A Bee-autiful day!

One of the gems of Panglao is Bohol Bee Farm, an organic oasis of peace and calm with quite fantastic food and breathtaking views out over the ocean to Pamilacan Island. Far from the crowds and tack of Alona , the Bee Farm envelops you in serenity as soon as you enter the grounds, set atop the cliffs looking out over the sea its rustic eco-friendly charm is utterly soothing. It also happens to house the Buzzz Dive shop where Kiko, an absolute star and one of my fellow new Open Water Instructors is now settling in.

JHubz and I arrived at eight am several hours after the sun had risen on a truly gorgeous morning and began getting our gear ready accompanied by the welcoming social chat that comes naturally to the very best of dive shops. Our fellow divers for the day included three lovely Spaniards mid-way through their Open Water certification and a lovely Brit Sharna on a wonderful adventure around Asia, Cuco, the shops long term instructor and Kiko, his childhood friend were to be our guides for the day.

Once all our gear had been ferried across the shallows to the awaiting Lady Samela, with the sun shining down on us, we were soon on our way across the flat water to Pamilacan, a forty minute journey away. I LOVE THE SEA! My smile just grows with the wind whipping my hair from my face and the sun warming my skin, I LOVE IT!
Once we’d arrived off the shore of Pamilacan; a truly idyllic island with no roads and hence no cars we slowly started gearing up while waiting for another diver to be ferried out to us with some friends of his who would be snorkelling off the boat for the day.

There after followed two hour long dives where we spotted a banded sea krait, a few turtles including one beauty with two of the fattest remora I have ever seen on his back, porcelain crabs, mantis shrimp, giant puffer and a myriad of other gorgeous creatures, really lovely chill dives. Two of the others were doing a third dive but first we all snorkelled in to the island for lunch, a friendly local dog bounding up for ear tickles the moment we landed on the shore was the perfect welcoming party!

We walked for maybe five minutes along the pristine white sand beach past tiny fishing boats dragged high up the narrow shore until we reached Shirley’s cottage and a beautifully laid table with juicy coconuts waiting for us all. Lunch was a feast of home cooked chicken broth soup, delicious squash, barbecued fish, flavoursome chicken, salty seaweed salad, rice and for dessert irresistible caramelised and sugared banana, YUM!

After our scrumptious lunch two of our merry band were going for a third dive which left the rest of us an hour to wander around lovely Pamilacan, or in our case, lay on the sand saying hi to all the local dogs who wandered by, diving is far more exhausting that you’d think 😉

Across the ocean we could see Panglao enveloped in cloud with rain pouring down while we spent the day bathed in lovely sunshine which made for a beautiful rainbow as the two weather systems met.

Once the others had finished diving and we’d swum back out to the boat we were soon heading back to Panglao just as the sun was setting on a pretty perfect day and we arrived back in full dark, the moon a tiny sliver of a smile and the lights of the Bee Farm twinkling in the night welcoming us back. A beer on the house and all our gear rinsed and put away we were about to head home when Sharna said she was staying to eat at the restaurant and it would have been rude to leave her to eat alone so we topped off the day with another gorgeous Bee Farm meal and some delicious coconut milk ice cream and plans to dive another day oh so very soon.

Days like today are what it’s all about, lovely people in lovely places all doing something we love, life is short, you have to remember to love it! Xx