The following day we planned on taking Philippine Island Divers' larger dive bangka to Balicasag Island, a 30 minute trip from the Alona beach area. Even the local kids were having an adventure too!
As I boarded the large dive bangka, once again one of the staffer girls from Bohol Divers came running out calling my name; “Mister Dave, did you forget this?!” She must have done that at least once a day holding up a dive glove, a spare battery, or some other essential item. She was really a sweetheart for always thinking about our dive experience, and I found that personal attention quite endearing. All the staff who stayed back at the dive shop always asked us how our dive went and what we saw. We always felt like we were one of the family sitting on the table in front of the shop drinking the cold drinks they would always offer and bring us after a dive.
Balicasag has just amazing water clarity, with half a dozen popular dive sites. The whole small island is encircled by a medium sloped coral reef structure. Some sites are known for regular barracuda cleaning stations under the right tide settings. On the frontside I saw several carpet anemones that were at least a meter in diameter, they were huge! I always scull my hand near the edges so any detached portion of the anemone might well up, often revealing hiding porcelain crabs.
The above photo is what you will see when your bangka approaches Balicasag Island.
During our mandatory 1 hour break between dives, Randel and I jumped off the bangka dive boat and swam to shore. Now we were told the island management would extract a 100 or so peso fee for coming onto the island, but that didn’t happen. We had an outdoor lunch on the island cooled by the breeze while we watched smiling students from a hotelier trade school be put through their paces.
Now we had spied this tall aluminum lighthouse structure in the center of the island, so we walked to it and it was all enclosed with wire link fencing. We asked around, and we were told it was owned by the Philippines navy, and that a detachment was on the island somewhere having lunch. We were escorted around for about for 20 minutes looking for them, and we finally were introduced to the navy Captain and his mates. We told them we were producing a Pinas dive tourism promo video, and the next thing you knew, were were invited for lunch, which we had to decline as we were already stuffed to the gills from our previous lunch, but it is just another in a long list of instances of the type of warm hospitality you can expect from total strangers who after 1 minute are your friends. Permission was granted to enter the lighthouse, and we unlocked the water tight access bulkhead at the bottom and climbed several hundred feet up inside the aluminum lighthouse structure. The view from the top tiny platform was stunning! You could see the island 360 degrees. Too bad I couldn’t swim with my large HDvideocam, but we did manage to take lots of panoramic photos from the top of the lighthouse as shown below.
Walking back through the village, we saw little smiling wide eyed children running around naked without a care in the world...you could never let your kids do that in Los Angeles! We also saw several villagers working on the small wooden bangka shown below. You could just see the pride in the way they worked, and if you saw the craftmanship we did, you would know why. Considering they lacked table saws with laser edge guides, powered routers, planers, drum sanders, edge finishers, etc, you sure couldn’t tell from the look of their work.
Back we eventually made it to the dive bangka for the 3rd and final dive of the day at Balicasag.
After a long days worth of diving, there is nothing better than taking an outdoor private tropical shower, then retreating to your private jacuzzi shown below for a blissful relaxing jacuzzi massage on your private Eskaya Balai grounds.
The following day we decided to hang out at the Eskaya Resort for the day and explore the resort in the morning, then in the afternoon spend some times at the Eskaya Spa.
In case you want to swim in a pool much larger than your private pool on your Balai grounds, there is the Eskaya main Infinity pool with a swim up bar. We walked around the grounds and found the waterfall and stream than that made its way down to the shores, and we checked out the hanging suspension bridge over the lush tropical plants.
Everywhere you turn, there is a nice bench and tables, some new padded lawn chairs with fresh new towels, or some place to stop, relax, and take in the amazing views of the grounds and scenery. Relax on the beach under shades, and you will be greeted by a staffer offering cold fruit or mixed drinks. You want a snack or meal brought to your resort grounds resting place? No problem.
Next it was time to sample the Eskaya Spa experience. Grab your lush new robe from your Balai, and head over to the huge spa. There were those large frogs again in the Zen pond, who obviously also had some pleasure in mind.
After a shower, it was a steam room, followed by a cool shower, then into the hot sauna. Another quick shower and it was time for a 90-minute Hilot kaayo or a Swedish style relaxing massage to melt you into a state of bliss as you drift off to happy places to the tune of quiet tropical music.
All manners of spa treatments are available at Eskaya Spa, so even non-divers can spend a day at the spa relaxing, getting a facial, body scrub, seaweed wrap and all the treatments and pampering one would find at a high end European spa. Does she look like she is enjoying the massage in the photo below?
We enjoyed the magnificent sunset at Eskaya beach, and snapped a few final photos of an incredible Eskaya experience.
I must say, the Eskaya Resort and Spa was the most luxurious dive resort we have ever been to, or will probably ever visit, and the diving, nature related and cultural experiences they offer throughout Bohol was an experience of a lifetime.
As soon as we can get a hi resolution graphic of the Eskaya logo, we will finish up the 22 minute long HD video of the entire Eskaya Resort and Spa experience, including all the Eskaya inland tours discussed above, the fantastic Eskaya Balai's, grounds and Eskaya Spa experience, and of course the incredible diving of Alona Beach and Balicasag, with some AMAZING marine life footage.
Eskaya Resort & Spa Review Continued
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