking): Economy (aircon) P600, Economy(non-aircon) P500, First Class P1200
round trip promo (1 day or on the day booking): Economy (aircon) P800, Economy (non-aircon) P700, First Class P1200
Ocean Jet - departs 6-7:05-8:20-9:20-10:40-11:40AM, 1-2-3:30-4:20-5:30-6:30PM, 2 hours, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
Open Air / Tourist Class P800, Business Class P1000
+63(32)255 7560 / +63 (32) 255 0115 / 0917 638 0000
SuperCat (2GO) - departs 5:50-11AM, 3:45-5:25-8:15PM, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
P 500.00
+63 32 233 7000

Things to do, Places to go in Bohol

Chocolate Hills - this is a clustering of more than 1200 hills within a 50km² area. They range in height from 30-50 meters. What's unusual is their near-perfect conical shape resembling an individual chocolate chip. No one knows how they were formed. Entrance is P50/pax.
Tarsier Conservation Area - located Upper Bonbon, Loboc. The tarsiers are no longer being played at by tourists as circus props, but instead, visitors now view them in cordoned-off areas in their natural 6ha habitat. As they are territorial and nocturnal, they are predictable on where they can be viewed. P50/pax.
Alona Beach (Panglao) - Alona Beach is the tourist hub of Bohol. It has 1.5 kms of white sand beach lined-up by bars, hotels and restos. Alona is also the jump-off point for Balicasag Island, a world class dive destination.
Danao Adventure Park - located in Barangay Magtangtang, 72 kms (2 hours ride) from Tagbilaran. Adventure activities include river trekking, tyrolean traverse, rappelling, bouldering, rock climbing and ziplining.

Blogs

Bohol

Anda

ANDA

Exploring Combento Cave Pool Jun 29, 2017

Visiting Cabagnow Cave Pool Of Anda Jun 28, 2017

Exploring Anda, Bohol Jun 25-30, 2017

Candijay

CANDIJAY

Roadtrip from Candijay to Ubay Jul 1, 2017

Firefly Tour In Candijay, Bohol Jun 30, 2017

Freediving Canawa Cold Spring Of Candijay, Bohol Jun 30, 2017