We rented a car delivered to our hotel in Panglao for 2 days so that we can do our own DIY Bohol countryside tour. At P1500 per day and comfortable for up to 4 pax, I was glad that we had this option for a free and easy road trip to Panglao and Tagbilaran, which is around 1 hour away. I have broken this post down into 2 parts - this first one for our morning Panglao spots including a breakfast spot that we went to twice for this trip! Part 2 is for the Tagbilaran day trip.
We were looking for a breakfast place that was open early and served Filipino breakfast and rice for me 😅 Good thing we found Kamaya restaurant!
Their chicken longganisa was actually good for the two of us already haha.
Jeff had the salmon bagel with hummus (which had a great mix of spices).
I think the cafe was well designed, used good quality ingredients for the food and a great hang out place. There’s a hotel next to it, which had a similar design. I wished we could have stayed longer but we had lots of things on the itinerary haha.
Our next destination was Hinagdanan cave, which was only a 30 minute drive away. We parked in a lot beside the pasalubong (giftshops) area, which was by donation parking fee (~P20). You have to walk across to pay the entrance fee for the cave.
We chose to swim for a bit so that’s P125 per person and no backing out LOL.
I read that this natural limestone cave was found in a private property and was named like that literally because the owner needed to build a ladder to access the lagoon.
You have to go down this narrow entrance.
It was easy, you just need to hold the rails and go slow.
There’s a paved pathway all the way so I think it is elder and kid friendly. The formations in the walkway and the ones reachable by hand looked a little eroded, probably due to the influx of tourists.
This is the picture taking spot. Some would have guides with them, probably part of the Bohol countryside tour offered. The tours all looked the same so I figured we can do this on our own time and pace.
This part is the swimming area and jump diving area (although plenty of sharp rocks). The cave had bats inside and a little smell but it was beautiful and the water was clear.
There was somebody (lifeguard?) asking for ticket proof and free lifevests are available for those swimming.
Another recommendation is to ask that Kuya to take your picture like this! Haha. I don’t know what he did but the photos looked professional. My tip is to wear aqua shoes or sandals here because I walked barefoot to the pool and everything I stepped on was razor sharp up to the water! Jeff and I couldn’t reach the bottom while swimming so the vest was a good idea.
The cave doesn’t have a shower area so good thing we brought beach towels in the car. I felt like I needed to shower because the faint smell in the cave must be from the bats. They were selling cheap shirts at P99 just outside. I read that this area is the cheapest place to buy souvenirs! I also found Star Peanuts! It’s like a peanut butter egg white cookie 😋
It’s my childhood favorite and I’ve only seen them being sold here (cheaper at P250) and at the airport! The Peanut Fingers is made by the same company - same taste but just a little harder.
We went to Moadto Strip Mall next to get some of my Chocolate Chamber goodies as pasalubong and have hot chocolate after our cave swimming hehe. Check out my previous post on that! They had free parking at the Modala Hotel side. Jeff found a Hermit Beach near it so we drove to a gated compound. The guard let us in and we walked past a construction site for a new resort (probably) to get to this secluded beach!
We were the only ones there, aside from a small group of locals and a person meditating in a distance. I think this is a great photo spot..
We had time for a shower and change of clothes back to the hotel before our Tagbilaran day trip adventure hehe. I don’t think our itinerary will be this carefree with a lot of shopping stops 🥰
