Why I keep coming back to Bantayan Island

In 2009, I decided  to go back to the first island I fell in love with.  And this time with a different travel buddy, my best friend in college, Patti who dwell in Cebu for work.  

It was August when we came back.  It was still the same feeling seeing Bantayan Island for the second time.  We stayed in Budyong, traversed the Sugar Beach, ate freshly catch seafoods bought from locals and went back to Sta Fe Beach Club and the Ogtong Cave. 

I came back last summer of 2014 to Bantayan Island, revisiting the place some months after Yolanda devastated the island.  And this time around, I traveled with a group.  There were eight of us who went there after our convention in Cebu City.  That Friday night, we went to San Remigio and stayed to our colleague’s house.  In the morning, we went to Hagnaya Port to bring us to Sta Fe port.  We stayed at the side of the ferry and enjoyed the view and breathe of fresh air going to Bantayan Island.

Upon seeing Bantayan Island again, I felt I was home.  It saddened me though, that the coconut trees were cut into halves.  Other trees were disheveled too.  I could still see the effect of Super Typhoon Yolanda within the vicinity of Sta Fe as some houses had broken down.

We went to the town proper of Sta Fe and ate a sumptuous lunch in a restaurant called Coucou Bar Bantayan Island Hotel and Restaurant.  There were new restaurants in the area. Restaurants before were located in the resort and there were only some carinderias around.  We checked in at the Sta Fe Beach Resort near Sta Fe port.  We booked two cottages without aircon, and we split into two.  The cottage and the veranda was big enough for us.  Our cottage was near the beach, while the other one was at the back. 

After settling our bags and changing to our swim wears, we headed to the beach front and started enjoying beach.

We took pictures while waiting for the boat that would take us to Virgin Island.  We walked thru the fine sands of Alice Beach towards the boat. 

Virgin Island was a secluded area and you need to pay an entrance fee for the day tour.  

We took pictures and enjoyed swimming in the beach. 

We waited until the sun sets from the horizon.  

It was already low tide when we got back to our resort.  We took a bath and ate at the Island Daddy Dok’s restaurant where we get a grilled pork, fish soup and shrimps.  We also took some time in the grocery to buy our drink for the night, ice and some snack foods to munch during our drinking session.  As we get back to our hotel we drank and shared stories about lives.  When we finished drinking, only half of the group decided to take a night swim.  We actually didn’t swim but, enjoyed the cold beach water.   

We transferred at the beach front where there were other customer who were also enjoying the night.  We were the ones left until past midnight.  We already finished our drinks and we headed to the waters where we stayed there for another hour.

The following day, we were already up when the sun rose.  Because we where in the east side of the island the view of sun rise was fantastic.  After taking pictures of the sunrise, I toured the group in Sugar Beach.  

This side was the best hit area during the super typhoon.  Some of the resorts where recovering but there were also resorts that were really devastated.  We walked from Sugar Beach until we reached the area where we could also see the port.  We went back to Sta Fe Beach Resort where we enjoyed our breakfast before we went back to San Remigio.

The next time I visit Bantayan Island, I need to go to the Bantayan town proper and Madridejos.  These two municipalities that I haven’t explored yet.