Hi everyone! Welcome to this article about the best places to visit on Bantayan Island, which I made with too much time, effort, and passion. Places to visit on Bantayan island!
If this is your first time reading about one of my trips, let me tell you I am Pablo Manfredi, a young man who lives in Uruguay and I have a Filipina wife.
To date, I went to The Philippines 3 times already:
First time – To meet and marry my online girlfriend
Second time – Because she missed her family. Places to visit on the island of Bantayan
Third Time – We went back with my parents and travel with them to the best places to visit on Bantayan Island.
Let me recommend to you the travel insurance we used on all of our trips. Click the banner below to check the website.
Here, I will show you a short video with some of the Best Places To Visit On Bantayan Island:
Firstly, Where is Bantayan Island?
This stunning island, “The Boracay of Cebu”, is located in the Visayan Sea, northwest of Cebu Island.
Bantayan Island is well known for its white-sand beaches and its seafood such as lambay (a type of crab) and dangit (dried fish).
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How To Go To Bantayan Island? Places to visit Bantayan Island
In the first place, I recommend you to go to Cebu City.
Here, I will share some airlines you can use to go to The Philippines if you are in a near country or to travel to Cebu if you are not there yet.
I used to choose Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air. If I need to pick one, in my opinion, Cebupac is better because it is cheaper and the flight attendants are used to making some quiz games to entertain the customers.
Once in the City, you need to go to the Cebu North Bus Terminal, located in Subangdaku, Mandaue City. At the terminal, just need to take a Bus to Hagnaya Port.
Private Van vs Bus: Places to visit in Bantayan island
Also, you can go in a private Van to Hagnaya Terminal Ferry but will cost like 10 times higher than the Bus. The aircon bus ticket cost us 235 PHP each, and we paid it on the Bus.
After about 4 hours of the bus ride, it will be time to stand in line, pay the ferry ticket (185 PHP, at that moment), and the terminal fee (around 10 PHP).
Once on the Ferry… getting to Bantayan takes approximately 1 hour.
On Bantayan Island, I recommend you to stay in the Santa Fe zone, near MJ Square and Kota Beach so your trip will be more enjoyable.
Now, The 10 Best Places to Visit In Bantayan Island:
1- Sandira Beach is a great place to visit in Bantayan Island. Places to visit on Bantayan Island
I choose this beach to be at the top of the best places to visit on Bantayan Island.
I went to the “New Boracay” already and I was amazed by the clear and turquoise water of White Beach. But, If I need to tell you the truth, I prefer this beach.
Surely, Bantayan Island can be called The Boracay Of Cebu and there will be not so crowded compared with Boracay’s White Beach. Places to visit in Bantayan island
While I was On the tricycle going to this place, I thought about why Sandira beach would be called Paradise beach, but once there, my doubts were cleared. You can see the answer to that in the pics below.
2- Kota Beach. Places to visit on Bantayan Island
We noticed more waves on this beach compared to Paradise Beach. I think the other one is more “instagrammable”, but this one is amazing too.
This place is located in Sta. Fe Zone is so near to Mj Square, another of the best places to visit in Cebu, full of souvenir stores, some bars, and restaurants.
I don’t remember well how much we paid the entrance fee to Kota Beach, but the ticket wasn’t expensive, around 50 PHP (1 dollar).
3- OBOOB MANGROVE GARDEN / ECO – PARK
This eco-park was the first place we went, and I really felt like a boy scout there. If you are one of the people who love nature, this place is perfect for you.
The Entrance Fee: places to visit on the island of Bantayan
- Adult- 50 PHP
- Children- 20 PHP
- Kayaking- 150 PHP
- Boating- 350 PHP
After entering the park and walking less than 100 meters, there is a souvenir shop, where you can buy food and drinks. The park has places to rest and even feed fish.
As you walk through this place, you will find many plants, trees, and a lot of fish in the water, because many tourists feed them. Places to visit in the island of Bantayan.
Feeding the fish was fun and helped us rest our feet. Each sachet with food for the fishes cost us only 5 PHP.
4 – Bantayan Cliff Jumping Spot
I don’t wanna die here so I didn’t jump hehe. I don’t like heights, but I love to seat at the window on a plane…that’s a bit strange.
Visiting this place was the third thing I did on my first day on Bantayan Island. I thought it would be full of tourists because it was February and it was a beautiful day, but no … together with my family we were alone in the place.
There is no entrance fee to visit this place
5- Ogtong Cave
Definitely, this cave is one of the best places to visit on Bantayan Island, even though it’s not a big cave.
Ogtong cave is located inside the Ogtong Cave Resort, in Santa Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines.
The resort is an amazing resort, with a stunning view of the beach and very good accommodations and the food of the Ogtong Cave Resort restaurant is delicious.
The entrance fee is 200 PHP (4 dollars). Once you pay the entrance fee, the resort allows you to use the pool, enter the cave, and enjoy the stunning beach.
The two things I remember most about the cave is that the water is very cold and full of rocks. If you are not careful you can hurt your feet.
6- Octong Cave Resort
The resort is situated on natural limestone rocks. Its sea view villas and cottages are located around a big and beautiful garden, so near to a stunning beach. Places to visit in bantayan island
If you stay in a private room, you have the right to use the private pool (pic down below).
One of the things that strike me most about spending the night at this resort, is that there were many hermit crabs out for a walk and I had to be very careful not to step on them.
If you do not know what a hermit crab is, then you can see it walking in the next video I recorded.
The public pool of the resort is good too. But, I spent more time swimming at the beach than in the pools. I love to swim in the ocean!
7- MJ Square. Places to visit in bantayan island
This place is definitely one of the best places to visit on Bantayan Island. It is the most popular place to eat and buy souvenirs on the island.
Located in Santa Fe, this MJ Square is near a lot of resorts and souvenir shops, near Kota Beach, and some massage houses, like Nuat Thai. Places to visit in Bantayan island
To go there, if you are close you can walk or else you can go on a tricycle.
8- Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church
I’m not a big fan of churches really, but this one really impressed me and I would visit again.
This church, reminded me of my trip to Rome, Italy, when I went to the Vatican museum with my family, in which there is a beautiful gallery where the entire ceiling is a great work of art.
Bantayan Island is the first parish to be established in Cebu. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1580, on June 11.
The ceiling of this church has been painted with Biblical images as part of the Dibuho Kisame project by the parish.
9- Butterfly Garden. Places to go on Bantayan Island
This butterfly garden is located a few meters (less than 100m) from MJ Square.
It is the third butterfly garden I went to and the one I liked the most despite being the smallest!
There are 352 butterfly species in The Philippines, although here, that have only 20 different types of butterflies.
Butterfly Fun facts:
- Butterfly Predators: Preying Mantis, Lizards, Wasps, Spiders, Birds Ants, Dragonflies, and Beetles (Yep…Paul McCartney is a Butterflies Serial Killer…hahaha, Joke LOL )
- Do you want to know something incredible about butterflies?… butterflies fly between 6 and 50 km/h
- Butterflies don´t bite or sting
- Mature butterflies can lay up to 500 eggs at one time…OMG…that’s too many eggs.
- Butterfly antennas are used to smell, listen, and keep their balance.
- The fastest recorder butterfly wing beats have been measured at up to 5000 beats per minute.
10 – Walk all over the beach of Santa Fe
In my opinion, the best activity to do in the morning is to walk on the beach. At low tide, you can see many starfish and fish swimming on the shore, in addition to the fishermen who return from fishing and you can buy fish to eat.
Well… we hope you enjoyed reading this article about the 10 Best Places To Visit On Bantayan Island.
If you want to read more about the Philippines, I recommend our articles about:
The Best Places To Visit in Cebu
…or if you want to know about the food of the country, please enjoy reading about Filipino Cuisine in:
Filipino cuisine – 20 Filipino foods you must try
Salamat! (Thank you in Filipino)
See you soon! Places to visit in the island of Bantayan