An early morning boat ride to Pamilacan

On a warm holiday between Christmas and New Year, I, my dad, bros, uncle, and our best friend visited the island of "Pamilacan", a barangay of Baclayon town, where one of the very old churches in the Philippines is located. The trip was held a day before our hiking trip though the man-made forest. We left around 7 in the morning from the docking port of Loboc River Resort on a "bangka" boat towards Pamilacan. It's a soothing feeling to be cruising towards the mouth of the river while the sun was still rising (see video below!). The calmness of the river, the slow breeze, the sound of our motorboat, the river shore outlined by palm huts woke me up to a start of a relaxing journey.

We encountered a few fishermen doing early fishing.

It took 1.5 hours by boat to Pamilacan island, a small island of almost equal size as Balicasag, a more popular island for tourists. Below are beautiful shots of Bohol's main island, Pamilacan, and the surrounding sea.

Locals making a living by sending guests to snorkeling spots.

With less crowd than Balicasag, Pamilacan's locals are more hospitable and are less competitive when it comes to selling their produce or services. We rented a table and were served with their fresh
fish catch. And the portions are HUGE. It was actually worth the price. We also went snorkeling. To reach the fish sanctuary or the corral reefs, we had to pay 100.00 pesos for a short bangka ride.

Our food being prepared.

The fish sanctuary was very well protected. To be able to swim there, we were all required to wear life jackets. It was mainly to protect the corrals from being stepped on or hit by our fins. There was a school of jackfish and a tourist actually claimed seeing a shark from a distance.

After snorkeling, we had our fill of more food and the restaurant provided us with self-serviced instant coffee/tea. It was a warm day perfect for some aerial shots. We also practiced setting up our hammocks. A local visitor was kind enough to teach us how to tie the supports of our hammock properly.

There is also a fort near the coastline which is now unaccessible to the public since inside it houses solar panels, the only source of electricity for the island.

Aerial photo of Pamilacan island.

The fort's terrace. Too bad it's no longer accessible to the public.

Above: photos of me and my best friend's younger brother trying to enter the fort.
Below: my twin brother and younger brother doing some yoga poses.

 

Below are a few photos showing how serene and beautiful the island is.

After brunch, we decided to head back to Loboc. It took us 2 hours on the boat-ride way back. After lunch, the waves are actually much higher although not as turbulent. This forced our boat driver/pilot to slow down. The pilot was my uncle "Caloy". The waves splashed and got us all wet. I even lost a souvenir cap from Australia which my mom gave me that morning. The trip back can be quite scary for some people but for us it was an adventure, a simulation of a stormy day in the sea. Upon reaching the mouth of Loboc river at Loay, the waters were calm once again as we reached back to the resort.

There are various ways to access the island by boat. The common ones are through the port of Baclayon and through resorts from Panglao island. The one we took was through Loboc river. Below is a time lapse of the boat ride from Loboc River Resort: