Alona Beach
Located in the beautiful island of Bohol, Panglao is widely recognized for its variety of beaches and dive sites. It is frequented by many tourists to have an exciting adventure or simply some time off for peaceful relaxation. Listed below are some of its numerous beaches and dive sites that make it one of the best destinations for vacations.
Beaches
Alona Beach, located at Brgy. Tawala, is around 20 kilometers from Tagbilaran City and can be reached in 30-40 minutes. It is the most developed beach in Bohol and is now one of the top tourist destinations in the country. The beach is famous for its coral white sand that stretches to approximately one and a half kilometers with rocky cliffs at both ends. Lined along the beach area are blue and white outrigger boats for island tours and diving activities. During the day, enjoy the beach’s azure waters sparkling under the sun. At night, bask under the star-studded night sky and witness sparkling lights out on the dark sea as the fishing boats “come out to play.”
- Bagobo Beach
Bagobo Beach is located at Barangay Libaong. The beach is gaining recognition for its fine white sand, crystal clear waters and its beautiful underwater paradise. Not far from the beach is a famous diving spot, Arco Point, where a cave abounds with cardinal fish, sergeant major fish, white-eyed eels, raggy scorpion fish, black-finned snake eels, and many groupers, wrasse, angel, frog and butterfly fish. Bagobo Beach visitors can find excellent services and accommodations in Bagobo Beach Resort and in Amarela Resort.
- Bolod Beach
Bolod Beach is at the southern part of Panglao Island at Brgy. Bolod, about two and a half kilometers east of Alona Beach. The beach is a one-and-a-half-kilometer stretch of white sand, making it the largest shoreline in that side of the island. About 10 minutes from the beach is the famous BBC dive site, where a cave, formed like a chimney, teems with different colored sponges, gorgonians and fish such as barracudas, tuna and mackerel. A common destination for locals is the public beach area where the local government has put up huts and other facilities with affordable rental fees. For privacy, full amenities and excellent services, Bohol Beach Club, Dumaluan Beach Resort and Blue Sky Sea Resort can offer accommodations.
- Danao Beach
Danao Beach is located at Barangay Danao. Its nearest neighbor is Alona Beach and, likewise, Danao Beach boasts of fine white sand, cool azure waters, teeming aquatic life and is also home to some famous dive spots. Resorts offering comfortable quarters, excellent services and amenities are Bohol Sea Resort, Kalipayan Beach Resort, Bita-ug Beach Resort and Alumbung Resort.
- Doljo Beach
Doljo Beach is at Brgy. Doljo. It lies on the northwest tip of Panglao Island, and is only a 20-minute ride from Tagbilaran City. The beach is wide with white sand that stretches far out and the sea bed sloped gently towards the deep. Doljo Beach is noted for its exquisite seashells, the sea bed free of sea grasses, and beautiful dive spots: Doljo House Reef and Doljo Point. At the center of the beach is a new resort, the Ananyana Beach Resort, which offers cottages with complete facilities and set among flowering gardens. Other resorts are the Muro-Ami Seaside and Palm Island Resort.
- Momo Beach
Momo Beach is located in Brgy. Tangnan. Like the other beaches of Panglao Island, it is likewise blessed with white sand and crystal blue waters. A wonderful wall and slope diving site can be found near the beach with a depth of 40m where nudibranches, leaf fishes, red-eyed goby, harlequin file fish, pajama cardinal fish and many kinds of juvenile wrasse are sighted.
Dive Sites
- Napaling – Tagnan, Panglao Island
Location: 45 minutes to 1 hour by banca from Alona Beach
Average depth: 15m
Maximum depth: 30m
Napaling boasts of a beautiful coral garden ideal for underwater photographers and snorkelers. Wonderful overhangs and some caves abound with soldierfish, squirrelfish, moray eels, scorpion fish, and table corals. White tip reef sharks are also spotted here.
- Doljo Point – Doljo, Panglao Island
Location: 35 to 50 minutes by banca from Alona Beach.
Average depth: 20m
Maximum depth: 35m
Doljo Point boasts of a wall covered with sponges, colorful corals, soft corals, and large sea fans. Large pelagic fishes such as surgeon fish, jacks, and bat fish can be seen along with squid and the occasional white tip reef shark and hammerhead shark.
- Doljo House Reef – Doljo, Panglao Island
Location: 35 minutes by native outrigger boat from Along Beach
Depth ranges from 3 to 25 meters
This site consists of a wall dive which is beautiful with many kinds of hard corals and sandy spots. Many cardinal fish of different kinds, crabs, and shrimps, gobies can be seen here aside from nudibranches, harlequin ghost pipefish and clown frog fish.
- Pungtud Wall – Doljo, Panglao Island
Location: 35 minutes by banca from Alona Beach
Average depth: 10m
Maximum depth: 20m
Pungtud Wall is a beautiful coral garden, great for snorkeling as well as for diving. There are good soft, leathery and stony corals with lots of small fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and sea stars, angelfish, putterfish, butterfly fish, wrasse, and anemones with anemone fish. Fishes such as anthias, raggy scorpion fish, ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita), one-striped fusiliers (Pterocaesio tessellata) can also be seen here.
- Kalipayan – Danao, Panglao Island
Location: 6 minutes by banca from Alona Beach
Average depth: 10m
Maximum depth: 20m
Kalipayan is the house reef of Alona Beach and is also known as the “Happy Wall”. Conditions here are normally calm without currents and a visibility of up to 25m. The wall starts at about 3m, and drops down to about 20m, and has soft and colorful coral heads, sea fans, small groupers and juvenile barracudas.
- Garden Eels – Danao, Panglao Island
Location: 3 minutes by outrigger boat
Most interesting depth: 8-12m
At the beginning of the dive is a beautiful bow-shaped cliff with nudibranches. A beautiful coral garden is on the top of the wall with lots of small fishes like Red-Amethyst-Purple Fin Anthias. At the bottom of the slope are splendid sand eels (Heteroconger preclara) and spotted garden eels (Heteroconger hassi).
- Habagat Wreck Dive Site
Location: 9 minutes by pump boat or outrigger boat from Belleview Rock Resort
Depth: ranges from 8-34m
Seen above the wreck are tall fin batfish (Platax Teira) and under the wreck the big lion fish (Pterois volitans), giant gngelfish (Catenaries commersonii), different kinds of cardinal fish (Apogonidae), angelfish, and the harlequin ghost pipefish (Solenostomus Paradaxus).
- Crystal Sanctuary – Danao, Panglao Island
Location: 1 minute by banca from Alona Beach
Depth ranges from 3-25m
The Crystal Sanctuary is the closest dive site to Alona Beach. The dive spot is picturesque with beautiful hard and soft corals, schools of jacks, bat fish, big-eyed trevally, lone barracudas, big mouth mackerel, fusilier, surgeon fish, snappers and damsels. There are also lots of gobbies, nudibranches, coral pipefish, and mantis shrimp. The area has sanctuary restriction.
- Arco Point – Libaong, Panglao Island
Location: 12 minutes by banca from Alona Beach
Average depth: 10m
Maximum depth: 25m
Located near the exclusive Bohol Beach Club, Arco Point is also known as the “Hole in the Wall.” Along the short wall, small groupers, trigger fish, wrasse, butterfly fish, sea snakes and moray eels can be seen. The cave teems with cardinal fish and sergeant major fish (Abudefduf vaigiensis) waiting to be fed. Inside the cave on the east are white-eyed moray eels (Siderea thyrsoidea), and black-finned snake eels (Ophichthus melanochir).
- Cervera Shoal or Snake Island – Libaong, Panglao Island
Location: 50 minutes by banca from Alona Beach.
Average depth: 15m
Maximum depth: over 60m
Cervera Shoal, also known as “Snake island” or “Spaghetti Shoal" because of the large number of black-and-white-banded sea snakes that can be seen here. There are many black/white-banded sea snakes (Luticauda colubrina), white-eyed Moray eels(Siderea thyrsoidea), starry moray eel (Echidna Nebolosa), nudibranches, and the small reef fish.
- Momo Beach Dive Site – Tangnan, Panglao Island
Location: 40 minutes by motorized banca
Most interesting depth at 3 to 4 meters
This site is good for macro diving and macro photography at the shallow depth. Divers will be rewarded with sightings of pajama cardinal fish, nudibranches, leaf fishes, red-eyed goby, many kinds of juvenile wrasse, harlequin filefish and the red spot cardinal fish.
- Balicasag Island Dive Sites
Balicasag Island is located southwest of Panglao Island and can be reached in 30 minutes by boat from Alona Beach on Panglao Island. It is a small island belonging to the municipality of Panglao, and is home to a small community, two light-houses and one resort. The island’s 25 hectares can be easily covered in 30-45 minutes by foot.
Balicasag Island is known to have some of the best dive sites in the Philippines. Diver’s Heaven features an aquarium with a grand array of fish and marine life. Another site is the Turtle Point, named for the numerous turtles inhabiting the caves 60 to 70 meters down. On the southwest side is the Cathedral Wall, which is a section of a wall that has many recesses where divers can explore. Royal Garden is at the northern side of the island, covered with thick coral, forming a kaleidoscope of multi-colored reefs full of an assortment of tropical fish. One of the most famous dive sites around Balicasag Island is Black Forest which is named for the forest of black corals which are rarely seen at a shallow 90-foot depth.
How to get there
Panglao Island is located at the southwest tip of Bohol and is accessible through Tagbilaran City, Bohol's capital. Trips to Bohol are available daily, and the capital city can be reached either by commercial flights or by boat.