Cebu and Bohol
REVIEW OF DIVING BOHOL
I've been living and diving in Panglao Island, Bohol for six years and here is some general information.
Bohol is a nice mix topside activities, nightlife, and good diving. For diving, a 30 min boat ride from Panglao Island gets you to Balicasag Island has the most marine life in the area to see. It's quite common to see hawksbill and green sea turtles in the <15m depth range at dive sites Black Forest and Diver's Heaven. There's also a local large school of jack fish that patrol around these areas. Additionally it's quite common to find frogfish, scorpionfish, leaf scorpionfish, various nudibranchs, and the occasional whale shark. Corals are fairly lush too throughout the dive sites around Balicasag. Other dive sites but more around Panglao Island which are good are Buoyancy Garden (sandy bottom, small creatures), Bohol Diver's Wreck (small recent wreck), Sand Eel (small animals in sandy bottom, seahorses, etc), and Snake Island (lots of banded sea snakes).
Overall, dive conditions are good visibility (20m+), mild-moderate current (some in Balicasag, most at Snake Island), 28C water temperature. Most dive sites are 1-10 minutes via local banca boat. I usually dive with a 3mm shorty.
Alona Beach on Panglao Island, Bohol is the main tourist area in Bohol. It is where most the dive operators operate and where most the nightlife is. Nicest bar to hangout at on the beach is Coco Vida. Best nightlife (dance, lounge) is away from the beach at Pinarella Bay. Early night it's a nice lounge atmosphere that turns more to dancing as the night goes on. By far, this place plays the best music around -- owner is a DJ from Italy with an eclectic taste of music that's different than the typical "Top 40" commonly found.
Most topside activities are in the main island of Bohol. This includes the famous Chocolate Hills tour, seeing tarsiers (small primate), waterfalls, visiting old Spanish churches, etc. You can typically hire a driver to give you a tour but I would recommend if you're comfortable driving a motorbike (100cc) to rent one for 400-500 pesos/day and visit these destinations yourself. It's much more fun and you can go at your own pace. Also, I would recommend seeing the tarsiers at the tarsier sanctuary instead of around the Loboc river. The sanctuary keeps the tarsiers in their native trees whereas the others keep tarsiers in cages.
