Bantayan Island

April 4, 2016December 23, 2016 Johneejo Ramos 0 Comments Bantayan Island, Cebu Resorts, Cebu Tourist Spots, Johneejo Ramos

Who doesn’t love Bantayan Island?

Bantayan Island is situated to the west of the northern end of Cebu Island, across the Tañon Strait. The island is made up of three municipalities of the province of Cebu: Bantayan Madridejos and Sta.Fe.

Madridejos, lies to the west of the northern tip of Cebu. Madridejos is a fishing village; this place is also known for its rich in history, the most famous was the ruins of Kota, “The Kota” (Kuta = The Fort). This watch tower was built around in 1790. It was built to keep the towns folk safe from the coming of the Moros to attack their town. The sound of the “budyong”(a blown alarm) will alarm the town folks to gather themselves in safety before the Moros will reach the shores.

“The Kota” (Kuta = The Fort)

fortofKota — Photo credit to Johneejo Ramos

The Bontay Baywalk in Madridejos

3128_1126623451922_4446981_n — Photo credit of Johneejo Ramos

Sta.Fe. Bantayan, the municipality’s territory occupies the south-eastern portion of Bantayan Island. The island’s airport and principal ferry port are both located within this municipality, Sta. Fe is considered to be the gateway to Bantayan and its islands.

This is the place where you could find the perfect epitome of white sands, blue-green waters, beautiful sunrise and sunsets. This place is also famous for its wide stretch of fine white sand beach.

santa fe bantayan2 — Photo credit to Johneejo Ramos

Aside from the white sandy beaches in Sta. Fe and the “kota” in Madridejos, Ogtong Cave is quite popular among the must see sights in Sta. Fe. It’s a small cave. It may not be the usual caves you have been to but you’d love to swim in the blue fresh water inside the cave.

3128_1126622011886_2676572_n — Photo credit to Johneejo Ramos

Ogtongcave1 — Photo credit to Johneejo Ramos

Your journey to this tropical island is worth it. You will be content by its charm, you can laze around under the sun, experience the white sandy beach and take pleasure in the sea of Sta. Fe. Swim inside of the blue fresh cool waters of Ogtong Cave and learn great history from Madridejos.

How to get to Bantayan Island:

Distance from Cebu City: 3 hours and 50 minutes (140.4 km).

From Cebu to Bantayan Island:
Go to the North Bus Terminal in Cebu City near SM Mall. From the North Terminal, you can take Ceres Coach Busses (yellow & white) & Cebu AutoBus Corp. (orange & white). Their operations are whole day, starting from 5:00 a.m. onwards.

Bus fare:

Php50.00 – Php60.00 for non-air-conditioned bus

Php160.00 for air-conditioned bus.

From the North Bus terminal of Cebu, the bus lines will go straight to the port of Hagnaya, the travel time is 3 hours to 4 hours or longer, depending on road work. And from Hagnaya’s port you will need to take a Ferry Boat going to Santa Fe Bantayan Island. Boat time departure starts at 5:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

Ferry boat fare: Php170.00

Where to Stay :

There are lot of resorts in Bantayan Island, I would recommend to stay at Amihan Beach Cabanas, because they have these structures of cabanas that were built with natural materials. It’s very cool and attractive. The amenities and services are great.

Aircon Cabana: