Bantayan Island, Cebu

After our 3 day - Seminar in Cebu, we headed straight to Bantayan Island.

From Cebu, we took a cab to the North Cebu Bus Terminal which is near SM Cebu but is not walking distance. We rode a Ceres Bus going to Hagnaya Port. We arrived pretty early and luckily, got the newest, airconditioned bus and the best seats.Travel time is around 3 hours.

Upon arrival at Hagnaya Port, we purchased tickets for the ferry going to Sta. Fe. This is what the ferry looks like.

I was very excited because it was my first time to ride a ferry. There was an airconditioned room and a non-airconed part of the ferry. We initially paid for the airconed room but chose to sit outside instead. The view of the sea and islands did not fail us. We enjoyed the view for around an hour and arrived at Sta. Fe.

Bantayan is a beautiful island with very nice and warm locals, some resorts, a few tourists (at that time), and foreigners who seemed to have settled down in this island. It is surrounded by several other islands of which I never knew what they were called.

Bantayan Island is composed of 3 towns/municipalities which are Sta. Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos. We stayed in a resort in Sta. Fe. Sadly I don't have pictures of the resort itself, but it's alright because I wouldn't recommend it anyway. However, it's nice to share that the owners, a Filipina and a Finish couple, were very, very nice to us. We had a nice stay nevertheless.

It is notable that the people we have met were generally very nice. Bantayan seemed like a very safe town. during our stay, we have befriended a pedicab driver who served as our tourguide/driver all throughout our stay. He was very pleasant.

The pictures above are the 2 mode of transportation in Bantayan Island. Unless you brought your car through the ferry ;P. The white one is called the trisikad and the picture below it is  the pedicab driver I was telling you about. His name is Junie.

We stayed in Bantayan Island for Three days. We went Island Hopping on the 2nd day. We went snorkeling, which was not that amazing, even though it was first time. The corals weren't that colorful but it was a nice experience. My sister said the corals in Boracay looks so much better. I will find out in January if it is indeed true.

The best part about our stay was our visit to the virgin island.

Here's more pictures, and tell me if the island is not beautiful.

Don't go home without visiting the church inside the town of Bantayan :)