Paradise be like : Bantayan's magical appeal

WHERE IS IT:

Bantayan is at the northwest of Cebu. Since I am geographically challenged I have enclosed herewith a map

taken from the internet

HOW TO GET THERE:

a. Go to North Bus Terminal near SM Cebu Buses leave every hour. Take the ones going to Hagnaya We paid 170 php each for air conditioned bus.Be ready for two to three hours journey

b. Pay terminal fee of ten php at the Hagmaya Wharf. There are two ferry boat companies going to Santa Fe. We paid 150 pesos per pax for the one hour boat ride.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE:

Bantayan Island is pretty much like Boracay Island before it was highly commercialized. The difference is in the sand- the latter ones are finer.With its pristine blue water , white sand and its serene environment its no wonder why its a famous getaway for local and foreign tourist alike avoiding the noisy city life. The people are friendly and we get to walk around the island without any danger to our life or limbs.

The resort where we stayed was very clean and accessible and the crew were very accommodating. So as you can guess these coupled with friends who are unpretentious , natural comedienne, gifted singers , funny and beautifully confident in their own skin wearing nothing but sexy two piece bikini surely fun is an understatement to describe the experienceSo without further ado let me tell you in pictures why this vacation deserves a space in my blog. Owww before I forget allow me to mention that we had sumptous meals too even if this trip was a low budget one. We were even lucky to go back to Cebu in an aircon van just for the four of us. Yahoo!

WHAT IS IT LIKE NOW:

Typhoon Haiyan or Typhoon Yolanda as its called in Philippines wreck havoc in its soil to .It causes a large dent to its tourism industry. Toursim being their major industry. Anika's owner, Nelson Yuvallos said that the island welcomes normally around 4000 or 10,000 at peak seasons tourist in a month.Of the 32 hotels in the island , Anika is the only one left standing. Hotel owners are planning to rebuild by December

It also causes severe damage in its poultry industry estimated around 180 million pesos by expert . Bantayan as you know produces around 1. 5 million eggs a day supplying generally to Cebu and other provinces according to The Bulletin Today.This earning the charming island the title egg basket of Visayas.

Like Tacloban it needs our assistance . Bantayan mayor Cris Escario said that 90 percent of houses left standing are roofless.

INTERESTING FACTS:
Wikepedia says its around 1,030 /km2 (2,670 /sq mi) in territory and total population of 136,960 Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) being the major uncultivated plant while cassava, banana, sugarcane, corn and mango for those cultivated agricultural produce.According to the source, wolf snake can be found there too
its the only place in the country that pope allows meat for Holy week by special episcopal decree
it has five centuries old church the oldest in the Visayas and Mindanao life sized hand painted by Spanish artisan statues are family heirlooms here. Once a a year they get to be seen by public in a brightly illuminated procession we call " carrozas' favorite pasalubongs are dried fish "bulad" and dried squid "nukus"

Photo credits to my friend nikka

Ogtong cave is located inside Sante Fe Beach Club which is privately run. Its one of three caves in the island.
name comes from " bantayan ng hari " which refers to the watchtowers Spaniards built against Moro invaders
one can go to here to by other point of origins like via Estancia , Iloilo or Sagay Negros Occidental of which I am not conversant. One can also take a banca from Malapascua its made up of 3 municipalities:Santa fe, Bantayan ( proper) and Madridejos