When it comes to beaches, Philippines has a lot to offer. Think of brilliant soft white sand and pristine turquoise water, fringed by lush coconut trees swaying in a relaxing sea breeze. With over 7,000 tropical islands and countless beautiful beaches in the country, the Philippines dilemma now is, which of the many beaches to choose from? You should greatly consider “Alona Beach”.
Why is Alona Beach the Best Beach in the Philippines?
For a long-time, “Boracay White Beach” in Aklan Province has been the number one beach destination in Philippines and for many good reasons. It has a lot to offer for thrill-seekers, romantics and party seekers alike. Now, there is a new contender for best beach in the Philippines and that is the one I have recommended you, “Alona Beach”. It is situated further south on the tiny Panglao Island.
Alona Beach is a great option because it is easily accessible and is not yet saturated by tourism development. It also has one of the best diving locations in the world on it’s doorstep. But at present, construction of an international airport on Panglao Island has already started. The relaxed ambience of Alona Beach is destined to give way to large-scale development in the next 5-10 years.
Getting to Alona Beach
Bohol is easily accessible by the major domestic airlines namely, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia, and Philippine Airlines. Tickets are normally 2,000-5,000 pesos one way from Manila. However, you can regularly pick up tickets for half the price if you monitor the airline’s website for seat sales and promotions. If you leave your booking too late or try to book on a popular holiday time, you can be paying double.
You will land in Tagbilaran City which is the capital of the Province of Bohol. The City has a population of about 110,000 people. Alona beach is about a half-hour drive from the airport. The best way to get there is pre-arranging an airport transfer through your hotel. Conventional taxis are rare in Tagbilaran City, although, you can call one at “Varescon Transport Services” (+63(38)4122548).
If you have booked a popular hotel, they will most likely have a transfer awaiting for you as you access the airport. Just make sure you have confirmed this when you book the hotel or resort.
Tricyles
Tagbilaran Airport is quite unusual in that you never see a taxi waiting, but you do see dozens of eager tricycles. Tricycles are the conventional means of transport on Bohol. The tricycle would be a tight squeeze for two large people plus luggage, it may be a better choice to hire two tricycles.
The other popular way to get to Bohol is from Cebu City by Ferry. You can also catch ferry from other nearby islands but Cebu is by far the most popular. The biggest ferry operators are Ocean Jet, Weesam Express and Supercat, with about 20 daily trips from Cebu. Prices are typically 500 pesos per person one way or you can upgrade to first class for about double the fare. The ferry terminal in Tagbilaran City is quite modern and similar to the airport, it is easy to get a tricycle to take you to your destination.
What to Do at Alone Beach
The main activities are swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. There’s not a lot else to do at Alona Beach which is one of the great things about this place. You can find a genuinely relaxing tropical ambience, whilst still having access to all the modern conveniences.
Scuba diving
Alona Beach itself is adorned with dozens of SCUBA operators, there are plenty of PADI dive shops and it’s really easy to book into a refresher course or full certification. You will find that operators are very competitive and the cheap prices reflect this. The most popular dive tours are 3 dives in one day at Balicasag Island, a popular island about half an hour boat ride away. “House Reef” is an interesting dive, it is a wall dive only a couple of hundred meters offshore from the main dive shop strip on Alona Beach. This is where you will paddle out to for most training dives.
From Ronil #bohol: #Great #snorkeling #adventure at #balicasag #island with Yvonne, Mandy and all the #family.
Don’t #miss our Balicasag Island #Tour => https://t.co/DBCZ2nKynW… https://t.co/tNG9zFpsmh
— Scotty’s JPN.Staff (@ScottysCebu) May 1, 2018
It is Balicasag Island that people come here for, a location on the bucket list of many experienced SCUBA divers. Here you see many large turtles and amazing variety of small colourful sea critters. There are some longer trips available if you get tired of diving Balicasag Island, but do yourself a favour and see Balicasag first.
No dive gear? No problem, it is normal to hire the full set of dive gear at the shop, and they are still quite easy to purchase locally if you prefer.
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is not as popular as SCUBA diving, however dive operators are usually happy to let snorkelers join onto their daily dive expeditions for a low price. We paid 500 pesos per person for a day trip for snorkelling including hire equipment.
Plan B is to hire your own personal boat for a family or group of friends, the intersection where the main road hits Alona Beach normally as a few operators selling this type of trip, where you should be able to negotiate a boat for 1,500 to 2,000 pesos. You would be expected to tip the boat crew at the end of the day also.
Dining
Alona beach has plenty of dining options day and night. At night the white sandy beach turns into a huge dining room and all the restaurants put their tables out on the beach. This option as it offers a lovely relaxing atmosphere and you will often get serenaded by some talented local musicians.
There are plenty of options along the beach for restaurants and bars with new ones popping up all the time so get adventurous. Hot tip is there are lots of fairly new restaurants opening up on the back street, behind Alona Kew beach resort.
Hotels at Alona Beach
I have stayed at Alona Beach many times and here are my two favourite hotels.
Henann Resort
Henann Resort has some of the best swimming pools you will find anywhere, an intricate system of pools on three different levels. It even has a great infinity pool on the beach. The hotel can be rather expensive but do offer promotional offers from time to time so it would be a good idea to plan early and look out for their promo’s.
Excellent wi-fi and dining options abound throughout the resort. The dining can be quite expensive at Henann, however it easy to access other beach dining for a quarter the price of Henann.
Lost Horizon Resort
Lost Horizon Resort is very well priced and in a perfect location. It is a no-frills resort which is targeted at scuba divers, but still very comfortable. A warning about the wi-fi, it is available but can be very difficult to use.
But the pool is small but good, the food is excellent, and it’s right on a terrific quieter section of the beach. The good thing about Lost Horizon is they have a wide range of room options from huge family rooms to smaller luxury rooms.
You can find an options for all size travelling crew on all budgets. They also run a popular dive resort so it is really easy to SCUBA to your heart’s content. There are also some big dive shops nearby so you can easily shop around for the best deal.
Lost Horizon also have a relaxing dinner and band option right on the beach at night, usually every night of the week.
Borocay or Panglao?
If you want paragliding, banana boats, jet skis, and a plethora of high-end activities then Borocay is the place for you. Foreign tourists flock to Boracay in their thousands so it does get very crowded. For a relaxing beachside escape, lovely dining on a beautiful beach without too much hustle and bustle then Alona Beach is for you. If you want easy access to a capital city with great shopping and restaurants then Alona Beach is for you.
Named after a #Philippines #movie #starlet, #AlonaBeach in #PanglaoIsland #Philippines retains a natural beauty that makes it an appealing alternative to #Boracay https://t.co/cqqSWWEObB pic.twitter.com/mIdlsE0RTL
— Out&About in SEasia (@goseasia) April 24, 2018
If you want some of the best SCUBA in the world then Alona Beach is for you. For snorkelling you could go either way. As and added bonus when staying at Alona Beach, you can easily find a day-trip around the larger island of Bohol. There you can see some the popular tourist attractions like Chocolate Hills, Tarsier Sanctuary, Adventure Parks and Loboc River.
Alona Beach
You can literally get leave Manila at 9am and be at your Alona Beach Hotel at 11am same day. That makes Alona Beach super convenient! World class beaches, classy and affordable beach resorts, excellent SCUBA diving a snorkeling and excellent beach dining. Alona Beach also boasts shopping malls half hour away, and access to world-class tourist attractions.
Alona Beach is a great option for a romantic, party or family adventure. Do yourself a favour and go to this great location before the international airport starts to bring the big crowds.
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