Breathless in Bohol

In this article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated May 2, 2009, Ms. Tessa Prieto-Valdez narrates of her unforgettable stay in Bohol. I'm sure a lot of others who have been to the islands have the same experiences. She stayed at the Amorita Resort, a place I have yet to go, and one I've heard a lot of good reviews about especially from tripadvisor.com.

See more about this on the article below.

Breathless in Bohol
By Tessa Prieto-Valdez

IN THE beginning there was Bali. And then there was Boracay. But today, there is Bohol.

Bohol is the new Bora. And the heart of the province is Alona Beach, a lovely, white-hot strip of sand on the island of Panglao, just a quick drive from the provincial airport in Tagbilaran.

Alona Beach is, of course, named after sexy screen siren Alona Alegre who made local temperatures sizzle while filming the movie “Esteban” with FPJ in the ’70s. Since then, Alona Beach has been the destination in Panglao, which now has 30 beautiful resorts all over it.

With all the buzz about Bohol, my family and I decided to spend our Easter break in Amorita (www.amoritaresort.com), which according to tripadvisor.com is the best resort on the island today. Amorita is short for “beloved,” and indeed there is much to love about the resort.

As with so many success stories in our country today, Amorita’s starts with an entrepreneurial young lady, Ria Hernandez Cauton, who acquired the property in 2005 and has since transformed it into a world-class resort. The key to such success starts with service, and Amorita’s is at a level that is hard to match.

Rolly Navallo, their guest services manager, took good care of our whole family during our weekend there. As with most great vacations, it’s the little things that make the stay in Amorita memorable – preparing outdoor dinners on the veranda especially for us, supplying a babysitter for my 3-year-old Athena while we went scuba diving, and so many other amazing yet unobtrusive little touches that made my husband Dennis and I talk about how soon we might go back before we had even left.

Bohol is just a great tourist destination. Aside from the beaches, there are a hundred other things to do and do them all we tried. A 20-minute boat ride away is Balicasag Island, still one of the best scuba-diving destinations in the Visayas.

The small island is dominated by a lighthouse and underwater is a beacon for marine life. Off one of the islands’ tips is a spot called Black Forest, with schools of huge, silver jacks enjoying the swift currents. We were glad our dive shop, Bohol Oceanic Adventures, had sent two excellent divers to take care of us, Rommel Ortiz and King Ramos. Balicasag is also a marine sanctuary and it was really great to know that another of our country’s excellent scuba-diving locations is being protected.

Between dives, the Amorita staff prepared a picnic lunch for us and we took the time to shop for necklaces and other trinkets from the local vendors. I always like stimulating the local economy wherever I go.

See this link for the full article from the source, Breathless in Bohol.