Hey Hivers!
Last December 12, 2021, I went to Bantayan Island and stayed for 3 days and 2 nights. Bantayan Island is located in the northern part of Cebu, Philippines. The size of the island is not that big, you can explore the whole island less than half day but if you wanted to stay longer to each tourist spots of the island for sure one day is not enough.
From SM City Cebu, you may take a bus with a signboard Hagnaya. By the time I went there, I paid Php255.00 for my fare in an airconditioned bus.
Once you arrived in Hagnaya Port, you may secure first your ticket going to the island. The ticketing booth is located beside the Coast Guard Office.
The fare is Php190.00. You will also pay Php10.00 for the terminal fee. Once you already have your ticket and you have finished paying your terminal fee, you will be asked to write your full name and address to the Passenger's Manifest.
Once you already have completed these requirements, you are ready to aboard the ship. Here's the daily sailing schedules of Island Shipping Corporation from Hagnaya Port to Sta. Fe Port and vice versa.
As you will arrive to the Sta. Fe Port, you will be greeted with the white sand beach of Sta. Fe. Have you seen it?
I arrived in Batiancilla's apartment (my temporary home in Bantayan) around 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon. I arrived very late because there was a miscommunication happened between me and my Landlord due to poor cellular signal.
Since I arrived late in the afternoon and the weather that time was not really good, I decided to start exploring the island on the next day.
I woke up early on the next day and asked my Landlord if he could take me to Sta. Fe Bantayan (a town in Bantayan island that is well-known to beautiful white sand beaches). Fortunately, he was not busy that time and he conveyed me to Sta. Fe.
As I arrived, the first spot that caught my attention was the Japan-Japan. The people of Bantayan called this spot Japan-Japan because of the Japanese lanterns design. One of the locals told me that it is much nicer if I would visit the place at night time because of the aesthetic lightings. But since I visited the spot at day time the vibe is not that festive. After having fun at the Japan-Japan, I went to some beautiful white sand beach resorts in Sta. Fe (i will be posted it separately).
This is another well-known tourist spot in Bantayan. This is very close to the Ruins. It is actually meters away from the Ruins.
As I came closer to the diving cliff, I was in awe as I saw the crystal clear water. According to the tricycle driver, Sam Milby and Bella Padilla (the well-known celebrities in the Philippines) jumped in this area. I am not sure if it was part of the scenes in Camp Sawi movie because I haven't seen that movie yet.
The water was so calm. There were group of people swimming.
That time, I enjoyed sight-seeing and taking photos. The scenery was truly beautiful.
This is the stairs going to the sea water. You can't see shoreline in this area when it is high tide.
Honestly, I wanted to stay longer but since my time was just limited, I left the diving cliff with a heavy heart and told myself that one day I will come back here.
The Ruins in Bantayan Island is an abandoned and uncompleted structure meant as a fort during the Spanish period. The strong structure was left bared which many tourists find as a perfect setting for a selfie or an instagrammable pose. The Ruins in Bantayan.
I am not really sure what is the real story of this Ruins because the tricycle driver can't tell me the history of it when I asked him.
There was also another side of the story that I've read in the internet.
German Ruin is one of the well-known tourist spots in Bantayan Island. It's history goes back to the late 90's where man built his house but left his property after few years because of the unknown issues. Another story of the Ruins in Bantayan Island.
Whatever the real story is, I can say that the place is a perfect spot to watch the spectacular view of the diving cliff.
Bantayan Island is also known of its delicious salty rabbit fish or we called it "buwad na danggit".
After I visited the Bantayan Church, I headed to Bantayan Public Market and I bought 100 grams of salty rabbit fish.
As I arrived in my apartment, I asked my Landlord if they could cook the salty fish for me. Luckily, he said yes.
I also asked him if I could request a sauce with calamansi and tomatoe. I was so grateful when his helper served this to me.
Have you tried to eat a fried salty rabbit fish with this kind of sauce? If you haven't tried it yet, just try it when you visit Philippines.
I still have many stories that I wanted to tell you during my visit in Bantayan Island but since this is already too long, I will continue my story on my next blog. I will show you another beautiful tourist spots in Bantayan Island so stay tuned!
Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!
Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Discord: kellyane#0924
Namaste! I am fond of reading books, watching korean, american and filipino series/movies and I am also fond of gardening. I love listening to different life stories and I am always captivated with the beauty of nature so travel is my escape when life turns into blue. But hey, how could I forget my photography hobby? It is one of the best, so follow me as I will be featuring my experiences of the stuff that I am passionate with.