Bantayan Island

Bantayan Island is known for its pristine white beach but the very reason we badly want to be here is because we want to celebrate Mary’s 25th birthday on high, literally! Meaning, checking off SKYDIVING from our bucket list. Yay! Skydiving is one of the main attraction this island offers aside from its numerous beaches and resorts. Unfortunately we were just able to allot one day in this beautiful island so we didn’t really enjoy as much as Bantayan Island can offer. More reasons to go back though! Since our skydiving does not start until 10am and they would’t fetch us until 9am, we just have a 2-hr window time to visit places as much as we could. We managed to just visit the ruins and Ogtong cave pool before we head back to the hotel.

 

The Ruins

Perfect for cliff jump but it was low tide at that time so we didn’t have the chance to do it. No entrance fee.

 

Ogtong Cave Pool

Ogtong Cave pool is actually hidden inside Sante Fe Beach Club. The cave pool is perfect for just dipping because it’s too small to take a swim. Entrance fee is 100php and will also entitle you to access the resort’s pool.

 

SKYDIVING

Bantayan Island is home to Skydive Greater Cebu, one of the few skydiving establishments in the Philippines. They offer tandem skydiving if you want to experience the thrill for the first time. It costs 18,000php but since we have planned it since last year, we were able to catch their early pre-registration promo for just 12,000php. It’s really costly but we wouldn’t trade it to anything else especially doing it on Mary’s 25th year on earth and the experience is SOOOO WORTH IT, we had the skydiving hangover for the rest of the day. Haha.

 

Checkout our videos:

 

 

How to get there:

  1. Via bus- cheapest way to go is taking the bus in North Bus Station in Cebu City. It takes 4 hours from the city to Hagnaya Port where you need to take a ferry going to Bantayan Island. We got here past 1pm but the last bus has already left, bummer for us.
  2. Via car- we were left with no choice but to hire a private car which is way more expensive. (880php via grab vs. 165php via bus for each person)

 

Where to Stay:

We stayed at Adelaida Pensionne Hotel in an AC room good for 3 for only 1,400php. Nice spacious accommodation with free wifi. They even gave us free service going to and fro Poblacion proper where we had our late dinner. Contact the owner Ms Amelita at 09328585870.

Essential Tips:

  1. Spare at least 2 days to enjoy as much as this island can offer and so you wouldn’t have to rush every time.
  2. Go skydiving! You should try it even once in your life!
  3. Allot ample time so you are not rushing.

 

Sample itinerary and expenses:

Expenses Shared cost Per pax
Grab from North Bus Terminal to Hagnaya Port (3hrs)  2635 880
Travel from Hagnaya Port to Bantayan Island (1.5hrs) 300
porter 50
Dinner at Coucou 830 277
Overnight at Adelaida Pensionne Hotel 1400 470
Tric from Adelaida Hotel to the ruins and Ogtong cave 100 33
Ogtong cave fee 100
SKYDIVE (originally cost 18,000php) 12,000
Airport Fee 30
Lunch at the port 75
Ferry from Bantayan to Hagnaya port (1.5hrs) 170
Terminal fee 10
Total cost   14,395