Small is beautiful
November 9, 2003 | 12:00am
When trying to muster a description of Panglao Island in Bohol, one can be moved to dip into his reservoir of metaphors, and in poetic parlance, proclaim that it’s a precious gem tossed into the waters the color of turquoise. President Arroyo, however, came up with something more fitting and perhaps less ambiguous – the first tourism economic zone in the country. Truly, the growing popularity of Panglao’s ecotourism pleasures is something to crow about.
This is my second opportunity, together with Hati Fausto, STAR special accounts supervisor, and Fernan Nebres, STAR photographer, to travel to the island via Cebu on board one of the fastcraft that cruise for about an hour and a half.
Though you have the option to fly in directly from Manila (one hour) or to take the plane from Cebu (25 minutes), this is the most popular route to this oval-shaped Central Visayas island.
We arrived at the Tagbilaran City port close to noon, and we boarded a van provided by the Bohol Beach Club located in the south of Panglao – our would-be home for a promising weekend. Open since the 80s, the Bohol Beach Club is one of the five properties of Tambuli, the leading chain of resorts in the south.
Cruising the main thoroughfares, we had some of the everyday scenes of the provincial capitol for a welcome. Traffic was not heavy at all. Here, we were told, tricycles are not allowed to ply the streets unless a proverb or the like is written on the vehicles’ back.
Lunch was at the Loboc Riverview Restaurant in the town of Loboc, a 30-minute ride from Tagbilaran.
Tourists trek to this town largely due to the Loboc Church, where at times the globe-trotting and multi-awarded Loboc Children’s Choir sings the hymns, the chance to see the endangered tarsier, and experience the floating restaurants.
A food outlet of Tambuli Resorts, the Loboc Riverview Restaurant offers a cruise down the river (P800 per trip, good for 20 people), with Nature as ambiance during mealtime. There are also motorboats for rent to bring you to Busay Falls.
Too bad for us, we arrived just after a downpour. We missed the river’s shade of jade-green because rain pelted the river with such force, turning it into dried moss-brown.
But it was okay since we were there for the food anyway. We queried a balikbayan and a first-timer in Bohol, Michigan-based Rica Magarin, about it. "It’s good," she quipped, pointing to the appetizing buttered shrimps.
The restaurant serves buffets for lunch and dinner, and you can gorge a plateful of seafood. Still, when you’re carousing in the Visayas, it’s a ritual to say your grace and succumb to a sinful serving of humba, the signature Cebuano dish of stewed pork.
Tambuli food and beverage director Nick Matias forked over another suggestion though – the good-for-four Loboc Plate of steamed crab, inihaw na kitong, breaded pork, shrimps, native salad, rice and soup of the day – all for only P400.
Worth noting is the restaurant’s interiors, accented by baskets of various forms and functions that decorate the ceiling. Bol-anons maintain that their island-province pioneered basket-weaving in the country with the handicraft mastered in the towns of Antiquera and Loboc.
Completing the resto’s advantage, Matias said, are the clean public comfort rooms for tourists who are headed to Batuan and Carmen for the famed Chocolate Hills.
In minutes we were already on our way to Panglao Island, but we found ourselves dropping by the town of Baclayon.
Fernan’s revelation that actor Cesar Montano’s ancestral home was just a few blocks away was hard to resist, but we resolved to pay one of the oldest stone churches in the country a visit. Declared by the National Historical Institute as a national historical landmark, the Baclayon Church houses a museum that stores a well-preserved collection of religious art, priestly vestments and other rare 16th century relics and artifacts.
Not too long after hitting the road again, we were guided by the palm trees, very green from the rain, to the entrance of the Bohol Beach Club. There, the smiling staff and the good weather, thank God, matched a dream resort: gentle breeze, guests sporting tans, and the hushed sound of rushing waves. With this tropical treat, the possibilities seem endless. You can have a round of volleyball, a swim or a sunburn-free nap. Or you can romp down 1.5 kilometers of powdery fine white sand, where at one end is a public beach, should you wish a reasonably festive atmosphere for a change.
The Bohol Beach Club has 65 spacious and well-appointed rooms from standard to superior to executive suites. The latter has a beachfront view which, to the keen eye, reveals blurred contours of the islets of Balicasag and Pamilacan.
From what I observed though, the Bohol Beach Club is spruced up with love nests. There are hammocks facing the sea where you can swing slow above the sand with a special someone.
Still, you can’t miss the families and the laughter of frolicking kids. Susanne Von Wisky, a German expat’s wife, was so smitten with the resort that she extended her stay with her two girls. "It’s our first time here. My friends have always been talking about coming to Bohol, especially our French friends who suggested that if we want a place to stay, we stay here at the Bohol Beach Club."
She was aware of the frequent comparison of Bohol to Boracay, and admitted finding it difficult to make a choice. She sighed, "Still, the peace and quiet here is priceless. You feel confident to let your kids play while you just relax and read a book."
Guests might be bothered by the ongoing construction of new rooms. But what is a slight distraction when after sundown, everything falls into slow motion, all’s calm, and you’re assured of a good night’s sleep.
It is, after all, the small ecstasies that make a vacation beautiful.
Bohol Beach Club is located at Bo. Bolod, Panglao Island, Bohol. For more information or other inquiries, contact the Tambuli Resorts’ Manila Sales Office at 522-2302, 522-2303 or (038) 411-5222 to 24, or e-mail at salesdirector@tambuli.com or bbc@mozcom.com.
This is my second opportunity, together with Hati Fausto, STAR special accounts supervisor, and Fernan Nebres, STAR photographer, to travel to the island via Cebu on board one of the fastcraft that cruise for about an hour and a half.
Though you have the option to fly in directly from Manila (one hour) or to take the plane from Cebu (25 minutes), this is the most popular route to this oval-shaped Central Visayas island.
We arrived at the Tagbilaran City port close to noon, and we boarded a van provided by the Bohol Beach Club located in the south of Panglao – our would-be home for a promising weekend. Open since the 80s, the Bohol Beach Club is one of the five properties of Tambuli, the leading chain of resorts in the south.
Cruising the main thoroughfares, we had some of the everyday scenes of the provincial capitol for a welcome. Traffic was not heavy at all. Here, we were told, tricycles are not allowed to ply the streets unless a proverb or the like is written on the vehicles’ back.
Lunch was at the Loboc Riverview Restaurant in the town of Loboc, a 30-minute ride from Tagbilaran.
Tourists trek to this town largely due to the Loboc Church, where at times the globe-trotting and multi-awarded Loboc Children’s Choir sings the hymns, the chance to see the endangered tarsier, and experience the floating restaurants.
A food outlet of Tambuli Resorts, the Loboc Riverview Restaurant offers a cruise down the river (P800 per trip, good for 20 people), with Nature as ambiance during mealtime. There are also motorboats for rent to bring you to Busay Falls.
Too bad for us, we arrived just after a downpour. We missed the river’s shade of jade-green because rain pelted the river with such force, turning it into dried moss-brown.
But it was okay since we were there for the food anyway. We queried a balikbayan and a first-timer in Bohol, Michigan-based Rica Magarin, about it. "It’s good," she quipped, pointing to the appetizing buttered shrimps.
The restaurant serves buffets for lunch and dinner, and you can gorge a plateful of seafood. Still, when you’re carousing in the Visayas, it’s a ritual to say your grace and succumb to a sinful serving of humba, the signature Cebuano dish of stewed pork.
Tambuli food and beverage director Nick Matias forked over another suggestion though – the good-for-four Loboc Plate of steamed crab, inihaw na kitong, breaded pork, shrimps, native salad, rice and soup of the day – all for only P400.
Worth noting is the restaurant’s interiors, accented by baskets of various forms and functions that decorate the ceiling. Bol-anons maintain that their island-province pioneered basket-weaving in the country with the handicraft mastered in the towns of Antiquera and Loboc.
Completing the resto’s advantage, Matias said, are the clean public comfort rooms for tourists who are headed to Batuan and Carmen for the famed Chocolate Hills.
In minutes we were already on our way to Panglao Island, but we found ourselves dropping by the town of Baclayon.
Fernan’s revelation that actor Cesar Montano’s ancestral home was just a few blocks away was hard to resist, but we resolved to pay one of the oldest stone churches in the country a visit. Declared by the National Historical Institute as a national historical landmark, the Baclayon Church houses a museum that stores a well-preserved collection of religious art, priestly vestments and other rare 16th century relics and artifacts.
Not too long after hitting the road again, we were guided by the palm trees, very green from the rain, to the entrance of the Bohol Beach Club. There, the smiling staff and the good weather, thank God, matched a dream resort: gentle breeze, guests sporting tans, and the hushed sound of rushing waves. With this tropical treat, the possibilities seem endless. You can have a round of volleyball, a swim or a sunburn-free nap. Or you can romp down 1.5 kilometers of powdery fine white sand, where at one end is a public beach, should you wish a reasonably festive atmosphere for a change.
The Bohol Beach Club has 65 spacious and well-appointed rooms from standard to superior to executive suites. The latter has a beachfront view which, to the keen eye, reveals blurred contours of the islets of Balicasag and Pamilacan.
From what I observed though, the Bohol Beach Club is spruced up with love nests. There are hammocks facing the sea where you can swing slow above the sand with a special someone.
Still, you can’t miss the families and the laughter of frolicking kids. Susanne Von Wisky, a German expat’s wife, was so smitten with the resort that she extended her stay with her two girls. "It’s our first time here. My friends have always been talking about coming to Bohol, especially our French friends who suggested that if we want a place to stay, we stay here at the Bohol Beach Club."
She was aware of the frequent comparison of Bohol to Boracay, and admitted finding it difficult to make a choice. She sighed, "Still, the peace and quiet here is priceless. You feel confident to let your kids play while you just relax and read a book."
Guests might be bothered by the ongoing construction of new rooms. But what is a slight distraction when after sundown, everything falls into slow motion, all’s calm, and you’re assured of a good night’s sleep.
It is, after all, the small ecstasies that make a vacation beautiful.
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