Virgin Island, Visayas, Philippines

3Pam F 5:00 PM Jan 25, 2020

Bohol Sea Tour
We went in a sea tour group tour. We were told to meet at a location at 0600 but was not picked up until close to 6:20. When we got to Alona beach there were hundreds of tourist waiting for the tour to start. We went looking for dolphins but with the weather being a bit cloudy we were told that it would be hard to find one. Fair enough...not really their fault. We got to Balicasag Island to start out snorkelling tour but again was struck by how unorganized it was. Boat offloading to another small boat. We had 16 people with one tour guide in our group which was alot but would be fine if they were organized. The tour guide left with 7 people and we were told that he already spoke to someone about getting us another guide and a small boat. We preordered a meal for when we got back. Lots of meal choice at a suitable price. We waited close to 20 minutes just watching as they load and offload people on the little boat. Finally it was our turn, they fit 5 adults and 1 child. I remember saying out-loud “is this safe?” The guy just ignored me and said “This boat was the available now” They took us by the drop off which was a cool site. We didn’t see any turtle but I was just happy to be in the water. The guide started paddling across the black water and we were told to swim after the boat. I didn’t really see the point of moving away from a great spot but I think it’s to make room for another boat. After snorkelling for 40 minutes, we got back in the boat and back to the island. Our meal that we preordered was waiting for us when we got back to our table. It was BBQ meats which was delicious. After our meal, the guide told us to get back to the boat which we gladly followed but of course when we got there they realized we were missing a family of 3. The guide looked for almost 40 minutes for this family. Our main tour guide didn’t even bother coming with us to Virgin Island probably to avoid confrontation from the other angry passengers. We got to Virgin Island close to noon so the sand bar was slowly depleting. We were told to stay there for 30 minutes only. We then made our way back to Alona Beach. Would i recommend this tour? probably not unless it was a private tour. They need to be more organize. If you have 16 people a boat have 2 guide and 2 small boats available designated for the group. People invest on coming to the Philippines to enjoy the island and not be sucked into a tourist trap.

3Marco 5:00 PM Mar 9, 2020

nice
after my balicasag trip we stop here i was expecting a lot to see but i only see those vendors on the sand bar. . .. will it life they have to live also. . i hope they clean the place and doesn't leave any single pieces of garbage . .love the nature!!