Bantayan Island: Summer Escapade on a Budget

Summer is finally here! What better way to beat the heat and the stressful life in the city than to check out the many sought-after travel destinations that the country has to offer. So where should you go on your next trip? Check out this budget travel guide from my recent trip to one of Cebu’s best go-to summer getaways – Bantayan Island.

Situated in the northern tip of Cebu, Bantayan Island is made up of three municipalities namely Bantayan, Madridejos and Santa Fe. It is approximately a 4-hour travel from the city, 3 hours on land and an hour on the water. To many, it is known as an island paradise in the Philippines as it showcases a plethora of hidden wonders, picturesque sunset, splendid shoreline and impressive underwater environment. This little paradise has a whole bunch of beaches to check out and laze around. If you’re a bonafide beach bum, this is definitely a perfect haven for you.

How did we get there?

My squad had initially planned a trip to Bacolod but due to time constraints, we opted to go not far from the city. Since we come from the same team, we only have two days off a week (Saturdays and Sundays) and file for leave of absence is limited to only two personnel per day.

On Saturday morning (5AM end of shift), we hastily took a cab and ordered drive-thru breakfast while on the way to North Bus Station. After we finished our meals at the terminal, we rode a Ceres bus that swiftly journeyed us for 3 hours to Hagnaya Port (6:50 AM to 10:10 AM). Gladly, we were able to catch the 10:30AM Shuttle Ferry bound to Santa Fe port. After an hour of sailing, we alighted from the boat at around 11:45 AM. At the port, we were welcomed by the shuttle service driver of Beach Placid Resort. We booked our accommodation one week prior using Traveloka mobile app.

Day 1: Touring on a bike

At the resort, a certain staff offered us an equally good tour package for island hopping and motorbike rental that made us closed the deal right away. Lucky enough that four of us know how to drive, so we rented 4 motorbikes at P250 each for a 24-hour use. We are eight in our group so basically each one has a partner per bike. We agreed to go on motor-biking on our first day and decided to have our island hopping tour the next day. We wasted no time as we started off the adventure minutes after we settled down in our quarter. Everything went smoothly; we took our lunch first then spent the rest of the day strolling around the island.

To make this trip extra economical, a DIY meal preparation was worth a thing. From a raw meat we bought from Santa Fe market to fresh scallops from a native vendor outside the resort, we instantly made a dinner of grilled pork and buttered scallops complimented with a bottle of beer and citrus tea. Burp! That was another great night of good conversation and full tummies.

The evening sky was just too alluring that we made ourselves lazily settled in the kiosk, one of our favorite spots in the resort. We’d got to behold the spectacular sight of the moon and enjoy the relaxing sound of the waves playing on the shore. We even challenged ourselves with “Pinoy Henyo” game to make the night extra fun.

Day 2: Island Hopping

The next morning, we excitedly prepared the day for our island hopping tour. At 7:30 AM, we enthusiastically rushed to the boat where two men patiently waiting for us to hop in. Anticipating for bad weather from local news, we readied ourselves as we valiantly observed the strong waves tossing our small vessel as we headed to Hilantagaan Island, our first stop. There were already locals and tourists on the island sun-bathing and swimming while some were just hanging out in the outrigger boats docked by the shore. The place is purely untouched and shores were filled with white coral stones. We just spent less than an hour in Hilantagaan and proceeded to our next stop which is 10 minutes away.

As we approached Virgin Island, we could tell that it’s hundred times more beautiful than the first island. The place is truly a paradise with clear turquoise water surrounding it. So enticing enough that we eagerly alighted from the boat as we reached the shore. Entrance fees were collected for 500php good for 2 persons and 100php each for additional person. So we paid P1,100 in total for 8 persons. The fees were all worth it. Virgin Island is a great place to snorkel and to take on some other fascinating water adventures.

Would have probably stayed longer but had no enough time, so we headed back to the resort at 12:30 PM. We took our lunch and packed our bags to be able to catch the 2:30 trip schedule back to Cebu mainland. We safely got back to Cebu City at around 7:00 PM.

Here’s the breakdown of our over-all expense for each person:

Given with limited time, a lot of things we missed to see in the island. Some of these are:

•St. Peter and Paul Church - oldest church in the island
•Ogtong Cave - natural cave with refreshing spring pools
•Kota Beach (Camp Sawi) - scenic spot where the trending movie Camp Sawi was shot.
•Obo-ob Mangrove Garden - abundant mangrove forest with bamboo trails
•Kite Surfing and Stand Up Paddle Tour - perfect for adventure enthusiast

Generally, you could save more when you travel with a group. For accommodation bookings, I recommend that you book thru an app like Traveloka and Agoda to avail great discounts.

Happy travels! 😄