Visiting Panglao will likely be for snorkelling and beach adventures. The sand is white, the sea life is incredible. It’s definitely a place to head if snorkelling or diving with kids is on your Philippines agenda. Here’s your full guide to one of the best places for snorkelling with kids in the Philippines.
Getting to Panglao
Firstly, getting to Pangalo is not completely straightforward. We opted to fly into Cebu and then get the ferry to Bohol and then a taxi. Visiting Philippines with kids requires some planning, and it’s worth noting that the Cebu ferry terminal is 25 minutes’ drive from the airport and goes through quite a few poor areas of Cebu. Getting to the dock requires you to pay a harbour fee ($1) and then check in for your ferry. We would recommend booking the ferry in advance. To Bohol it takes 2 hours and cost us around £60 as a family of four. The ferries are a decent size and when we sailed in mid-December we were welcomed onboard with the crew singing Christmas carols. There is a small refreshments trolley that comes around and sells crisps and drinks, but nothing more substantial so pick up food beforehand if it’s meal time!
There is also an airport on Panglao which would be another alternative way to arrive on the island but you’ll likely have to transit through Manila, which is all honesty is not for the faint hearted. We did that on the way out and had to transfer to another terminal, collect our bags between flights and there were zero restaurants on the gate side! Just make sure you don’t have a tight connection if you do this.
On arrival in Bohol, you will be ambushed by so many taxi drivers bidding for your business. We were heading to Panglao first of all, which was a 45-minute drive from the main ferry terminal Tagalung and cost us approximately £16 for a private mini-bus. Visiting Philippines with kids means finding reliable transportation options.
Things to do when visiting Panglao
Panglao is the beachy spot for travellers to here and neighbouring Bohol. There are numerous hotels and guest houses here to choose from. We stayed just outside the main town of Alona to be able to enjoy Alona beach. Our hotel, Bamboo Oasis, was lovely, with a pool, 1 bedroom, sofa bed and a small kitchenette.
Getting around Panglao
We also hired mopeds for our time here and riding round on them was easy as the roads weren’t busy. The bikes cost us £8 per day per bike so much more expensive than we had experienced in Bali or Vietnam. If you don’t want to ride bikes there are plenty of tuk tuks around – albeit they are more rustic and older than other areas of S.E.Asia.
Alona beach does offer the white sand picture postcard vibes you see of the Philippines. We were there on shoulder season so also enjoyed some absolute downpours with the weather. There is snorkelling available off the beach but for the best snorkelling of Bohol, then head to Balicasag island on a trip.
Visiting Balicasag Island
We spoke to a tour scout on the beach and for a private boat for the 4 of us, to include dolphin spotting and then snorkelling at Balicasag island it cost us £60, including snorkel gear. We left around 7am, and were back around noon.
The dolphin spotting was excellent and there is zero contact with the dolphins which are wild, BUT there are quite a few boats out in the same area ‘chasing’ the dolphins from a distance. I’m not sure how busy it would be in high season. We saw a few different dolphin pods after 40 minutes on the boat, and then headed to Balicasag itself.
Balicasag island has no hotels, but offers diving and snorkelling. It is also the spot to see sea turtles if you are lucky – and we were. We saw two coming from the depths, swimming on the edge of ‘the drop’. We had read a few reports of the turtles being chased by groups of tourists but we didn’t see that and they were very much left alone to enjoy their swim as we looked on from the distance.
The snorkelling otherwise was also good with a lot of fish to see and enjoy and the coral was very much alive. The island is obviously trying to find the balance between tourism and conservation and the fuel-powered boats aren’t allowed over the coral. Instead a small boat with a man and oar will take you out. He is also your tour guide for the snorkelling bit – this was all included in price for the tour we had paid as was the environment ticket.
Panglao does offer more than just beaches too. We took the bikes out for a self-guided tour and headed to a few different spots.
Other things to do when visiting Panglao
The shell museum is worth a visit and will entertain everyone for 30 minutes easily. It’s around £3 per adult to enter with the kids being free and you’ll like drive past it if using the island ring road.
There is also a great cave for swimming in. The water here is very fresh but the experience of swimming in a cave is fun for everyone. It cost just a few £s each but it is very dark inside so younger children may not enjoy it as much. There are some areas you can jump off into the water if you wish.
We also headed to some of the northern beaches on the island but there’s weren’t really for swimming or sunbathing, but they provided some good nature watching, and a good walk, and there was a hotel we enjoyed drinks and snacks at, and the kids had a play. It was a good refreshment stop if it’s ‘that’ time! There was also some epic fish feeding to be done at the hotel there.
Heading to neighbouring Bohol from Panglao is around a £20 and hour taxi journey from Alona. We chose to stay in a hotel on Bohol itself rather than squeezing everything into a day trip from Alona and our hotel was one of the highlights.
Panglao is a great island to visit with kids and it’s proximity to neighbouring Bohol gives you a real mix of adventuring experiences in a small area.
Read more about Bohol here – it’s a great place to visit in combo with Panglao.
