Our Philippines trip | spending Christmas in Bohol & our engagement

Amorita Resort

Amorita resort for me was the perfect slice of heaven, located on the coroner of a cliff right on the end of the busy Alona beach sits this retreat. From the moment you arrive the little touches stun you. From the gorgeous welcome drink and cool towels, the service, the guides in your room, fresh juice in your fridge or baked cookies in your room not just when you arrive but treats delivered daily. Everything is though of here.

You can do a lot here too, bar it being perfect located and having steps down to the beach here you can jump on one of the hotels bikes, paddle board or kayak all for free. the pools are both breathtaking one overlooking the lush green and sea in the distance and the other infinity pool looking over the beach where it is also a perfect spot for sunset or the free cocktails you get for happy hour one evening a week. By the pool they bring around water constantly to keep you hydrated, cooling cucumber spray and fresh fruit or watermelon/ mango ice pops. You can see why Louise and Ryan from Made in Chelsea choose here to stay.

For us what really stood out here was the fact it had a private cove where we sat one morning with a breakfast box they had prepared watching the sunrise. Little did i know the day after Jonny would be on one knee asking me to marry him! I won’t go into details in this post because I asked on social and you answered a big fat YES to me writing up our engagement story so that will be coming in the next few weeks.

Things to do in Bohol

Rent a bike – Just like we did in Coron, we wanted to rent a bike to view more of the island. It was harder for find somewhere to rent a bike here as there were no bike shops which seems dodgy, as when we found a guy outside a shop he asked for passport as you have to have your driving licence on you when you drive here as it is a little more strict on rules and regulations. We didn’t hand over our passports and instead put a 2,000 php (£29 approx.) deposit down. We rented the bike for 3 days in the end for 1,500php (£22 approx.) and got the deposit back easily from the owner who leased out the bike to the guy. All a little odd but worked out well because we explored a nearby beach and more waterfalls here.

Bohol is the whole island essentially split into Pangalo where we stayed and then across the bridge is Tagbilaran the main city. Bohol is huge in comparison to Coron. We did a few places by bike here, first up was Dumaluan beach which was pretty close but for us this beach didn’t wow as much as Alona beach. You pay a small fee to get in a park your bike and there are places to grab a drink etc. there, we went when the tide was out so we think that didn’t help!

Visit the waterfalls – We visited Kalwsan Falls (not the really famous one in Cebu) and Camyugo Falls both about an hour out from Alona beach area which is the main tourist part of Bohol. Both beautiful and completely empty there was just Jonny and i there and it was so magical and breathtaking. Camyugo is a bit of a trek down so be cautious theres a lot of walking through bush and down some questionable stairs to get there but it’s worth it, I promise. You will have to pay a fee at both but neither is expensive whatsoever.

Take a land tour – If you want to see the famous Chocolate Hills or visit the Tarsiers which are only native to this part of the world then take a land tour of the island. You can either do what we did and rent a car and driver for the day which was 2,500php for up to 4 people (£36 approx.) or there is a joiners tour which is 400php per person (£5.70 approx.). on both though for whatever activities you do you’ll have to pay the entrance and environmental fees. On the tour with joiners you go to around 8 places some of which weren’t of interest to us so the private tour was better suited.

We did the Chocolate hills which was cool but very busy and up a lot of steps, we found it hard to take a picture and din’t stay too long. The Man Made Forrest was a cool concept and I had seen lots of snaps on Instagram. It was a real IG vs reality moment as it was just a ton of tourist trying not to get run over taking pictures in the middle of the road. Next was The Hanging Bridge, it was funny but petrifying as it felt like it was going to collapse! The Loboc River Cruise was a nice stop, we got lunch on there and sat back and took in the views, had live music on the boat and stopped to watch local performers along the river too I think the fee was 500php per person including the lunch (£8 approx.). Our last stop was the Tarsier Sanctuary where we felt a little uncomfortable, they were cute but it was so easy for people to touch them if they wanted and considering if they get stressed they commit suicide we decided not to stay too long.

Overall, we are glad we can say we’ve see it but for us we don’t think the trip was hugely worth it.

Visit Alona Beach – Our hotel was on the beach but it was great, because it was Christmas when we were there it was decorates, there was music and performers and of course all year round you can get a fantastic beach massage wile listening to the waves. As you can see from the snap above, Amorita really does have the best view of the beach too.

Where to eat and drink near Alona Beach

Isis Thai Restaurant – We walked along the beach on our first night and ended up here. We hadn’t looked at TripAdvisor this time and just though this place looked busy so much be good. Oddly it doesn’t have the best review but for us it was delicious we ended up here again! What was nice was the BBQ choice in a lot of restaurants in Bohol BBQ is big you can take your table number up and order the food at the station like wings, lobster, crab and delicious corn. I must say their Thai green curry and spring rolls here are delicious we got them both times.

Bamboo Bar – We went here for Sheesha and drinks, it was nice to just chill out along with a cute local dog who curled up by us. Drinks were cheap and was a nice way to end our evening. Big plus was they had Wifi which not many places here had.

Barwoo and Guiseppes – both of these place had rave reviews, sadly we tried multiple times to get in and they were either fully booked and not taking booking or had a wait time over an hour. I would say if you can get in go to them, they looked and sounded great.

Amorita Resort Restaurant, Saffron – I was feeling a little poorly so had a pumpkin soup here as it was of course our hotels restaurant but Jonny had the most delicious and tender beef. It is rated highly and you can see why when you eat here, one thing tough is it is pricey so this is a little more of a luxurious meal if you’re on a budget compared to the restaurants on the beach or surrounding it. We had breakfast included every morning and it had so much to offer, so much variety and choice and everything fresh.

T2 Bar and Restaurant – Hummm this one didn’t too too much for us i had pork and rice, it was a little underwhelming. I can’t even recall what Jonny had but I know it came with egg fried rice. Okay for a quick lunch but was not top of our list.

Hera Greek Taverna – Who’d of thought on Christmas day we’d be in the Philipinnes, eating Greek for lunch? Not me. It was good though fries with a little spice and a gyro with salad. Located right on the beach with a view out on the ocean it was and odd place for Christmas lunch but good for us.

C.U. Biergarten – So Christmas day went full worldwide cuisine! Yep for dinner we went to a German restaurant. Jonny had a chicken done on the BBQ with corn and of course rice but me, I took it a step further with pasta. A delicious agliolio but really we couldn’t fit any more international places in, in one day.

Oceanus Blue – This place is new and is a seafood restaurant in what I would call a mini china town down Alona Beach Road. Again I was still feeling a little poorly so we shared a sweet and sour pork with garlic rice and a side of my favourite bok choy. It was a little like a UK Chinese takeaway but it was good.

Bar next to Amorita – Apologies for the lack of name on this one, it was attached to a hostel we think but it had no name. It was slightly tucked behind some palms next to our hotel on the beach and is the last bar you can reach walking up so could easily spot it. The did the best frozen pineapple daiquiri here, we kept coming back as they had such an extensive menu, were well price and had a chilled vibe.

Bohol Bee Farm – This place is cool, all locally sourced stuff, organic and they encourage farmers. Here’s a link to find out more about them as it a nice initiative. They have a few restaurants but we visited the one on the beach called BUZZ! we ate here on our last night and shared a pizza, it was good but the pork was weirdly sweet so it was a little too much for us. We shared it anyway and had tacos to start nicely finished off by some watermelon cocktails for me. They also have a number of ice cream stands around all homemade and natural. i tried a few flavours while there such as melon, coconut, and dragon fruit. all good but they do have similar flavours, coconut was my favourite.

Of course for me Bohol was the most memorable place because it is where we got engaged. We love the tranquility of our resort and being able to leave the main hustle and bustle of the beach area. The perfect contrast to a beautiful place. We do think 5 days here would have been enough rather than six, which sounds like nothing but when you could have got another island in by condensing some other stays it would have been good.

Be sure to catch up with our first stop, which saw us spend 24 hours in Manila before we headed onto Coron for 5 days. Next up we will show how Boracay seems to have changed after closing for 6 months and a last stop in Manila before our flight home.

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