If you only allotted a day for an island tour in Bohol, I hope you choose Pamilacan Island. On this sunny day in February, dolphins, turtles, lots of fish and multi-colored corals welcomed us. Good thing I chanced upon Abraham Resort in Panglao and they were the starting point of the Klook one. I booked directly on the Abraham website via credit card and got 20% off (vs the Klook price) for this dolphin and turtle watching tour ;)
Before the trip, their staff already sent us a message via Whatsapp to get our names, ages and nationality for the coast guard records. They also gave us an approximate timeline (~6am to 2pm) and answered my questions. Because this was a joiner tour, we had to arrange a tricycle from our hotel to their resort. The meetup time was 6:15am at the Abrahams Hotel reception area in Panglao. Some joiners are actually their hotel guests. The waiting area had drinks for us and ample seating. We headed out at exactly 6:30am via the multi-cab to the jump off point.
It was just a short ride (and dusty so make sure to bring a mask or cover) - around 10 minutes to Danao Beach.
A short walk follows
and since it was low tide, we need to get to the small boat that will take us to the big boat.
It’s a good thing we wore aqua shoes, hats and rashguards already since there were numerous sea urchins and rocks in the path.
Small children may have to be carried as well with this setup.
Shorts were also a good idea because I walked knee deep water already for my height haha.
Meanwhile, Jeff was in charge of our aqua bag (change of clothes), towels, sunscreen, snacks and money.
We finally make it to the boat by 7am.
The big boat had a nice shaded area for around 20 people. The staff were immediately on the lookout for dolphins while we dozed off for around 30 minutes.
Many thanks to Abraham Bohol staff Alaisa for accompanying us. We were surprised that we were the only locals in this trip and most of the tour joiners were Europeans. We wondered where the locals from Manila and nearby provinces were booking their tours from haha.
The captain pointed at a distance and for the untrained eyes like mine, I could only see the vast blue sea in front of me. Then I spotted them - 2 fins from a distance and they disappeared and appeared in another area so fast. After they were gone and I was convinced that the dolphin watching part was done, the Kuyas started talking and told us that those were probably the older ones.
The more playful ones they said were smaller and younger and come in groups.
They turned off the engines and they were right in front of us, as many as 10 or more. All of the people in the boat were just in chaos haha. I was too stunned and just wanted to observe from a distance.
I was also torn between taking photos, taking videos and just admiring what was in front of me. So I did it all. I did not capture a photo or video of one so close, it jumped and I saw its grey body and pink belly! Do check out my Instagram for the other dolphins jumping video!
These were not the dolphins I knew about. Alaisa said there were 3 types of dolphins around here and these Risso’s dolphins (grampus griseus) were quite a rare sight around here. They looked like small whales to me with geometric patterns. I read that the pink belly means they have excess heat in their bodies.. and apparently the pattern—like scratches on their backs are rake marks or battle scars 😱 They are also called Michael Jackson dolphins because they are born black and die white.
And so we let them be in their own element and just bring home this unexplainable joy and memories. This is me after that natural high so early in the morning (8am) haha.
We arrived in Pamilacan Island around 45 minutes later. Life jackets were distributed for our next activity.
There was no shade and we had to walk to the cottage after docking.
There’s the boat so we walked twice this distance!
We arrived at Shirley’s Cottage to drop our stuff and for a quick bathroom break. They had a basic toilet with no flush. The boat actually has the same one too. I quickly put on some leggings for leg protection against sea creature bites. They handed out snorkeling masks here too as part of the tour.
We found Kuya Ricky waiting for us! One small traditional paddle boat with a local guide for 2 people in the group and this was included in the tour. Please feel free to give a tip if you enjoyed it.
We passed by people snorkeling and orange dive markers indicating people scuba diving underwater in these parts. Kuya was good at multi-tasking - paddling then jumping in the water with us to find turtles while swimming and holding the boat! We just followed him and held on to the boat and we found a turtle up close going up for air! He then brought us to a coral sanctuary and we saw many different kinds of fish (even a blowfish I think!). I saw purple, blue, green and yellow corals..
After that exciting 1 hour snorkeling exercise which seemed to fly by so fast, Alaisa handed us fresh coconut juice to rehydrate!
Lunch was also ready at 11am - rice, ginataang kalabasa, seaweed salad, pansit and swordfish.
There was also banana-Q for dessert.
Jeff liked the swordfish - which had teal blue bones!
After lunch, the group went around the island and walked for a bit. We just relaxed and stayed talking to a couple from Qatar who were enjoying their ice cold San Miguel beers 😅 I think the group was gone for 45 minutes? We had to leave by 12:30pm.
The boat ride back was around almost 2 hours due to a little boat trouble. Some of the foreigners just sunbathed the whole time while we were keeping ourselves covered from the UV rays 😆
I’ve had enough sun and fish for now haha. This experience was like a nice water splash and a big Welcome Back to the Philippines for me - a reminder to explore my country again equally with the rest of the world 😂 We did feel like a VIP and very included since we could understand and communicate with the boatmen and staff well.
Abraham Resort Pamilacan Island Tour with Dolphin and Turtle Watching in Bohol!
