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While at the last Scuba Show in Southern California, we were pleased to see the Philippines Department of Tourism had quite a large booth occupied by native dancers, Department of Tourism staffers, and owners of many Philippines dive resorts.

I noticed one dive resort photo book and start flipping through the pages. It was the most impressive, fanciest, most upscale dive resort I have ever seen. Next I was introduced to Richard and Phoebe Lim, owners of Eskaya Resort and Spa on Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines.

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Now I had heard plenty about the great diving to be had on Panglao Island, and the unusual nature based activities to be had on the main Island of Bohol that Panglao is almost attached to, so we made arrangements with the Lims for us to come out and review Bohol, Panglao Island and to sample the Eskaya experience.

Bohol is a very large island, situated just east of the more well known Island of Cebu. Although one can fly into Manila, then take a flight from their to Bohol, we elected to fly into the International airport on Mactan island in Cebu.

Mactan Cebu airport is set right in the middle of a smaller island next to Cebu island proper, and adjoins via a large motor vehicle bridge. It is a breeze getting through Cebu Mactan airport, but one of the more unusual things we encountered was a request for a really large money deposit with Customs for our HD video production equipment. I had never encountered this flying into Manila. I did speak with the Customs supervisor, and they said their concern was people flying in with expensive equipment, and selling it without paying import duties. I found it odd they didn’t care about our $15,000 worth of dive gear. I did recall the fees were in the $300-$400 range, but they did say they can accept a credit card as a deposit, which is refunded upon departure.

After they asked who we were, they elected to waive the hefty deposit requirement. Do contact Customs in advance and see what the formalities are, but I suspect they are infrequently enforced unless they know you have expensive electronics, but you don’t want to be the one traveler caught by surprise. My concern is these fees may be an impediment to dive tourism, especially those of us with expensive imaging equipment, whose images and HD videos ultimately promote tourism to the Philippines.

But all in all, the extra 15 minutes dealing with that issue STILL resulted in less time getting out of the airport than crowds at Los Angeles International.

Once out of Cebu airport, taxis are waiting close at hand. Now a word about taxis in many countries. Whatever you do, agree in advance with the taxi driver before you get in that he has a meter, and will be using the meter. Some will say yes to both, then proceed to not turn on the meter. Do not fall for it. Another stunt they pull is if they begrudgingly agree to use the meter, some will try to charge you extra for your baggage, but they will not pull this stunt on you till you arrive at your final destination. My favorite lame excuse they offer up is that my bags are heavy, to which I reply, If you carried them all on your back, it would make a difference, but cars have wheels that roll”.

So start off by asking if they have a meter, and if they say yes, then let them know if they are honest with the meter, you will reward them with a bigger tip for their honesty, and follow through with it. It costs about 200-250 pesos to get from the Cebu Mactan airport to Cebu City. That is only about $4-$6 USD! And remember, this is easy for Westerners to pay, so give a good reward tip for their honesty, these guys are just trying to feed their families, and we can afford to tip well.

You can elect to be taken straight to the ferry terminal. All the taxi drivers know where it is. You can either let Eskaya do all the planning for you, or you can wing it like I do. I figure if we can figure out how to get somewhere new, ANYONE can get there!

Getting around in the Philippines is normally easier for me to figure out than doing so in the U.S.!

As you can see below, the air conditioned ferry terminals are large and uncrowded, and most are playing older but well know American movies on the flat panel TV's.

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Which ferry terminal you go to depends on which ferry you take to get to Bohol, which somewhat depends on what time of the day it is. The terminals are never really crowded, and everyone who works there speaks English, as English is mandatory in all Philippines schools. The Country speaks English better than most inhabitants of Los Angeles!

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The above ferry terminal is the one in Tagbilaran, Bohol, and as you can see, they all have food courts, and some even have massage concessionaires where often times blind people are employed. Give it a go, it might be 1/10th the cost of what it would be in the U.S.! It is even worth arriving too early!

The 3 main ferries are the Oceanjet, the Weesam and the Supercat. I have found the Oceanjet and especially the Supercat to be the newest and cleanest. Their schedules are available online by clicking on the respective names.

The Supercat has a “business class” section which is on the upper floor of their speedy boat, which we elected to try. The seats on the bottom or top deck were similar-all nice. When you get in, take your seat near the flat panel TV screens they always have some American major movie theater shows on. Now I never ever get motion sick, but I have to admit I was forced to watch the remake of Charlies Angels, and it was as close to being nauseous as I have ever been, even the locals were laughing at how bad it was, and considering how much they like American movies, that says a lot!

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All 3 main ferries charge about 750 pesos per person to take you from Cebu to Tagbilaran in Bohol. I think weighing bags is rather silly, as airplanes consume more fuel when heavier, but ships don’t really. Anyway, baggage fees can be in the 200 pesos per bag range when loaded with heavy dive gear. Our video production gear bags and my rebreather bag are always about 75 lbs each, times 4. But 750 pesos is about $16, so don’t sweat it!

All fast ferries have snacks and drinks on board as well as restrooms. I think the Supercats business class is nice while traveling during the day as you can look out at the beautiful seas.

Arrival is at the ferry terminal in Tagbilaran. Hang out on the dock next to the boat and wait for your luggage. On the way out, be sure to carefully throw your peso coins to the kids and mothers on little hand made bangka boats, all of whom seem to have the ferry schedules built into their circadian rhythms!

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Once out of the ferry terminal as seen above right, there is a white building to your left that has all sorts of cool printed info on all the nature based tour destinations on Bohol. This is the Visitor Center. Grab the stuff- it is interesting and will come in handy later, and the staffers are really helpful.

The new Eskaya air conditioned van will be waiting to pick you up right at the ferry terminal. From the City of Tagbilaran, it takes about 45 minutes of driving to Eskaya.

On the way, you are welcome to ask the driver to stop for cool drinks along the way. Eventually you will come to the entrance to Eskaya, where desk attendants will wave the driver in. Down a crushed limestone path you will be taken till your arrival and the turn about in front of the reception office.