Bantayan the Philippines
A paradise island! Just relaxation on white soft sanded beaches. We rented a small beach cabin right on the beach by Amihan Beach Cabenas. They have a bar och restaurant open for breakfast and lunch. It’s very close to the village center for dinner. We ended up eating dinner mostly at Cafe del Mare. They had fantastic Pizza! We loved staying at the Amihan. Beautiful bambu design. Just 6 cabins. In our opinion the best place on Bantayan. Kota Beach also looked nice. A bit more upscale. To get to Bantayan island from Cebu island you need to take a ferry from Hagnaya Port to Santa Fe Port in Bantayan Island. It takes about 1.5-2 hours. From Cebu airport to Hagnaya Port it takes 3-4 hours by bus or taxi. We found that travelling in the Philippines many times took longer than we thought it would.
Lunch time at Amihan.
Souvenir shopping on the way to Sandira Beach on the other side of the island. Many beautiful items made of seashells and banana leaves. The best way we found to get around the island was by tricycle.
Treasure hunting on the beach! Our favorite thing to do. A slight obsession. Philippine laws protect some types of shells so we were not allowed to bring them all home.
Kota Beach sandbar, a short walk on the beach from Amihan.
One day we took a boat tour to Virgin Island. We did some snorkeling on the way outside of Hilantagaan Island. It’s not so much snorkeling and diving on Bantayan. Mostly sunbathing and relaxation. Some kite surfing. Virgin Island is beautiful, but a bit too exploited and crowded to our taste. We took a walk to the other side of the island and found an empty paradise beach. We stayed there for the rest of the day.
Smoothie bowl at Everyday Sunday Café in Santa Fe. A short walk from Amihan. They have a great little shop there too.
At the supermarket. So many different kinds of rice.
We had a wonderful and relaxing stay on Bantayan Island. We packed our bags and continued our Philippine travel to Siargao Island!
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