Remember the movie “Camp Sawi” where Arci Munoz, Bela Padilla, Yassi Pressman and Andi Eigenmann went to a “retreat to heal their broken hearts and learn the art of moving on”?

 

It was shoot in the beautiful island of Bantayan in Cebu. It is in the northern west part of Cebu which is 4 hours land trip and 1 hour 30 minutes boat ride from the city. The breathtaking scenery that you will see on the island makes the long hours of travel very worth it.

As you set foot on the island, you will be welcomed by the powdery white sand and the glistening blue water of Santa Fe, one of the main municipality in the island.

How to go to Bantayan Island?

If you’re coming from different parts of the Philippines, take a flight going to Cebu City. When you arrived in Mactan International Airport, you can ride a taxi going to Cebu North Bus Terminal. I suggest you take a taxi especially if you are arriving in Cebu late at night because jeepneys are very hard to find.

From Cebu North Bus Terminal, look for the buses heading to Bantayan. Aircon Bus Fare will cost you 220 pesos.

When you arrived in Hagnaya Port, your jump off point to Santa Fe Port, buy your ferry ticket which costs 170 pesos and prepare for a terminal fee of 10 pesos. Don’t worry if you are hungry early in the morning because there are a lot of opened stores even before the sun rises.

When you arrived in Santa Fe Port, just walked until your reach the exit gates. There are available motorcycles around that can take you to the beach resorts where you will stay. Fare is minimum 10 pesos to 20 pesos depending on the distance.

What to do in Bantayan Island?

You have an option to stay overnight in luxury or mid-priced or budget resorts. If you have tents, then you can also do camping.

If you only have a day to tour around Bantayan Group of Islands, you can hop immediately for an island-hopping tour. Here’s the contact number of Kuya Lito – 09295486410. He can offer you  island hopping tours minimum of 1,200 pesos for 2-4 persons.

One of the highlights of the island hopping is visiting Virgin Island. Definitely a must-visit place for you and your loved ones.

Or if you want to go beach hopping by land through tricycle or visit Ogtong Cave and churches or port transfers, you can contact Kuya Saturn – 09461124433.

If you want to visit the resort where Camp Sawi was shoot, check out Kota Beach Resort.

Long before, I really wanted to visit Bantayan Island because it’s one of the first places in Philippines that offers skydiving adventure which costs 18,000. But more than the skydiving, the scenery, the clearest and cleanest water, the fine white sand captured me and made me put Bantayan Island on my number 2 spot of my favorite beaches in the country.

Definitely, I will come back and linger the beautiful sunrise and sunset while dipping in the clear azure water of Bantayan.