shanghaiexpat
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Update on Alona beach. I went to Bohol in the beginning of May and did some great dives. I think Clgsamson has done an excellent job describing the dive sites so I'll just include a few other tips. Thanks again to him and all the others for the suggestions!
LODGING
I stayed at Philippine Island Divers resort/Bohol Divers Lodge (it seems to go by both names). Villa was $55 per nite and the room was okay, but not worth the price compared to Thailand or Indonesian standards (but we found and heard that all the hotels in Philippines are more expensive in general). The pool was great and we used it alot as there isn't too much to do on Alona beach once you've finished your dives for the day. Beware though, I got attacked by some kind of bug at night and had about 50 tiny bites on my arm. Thankfully, they changed the room right away with no problems!
We heard the Isis rooms next door to our hotel were newer and nicer, but they don't have a pool. Aslo, you can get a massage on the beach out front of the resort.
DIVING
We were planning on diving with Phil Divers as well, but we rented some fins and masks for snorkeling and we went through 3 masks and a couple of pairs of fins until we found some that weren't broken. Additionally, their price was more expensive when you added in the equipment rental, even with the package. Also, they had 20 divers going out on each boat as they had a big group they were catering to.
We dove with Alona Divers, about a 3 minute walk down the beach, before you reach Alona Beach resort. They had a great dive master, Zadi. Very knowledgable and friendly. We dove with this Korean guy who has been to Bohol 30 times. Guess he visits every month for a week for the past several years. Nice life! The Korean guy also said Zadi was one of the best on the island. I think it was $20 per dive including all equipment.
FOOD
We found the food was terrible at the Philippine Island Divers resort! They used frozen veggies in the curry. We ate there when we first arrived and never again after that. We ended up eating at Trudy's or the place next door (both beach front stand-alone restaurants). They were cheaper than the resort restaurants, too. The place that i can't remember the name had this amazing deep fried shrimp roll with cheese! It was great when you come back from diving starving.
However, the best restaurant by far was an Italian place, off of the beach. Cant remember the name now  You have to walk up the road, away from the beach, just before you hit the first Alona Beach resort. They have a sign out and the place was always busy with foreigners. It has excellent, large portions of pasta, seafood, and wines. In a 6 day trip, I went there 4 times!
Bee Farm, a resort way off the beach, also had some great food and really nice looking rooms. The muffins were fantastic and the organic salads and fish were really nice. They also have a dinner buffet with some funky ice cream. We went there two times, but it was really a pain to get back and forth. One night after dinner we had to call a cab from Tagbilaran city to come pick us up and another time their staff gave us a ride on their motorcycles. Both times it cost about 150-200 pesos when the distance was only worth 50! Bee Farm did have a driver, but he never seemed to be around, however, it was holiday time when we visited.
TOURS
We found a great local guy named Rod to take us around. He's getting a graduate degree in law and he also owns this transportation company. He was able to answer all my simple and sometimes strange questions about Philippines and Bohol and didn't force us to go anywhere we didn't want. We booked him through a company for 1500pesos (I think) and he took us around for about 6 or 7 hours. He gave me his card and said people can contact him directly. His info is www.boholtours.tk, rodboholtours@yahoo.com, cell 0918-591-4969. Perfect English and very laid back manner. Highly recommended!!
Overall, it was a relaxing mellow trip and the people were the friendliest I've ever met while on holiday. No one following you around and hasseling you to buy stuff!
LODGING
I stayed at Philippine Island Divers resort/Bohol Divers Lodge (it seems to go by both names). Villa was $55 per nite and the room was okay, but not worth the price compared to Thailand or Indonesian standards (but we found and heard that all the hotels in Philippines are more expensive in general). The pool was great and we used it alot as there isn't too much to do on Alona beach once you've finished your dives for the day. Beware though, I got attacked by some kind of bug at night and had about 50 tiny bites on my arm. Thankfully, they changed the room right away with no problems!
We heard the Isis rooms next door to our hotel were newer and nicer, but they don't have a pool. Aslo, you can get a massage on the beach out front of the resort.
DIVING
We were planning on diving with Phil Divers as well, but we rented some fins and masks for snorkeling and we went through 3 masks and a couple of pairs of fins until we found some that weren't broken. Additionally, their price was more expensive when you added in the equipment rental, even with the package. Also, they had 20 divers going out on each boat as they had a big group they were catering to.
We dove with Alona Divers, about a 3 minute walk down the beach, before you reach Alona Beach resort. They had a great dive master, Zadi. Very knowledgable and friendly. We dove with this Korean guy who has been to Bohol 30 times. Guess he visits every month for a week for the past several years. Nice life! The Korean guy also said Zadi was one of the best on the island. I think it was $20 per dive including all equipment.
FOOD
We found the food was terrible at the Philippine Island Divers resort! They used frozen veggies in the curry. We ate there when we first arrived and never again after that. We ended up eating at Trudy's or the place next door (both beach front stand-alone restaurants). They were cheaper than the resort restaurants, too. The place that i can't remember the name had this amazing deep fried shrimp roll with cheese! It was great when you come back from diving starving.
However, the best restaurant by far was an Italian place, off of the beach. Cant remember the name now  You have to walk up the road, away from the beach, just before you hit the first Alona Beach resort. They have a sign out and the place was always busy with foreigners. It has excellent, large portions of pasta, seafood, and wines. In a 6 day trip, I went there 4 times!
Bee Farm, a resort way off the beach, also had some great food and really nice looking rooms. The muffins were fantastic and the organic salads and fish were really nice. They also have a dinner buffet with some funky ice cream. We went there two times, but it was really a pain to get back and forth. One night after dinner we had to call a cab from Tagbilaran city to come pick us up and another time their staff gave us a ride on their motorcycles. Both times it cost about 150-200 pesos when the distance was only worth 50! Bee Farm did have a driver, but he never seemed to be around, however, it was holiday time when we visited.
TOURS
We found a great local guy named Rod to take us around. He's getting a graduate degree in law and he also owns this transportation company. He was able to answer all my simple and sometimes strange questions about Philippines and Bohol and didn't force us to go anywhere we didn't want. We booked him through a company for 1500pesos (I think) and he took us around for about 6 or 7 hours. He gave me his card and said people can contact him directly. His info is www.boholtours.tk, rodboholtours@yahoo.com, cell 0918-591-4969. Perfect English and very laid back manner. Highly recommended!!
Overall, it was a relaxing mellow trip and the people were the friendliest I've ever met while on holiday. No one following you around and hasseling you to buy stuff!
