Lady’s Panglao Island Travel Guide

Panglao Island is paradise. Or so I was told. And when I arrive, I can’t help but agree. Lush greenery, white sand beaches, pretty palm trees, and the sweetest mangoes in the Philippines are only the beginning of my love affair with this place.

How to Get to Panglao Island

I arrive in the Philippines after an easy three-and-a-half hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Manila, an extension of my trip to Malaysia.

The on-time landing leaves me with nearly three hours to connect to my flight to Tagbilaran Airport on Panglao’s neighbor, Bohol, and I need most of it.

Manila Airport isn’t the most efficient, and with passport control taking ages and the inter-terminal bus being an exercise in chaos theory (and strangely costing a fee), I’m lucky to make my connection.

Amorita Resort in Panglao

But I survive, and I travel off to Bohol. As soon as I get there, I’m greeted by a staff member from my hotel, the Amorita Resort in Panglao. They’ve offered me a complimentary stay and I can’t wait to see the property.

A 40-minute drive brings me to the Panglao beach resort, which is set on a small cliff above the famous white-sand Alona Beach.

Panglao Sunset

I arrive just in time for the Panglao sunset, only this isn’t an ordinary sunset. It is a sunset in the Philippines, which means that the sky turns pink, yellow, blue, and orange in a spectacular riot of jewel tones.

I excuse myself from the pool-front table where I’m meeting with the general manager, James, to take a photo.

“If you wait five minutes, it will be even better,” he says. I don’t believe him. How could it get any better than this? And yet, five minutes later, the sky is even more beautiful.

And that experience sets the tone for my whole trip to the Philippines. Every time I think I’ve seen the best, it just keeps getting better.

Panglao Restaurants

The first night on Panglao Island, I have dinner with James overlooking the beach.

The chef, Raphael, cooks us the Boholano tasting menu, a family-style feast featuring an array of local dishes with themes of ginger, lemongrass, and coconut running throughout.

After spending the previous week in Malaysia consuming more food than is humanly possible, I plan to go easy on the gluttony in Panglao.

But my plans are stymied by Raphael’s cooking, so much so that James is prompted to comment on the relish with which I enjoy the chicken halang-halang and pork humba. I can’t help it. It’s just too good.

The next evening is the weekly Saturday night buffet. There’s more food to choose from than I can possibly eat, even with my stomach having expanded to Zeppelin-like proportions over the course of my travels in Asia.

I go with green curry and try to limit myself to only three desserts.

On my last night on Panglao Island, James and I enjoy a ginger-inspired menu that starts with fresh-from-the-oven ginger buns and works its way through fish kinilaw on mango carpaccio to cream of carrot and ginger soup.

The main course of steak is a bit tough, but the rest of the meal is every bit as good as the one on our first night.

Alona Beach

When I’m not eating my way through Panglao, I spend time relaxing. After a busy trip to Malaysia, I’m glad to have some beach time. I walk along Alona Beach, a pretty stretch of sand lined with bars, restaurants, and resorts.

Momo Beach House

I also go to the beach at Amorita’s sister resort, Momo Beach House. It’s located down a small dirt road about 20 minutes away, and is a secluded beach paradise.

I spend a night in one of the 15 rooms and love the quiet of the beach, pool, and open-air restaurant.

Back at Amorita, I still have my own slice of solitude, what with my room being a sea-view villa with its own terrace and plunge pool.

I even get a massage there one evening, a perfect end to my day.

Panglao Snorkeling and Dolphins

And a perfect beginning to my day is a 5am wake-up call that precedes a morning of dolphin watching, snorkeling, and island hopping.

Out on the sea, I spend the early hours following a group of dolphins as they jump and play in the water.

Afterwards the skipper sets sail for a nearby island, where I go snorkeling with sea turtles and watch schools of fish dart in and out of beautiful coral formations.

I’m impressed with the quality of the reef and the abundance of sea life, the likes of which I haven’t seen since my trip to the Maldives a few years ago.

The icing on my morning cake is a stop at a desert island off the coast of Panglao. The white sand strip that curls in a spiral at either end makes me feel a million miles away from the world. It’s paradise.

Panglao Island

But sadly it can’t last forever. Soon it will be time to return to Panglao, then Bohol, then Manila, then Kuala Lumpur, then London.

But with over 7,000 more islands to visit in the Philippines, I won’t have a problem finding a reason to travel back someday to see more. In fact, I still have Bohol to discover. To be continued…

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