Dolphin watching at Panglao
How to go there
After our Day 1 tour, Kuya Lito, the driver of the rent-a-van we hired hooked us up with a boat man to tour us in Balicasag. We got a pretty sweet rate from Kuya Allan, the owner of the boat, after he met up with us on the evening of our Day 1 trip, all drunk. He badly need the money for another drink, so he asked a down payment from us, then gave us a discount of the actual rate.
What to see
Kuya Allan picked us up at Bohol Sea Breeze resort in Panglao at 5:30 am. The best time to see the dolphins is in the morning during their feeding time. We went to Kuya Allan’s boat and to our relief, he’s not gonna be manning our boat, instead he has his son to tour us for the rest of the day.
Our boat : San Agustin
Our boat went near Balicasag Island, the spot where the dolphins said to appear. By the time we get there, there were about 8 other boats Dolphin-spotting with us.
A few seconds later, we were able to spot the dolphins. All the boats went to the direction where they were, the moment all the boats were there, the dolphins disappear.
Competition: Other boats at Balicasag dolphin watching with us
We were able to spot lots of dolphins that morning. I got so excited with watching, taking pictures and cam cording the dolphins that I moved from the tip of the boat to get a good look at them.
Japanesecake dolphin watching
It was so hard to take pictures of the dolphin ’cause they were constantly moving, and goes away fast. We end up taking more vids than pics. I wanted to capture the dolphin’s jump but the only descent one I got was two dolphins jumping from afar.
Dolphin's jump
Our boatmen were also good with dolphin spotting, we were always the first to get to the dolphins, and then the others follows us, and scares them away. We stopped dolphin spotting at about 7:30 am, for we want to start early at the snorkel site at Balicasag so it wont be crowded when we go swim there.
Duration of this tour:
Travel time from Panglao to Balicasag Dolphin watching site : 30 min.
Dolphin watching : about 1 hour
Fees and Fares of this tour
Boat rental : P1800 (Regular Rate)
Spots included with the rate:
1. Dolphin watching
2. Balicasag (snorkel site and Balicasag Island)
3. Virgin Island
Contact Details of the Boat man
Name : Allan dela Peña (Owner)
Cell number: 0906-277-0245
More pictures of Panglao and Balicasag here :
(Click on the picture to view the album)
ang itim ko grabe..:P
I know a woman, Kandy B, who stole thousands from her aunt and ruined her.
thanks for visiting my site. I’ve been in Bohol last 2006, and it was such a great experience.
that’s cool maybe our spotter is not as good as yours we didn’t found any dolphins at all but snorkling in balicasag island, bohol is the best and enjoying the sandbar of virgin island is a bonus.
Thank you for sharing this. I had such a wonderful time myself traveling and performing in philippine and this bought back so many memories.
Hi… Me and my wife are planning to visit Bohol this coming March. Just would like to ask if its required that we know how to swim when we go snorkling? We dont know how to swim but we both want to experince snorkling.
@roy
hehe ok lng kahit nde. roy.
may life vests naman
Hi! My hisband and I are planning to visit bohol. Just would like to ask about the van rental, is it paid on a per day or per use basis?
Hi Kate,
Van is paid per day.
Thanks
went to bohol last April10-14. We hired a bangka for only P1200.00. we instructed our boatmen to start our balicasag tour 5:30 am and we woke up early andit paid of. we were the first to arrive at the site and we saw many dolphins swimming & jumping in the water to our heart’s content. after 30 min other boats arrived we feel sorry for them because there were few sightings of the dolphin because the sun was up already…start early!!!
wow, you got the boat for 1200? What spots were included with that rate?
Wow Hedwig! Thank you for the tip, we will surely wake up early to enjoy those dolphins soon (“,)
hedwig: do you have contact number of your boatman?=)
japanesecake: same parin kaya number ni boatman mo?..si Allan dela Pena?
thanks!=)
@uni,
Not sure e, have you tried contacting him?
Thanks for the info..We will visit balicasag this month and your info help us a lot and make me excite to the place.Nice capture..
hi!
ilan ang kaya i-accomodate nung boat? haha. I’m gonna be travelling with friends, 8 kami. How many boats do we need? 
same prob hir, ilan pde kya accommodate ng boat? 12 kse kme. thanks!
Hi. I find your site very helpful. I’m planning a Bohol Trip this June. I’d like to ask how long is the dolphin watching + snorkeling + meal at an island? Do you think we can cap it off by 11am if we start at 5:30am? Thanks. Will appreciate your reply.
mmm not sure bout that one. On our case, by 10 am naglalunch na kami.