It was seven in the evening and while some kids were having dinner at home, Akira, our son, was busy playing while swimming with his newfound friend at the beach. They could hardly see each other and there was a language barrier but they played along very well. The fine white sandy beach of Quinale in Anda, Bohol was their playground for almost two hours now and nobody seemed to get tired. I like this kind of life. I wish we could stay at the beach every day. Every. Single. Day.
It was June of 2024 and the start of my annual school break when our backpacking trip commenced. We spent 22 days in Central Visayas going around Bohol, Siquijor, Dumaguete, and Cebu. We then flew to Japan and spent 11 days in Takayama, Furukawa, and Nagoya. These were the months leading to our son’s first time in formal schooling so we called this trip, #PreKinderTrip2024.
Christian and I went to Anda, Bohol in 2014 for the first time. It was a media trip where we went around the province of Bohol together with some of our travel blogger friends. During this trip, we got a glimpse of the powdery white sand of Quinale Beach. Sadly, we were there for just a few hours and at that time, I told myself that I would come back here again.
Check here for discounted tours, transportation, and activities in Bohol
Ten years later, we went back to Anda as a married couple with a 4-year-old son in tow. The beach was the same as I remembered it to be—almost deserted, clean, powdery, fine, and blindingly white.
How to get there
Coming from Manila, we took a 37-hour 2GO Travel passenger ship to Tagbilaran in Bohol. From there, we took a tricycle that brought us to Dao Bus Terminal and paid ₱100 for the three of us.
We then took a non-AC bus to the town of Anda and paid ₱185 each for the fare. It took us almost three hours to reach Anda. We had to pay ₱30 each for the environmental fee imposed by the town and went straight to our accommodation on foot.
Where to Stay
There are several accommodation choices in Anda but we specifically wanted to stay on a beachfront resort along Quinale Beach. We checked through Google Maps and found some resorts and inquired about their rates. We stayed on weekdays so the resorts weren’t as busy.
Check here for discounted room rates in Anda, Bohol
We finally chose to stay at Anda de Boracay Beach Resort because of its beach-front location as well as its proximity to the town center and bus stop.
We paid ₱1,000 per night for our room where we got to have a great view of the beach from our terrace. The room was simple with a double size bed, AC, private toilet, and shower.
The resort has a pool and beachfront cottages for daytrippers. They also have videoke machine, mini store, and restaurant. What made us decide to stay there was its access to Quinale Beach.
Where to Eat
We tried eating at the nearby eateries, restaurants, and bakeries during our four-day stay. For ₱100, you can have a decent rice meal from the eateries at the public market.
Going Around
Our usual day routine would be having our breakfast of local bread with coffee on one of the cottages along the shore. We were always in awe of the clear turquoise water and blue sky. Waking up with this panoramic view of tropical paradise is always a pleasure.
We’d usually spend the morning walking on the beach, frolicking in the sand, and swimming in the waters. After having lunch somewhere, we’d go back to the beach and play on the sand until sundown. We never get bored with this routine and it was always great to see the locals enjoying the beauty of their town. I was envious at times.
Quinale Beach is a public beach and if you’re not a local, you need to pay for the environmental fee to go to the beach regardless of how many days you’d be staying in Anda. That’s why you have to keep the official receipt with you at all times when someone asks you for it.
The Anda Municipal Hall, Police Station, Fire Station, and Tourism Office, among others were remarkably located along the stretch of Quinale Beach. How cool can that be? This is probably the best town layout anywhere else in the world. Or maybe I am biased ‘coz the tropical girl in me is really happy with this setup.
In the afternoons, when the sea level would start to recede during low tide, Akira would lay out his sand toys and pretend to be on a treasure hunt. At times, some kids would join him and he made friends easily.
We would have dinner somewhere then go back to our room and talk about our day before bedtime.
There was this one day when we walked our way to Cabagnow Pool Cave, around 2 kilometers from Quinale Beach. The swimmable cave pool was formed because of sinkholes that formed into natural pits which is normal because of the soft and porous nature of limestone that surrounds the town of Anda. The water from the mountains seeps through these openings before flowing into the seas thus, creating cave pools.
There’s a fee of ₱50 per person which includes the swimming fee at your own risk. The pool is approximately 12 to 25 feet depending on where you’d go. There’s a ladder which you could use to climb up and down the pool. We didn’t get the chance to do so as Cabagnow Cave Pool was closed during that time because of the murky water caused by the heavy rains the night before our visit.
We then walked 150 meters away from Cabagnow Cave Pool and checked out Talisay Beach.
There were a few families who were having some get-togethers and enjoying the beach. The place was quieter as compared to Quinale Beach and there was so much debris from the heavy rains the night before. It seemed like this was a fisherman’s wharf as there were many boats docked on the shore.
Final Thoughts
I have a friend who had an old habit of collecting very small amounts of sand from the sandy beaches he’s been to. He made a comparative analysis of the finest sands in the Philippines and on the top of his list were Entalula Beach in El Nido Palawan and Quinale Beach in Anda Bohol. He stopped doing it after realizing that it’s actually bad for the environment. He then put everything back to nature. So yeah, Anda in Bohol is a must-see town in the Philippines because of the powdery white sand beaches and the quaint town center along the shore of Quinale Beach.
Post a Comment