Bohol is an amazing destination for bikers. Panglao Island, in particular, the main tourist area on the island province, offers a great place for leisurely bike rides. Aside from all the water-based activities like island-hopping, snorkeling, scuba diving and dolphin watching, bikers can easily enjoy exploring the land-based attractions on two wheels. There’s no better way to appreciate the charm of island living than by hopping on a bike to bask on the white sand beaches and pass through small towns.
It was during a work trip in 2017, while staying in Amorita Resort, a secluded luxury resort on the southern edge of Bohol’s Panglao Island, when I had the chance to do a bike loop of the beautiful Panglao Island.
In most media trips, our itinerary is usually pre-arranged and jam-packed, and after covering a launch event the previous day, we had a lunch and hotel visits scheduled later that day. I was very thankful that we had one free morning to do as we please. While other people in our media group decided to sleep in or hit the pool that morning, I decided to borrow a mountain bike to do a loop of the entire Panglao Island.
While checking in at the hotel, I noticed that Amorita Resort offered complimentary use of their bicycles to all checked-in guests who wanted to bike around Bohol. They had a few vintage-looking Japanese bikes parked right outside the boutique hotel for those who just wanted to go around the resort as well as some sturdier mountain bikes more suitable for longer rides.
The well-paved circumferential road and laid-back scenery of Panglao Island makes it perfect for half-day biking tours. You get the satisfaction of riding next to coastal roads with beautiful scenery and can stop at tourist spots along the way, including churches, beach resorts, restaurants, waterfalls, caves and more. I envy the residents of Bohol for their natural surroundings, as this is the type of rewarding scenery that bikers who live in congested cities sorely crave.
I left Amorita Resort around 8:30 am, passing through the Panglao Circumferential Road and headed to my first stop: White Beach. While Alona Beach is the best known in Bohol, you can find pockets of quiet beachfronts on other spots around the island.
Along the inner road leading to the beach was Amarela Resort, a secluded tropical resort that makes use of antique furniture, Philippine art pieces, and woodwork so guests can enjoy a piece of local culture during their stay.
The White Beach was much serene than Alona, with fishing boats just lining the shore and hammocks under the trees. Nothing spells tropical paradise more than a white sand beach, bright blue sky and coconut trees. Views like this are best savored slowly.
From the White beach, I backtracked to the main road and made my way to Bohol Bee Farm Resort, a privately owned resort and hotel that’s well known for their restaurant and their organic farm.
This cozy and relaxing spot is a great spot to enjoy delicious meals that make use of organically-grown vegetables and to buy unique Boholano food products. While I’ve tried the food and delicious ice creams in cassava cones in the Buzzz Cafe along Alona Beach, I wanted to check out the actual farm.
Specialties here include pesto spread, mango spread, squash muffins, vegetable lasagna and specially-brewed coffee from roasted corn and wild berries. Guests can also stay overnight at the rustic farm.
The secluded resort is about 800 meters off the main road from the main highway of Panglao Island. You have to go a bit out of your way to find it, which makes it a great destination for DIY bike rides because you get that sense of discovery.
Bohol Bee Farm contains a bakery, a shop, and a cozy cafe on the premises. For those planning to do pasalubong shopping, Bohol Bee Farm sells arts and crafts and delicious spreads like mango spread, pesto spread and the like.
They hold Bee Farm Tours every 30 minutes for guests who have made prea-arrangements. I enjoyed looking around the grounds and got rates for their Bed & Breakfast. At the time of my visit, they were offering a lean season package rate of Php 2,500 per person (inclusive of breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1 hour massage; min. of 2 persons per room) which I thought was a pretty good deal.
Biking in Bohol is best enjoyed slowly. There are plenty of different places you can check out, but unfortunately, I couldn’t really linger the whole day.
The next point of interest were the bridges. Panglao Island is connected to the larger Bohol by two main bridges, with Borja Bridge in Junction Mansasa and Castil linking Poblacion Ubos to Totolan Dauis.
Borja Bridge offers scenic views from both sides and is a favorite sunset watching spot among locals. It was refreshing to just sit along the bridge and enjoy the breeze overlooking Tagbilaran bay.
Right after crossing the bridge, I entered Tagbilaran City, the main city center where a lot of fast food joints and business establishments are located. Turning left on the Tagbilaran East Road, I doubled back to cross the other bridge back to Panglao Island, passing the National Museum Bohol Branch.
The shorter Suarez Bridge has a length of 0.04 kilometres and also offers nice views, but felt more crowded with vehicles, so I couldn’t really stop and take photos much.
By the time I got to the second bridge, it was already 10:00 am, so I decided to just rush through the rest of the route and not stop for photo ops if I wanted to make it back to the resort for our lunch appointment.
It was pleasant biking through the remaining towns, and I stopped just for a couple of photos of a nice church and when entering Danao and made it back at the resort 11:30 am, just in time to change and get ready to meet the rest of the group.
Based on Googlemaps, the route I took was over 43 kilometers which took me about 3 hours of biking at a leisurely pace, with all the photos stops. Of course, there’s a lot more spots especially in the coastal areas that you can check out if you have time.
There’s no better way to end a great bike ride than with some great local food. For lunch, we had a great boodle fight of beach favorites like pancit, inihaw na manok, grilled shrimp and fried fish at Momo Beach Resort.
One of the most interesting dishes we got to try here was Tinolang Saang, a Boholano specialty that makes use of spider conch shells cooked in a ginger-based soup.
The morning may have been just simple bike ride around the island. There was nothing too technical about it. I didn’t break any Strava records or anything, but there’s really something about going on solo rides that sparks that sense of adventure. Looping the island felt ultimately rewarding. I’m really grateful that I decided not to sleep in that morning and borrow a bike to go on a solo ride instead.
Epilogue
Flash forward to 2020. The pandemic happened. We’ve been stuck for months in Metro Manila. Bohol is now one of the few destinations in the country that has reopened its doors to leisure tourists. I just recently came back from my first post-pandemic trip and experienced what it’s like traveling during the new normal. That most recent trip brought back a flood of fond memories from all my previous trips to Bohol over the years, including my first time there with my family, to attend events, personal backpacking trips, and this DIY biking experience squeezed in during a work trip, which for some reason, I never even wrote about.
Right now, under the new guidelines for the “new normal,” DIY travel is not allowed. Tourists can only use accredited transportation to get around the island and avail of the services of local tour guides. I saw groups of local bikers going around for exercise, and enjoying the view from the jetty port, and I envied them for living in such a beautiful island with traffic-free paved roads and coastal views.
While I’m saddened about how travel has changed in such a short time, I understand that movements have to be restricted for everyone’s health and safety. But I’m still hopeful for the future. Before the pandemic, Bohol was one of the most bike-friendly tourist destinations, and hopefully, when the situation normalizes and it’s safe for tourists to mingle with locals and go around on their own again, bike rentals will resume for DIY exploration.
While we may not be able to travel freely just yet, there are lots of local destinations finding ways to welcome tourists safely. Since international travel will be more difficult in the future and there’s been a boom in biking, I hope that tourists will find even more reasons to revisit their favorite domestic destinations like Bohol.
Are tourists allowed to bike around during the pandemic? Or restricted talaga sya?
As of my visit in December 2020, tourists were not allowed to rent bikes or bike around the island on their own DIY style yet. They have to remain within a bubble with hotel and accredited DOT transport for safety of locals. I’m not sure if restrictions have been eased again.