I had a good feeling about Bohol from the moment I arrived, and things got off to a great start as I managed to get 11hrs much needed sleep during my first night. The next morning an American girl arrived in the hostel and I headed with her down to the beach. Just as I had hoped for, the day was completely relaxing, spending time chilling in beach bean bags, drinking delicious lemon and fresh natural honey tea and booking my scuba open water course. I was very excited as the following morning I would be moving down to the beach accommodation to begin my dive training.

Morning view from the dive school

Over the next three days I had a mixture of theory, practising diving skills in the water and just enjoying the experience of diving. I also had the added bonus of my own bedroom for the first time in four weeks!

The dive instructors were great and as well as teaching me about diving asked me to join them for pub quiz night, where sadly, we did not win the free beer.

After completing my course I had three days doing things other than diving, enjoying the relaxed beach life and seeing some of the island sites on land. Two of the three days Sue (the American girl) and I spent a lot of our time reading and chatting in some bar or cafe, the extreme winds and cloudy skies stopping us from spending it on the beach.

Buzz Cafe, one of our favourite spots

The other day Sue, Daniel (a German guy) and I hired two motorbikes to escape Panglao Island and head inland to explore. This was a great day, a large part of the day was spent driving with just a vague sense of the direction we should be heading (we were trying to visit the Tarsier monkeys). There was a great feeling of freedom and adventure about the journey, as we motored along the uneven roads, battling the winds and admiring the diverse range of scenes that passed by. We enjoyed sea views, country roads, ramshackle buildings interspersed with well built houses, passing school children wandering down road sides and people at work on roads and in fields. We never did find the monkeys, instead ending up a further 30 minute drive down the road at the Chocolate Hills. These are over a thousand round, nearly identical, hills spreading as far as the eye can see when stood at the top of the view point, given their name due to the chocolate brown colour they have during dry season.

I had been told the dive sites around Balicasag were a must see once certified, but due to the bad weather we were having, it was out of bounds all week. I was lucky the weather improved in time for Sunday, as the following day I planned to leave the island to head to Camiguin Island. I had three dives, seeing a diverse range of creatures, from shrimp about the size of my little finger nail to turtles at least half the length of me!

Today, after having a relaxing morning and saying my goodbyes with Sue, I packed up and made my way inland to Tagbiliran Port. I spent the night on a ‘sleeper’ ferry, and having spoiled myself with a tourist rather than economy ticket, enjoyed a comfortable enclosed bottom bunk in an air conditioned room and a rather good nights sleep.