15

maybe they were afraid you would post about them on lp for attacking foreigners

16

In Padre Burgos whale sharks can normally be found from November until May. All other activities, including diving, dolphin watching, island hopping, sailing, etc are all year round and can be arranged for groups of just 2 people.

Of course they arrange these trips for 2 people or even 1. My point is, when here is a boat that needs to go out, 95% of the time in the 'phils there is one price for the boat, in the range of 1000s of pesos, that covers 1, 2 or 15 people, as the boat, fuel, captain, crew, etc must all be paid for. My point is, if there isn't enough people going out, you generally must pay for the full price for everything. For instance, that boat trip to the limestone formations near Tacloban costs about us$50 for just you or ten people.

VRC beach resort, thats the one I was thinking of, definitely a nice place to chill. #16, maybe you didn't see them that time, but they are there alright! I saw 2 of them jump in a small Filipina girl and steal an apple for her, and a few of them came after me teeth bared screaming, the rangers aren't kidding. Irishman, you're a funny man!

17

I've been to all the 'local islands' to Cebu now except Malapascua - that's Bantayan, Camotes, Siquijor, Biliran and Camiguin and Biliran has easily the worst beaches of that group, not that this alone makes it not worth visiting. It's a great island actually, however there is nowhere to hire a bike, even tourist 'market leader' Marvin's in Naval does not do this, in fact as far as I know nobody in northern Leyte is hiring bikes out properly, which is the best way to get around Biliran or indeed any other island. I had to bring mine from Cebu. VRC is one of the best deals you will find in the Phils - 700 for ac room with cable, for a resort with pools and a sea view - outstanding really. However the beach and sea is definitely not inviting, believe me you do not get overwhelmed with this desire to swim in it and the pools on the resort are very handy indeed. Possibly there are some beaches on the east side of the island I didn't see that are not developed yet, that is the poorer less developed side, with bad roads, where Waray Waray and not Cebuano is the most widely spoken language.

18

The beach next to VRC resort is called Agta Beach. There is a resort there too called the Agta beach Resort.

Yes the single rooms are good value but the house is good value too. It is P1250 for 2 or P2500 for 4.

It has 2 bedrooms, bathroom and open style living room/kitchen/dining. The Kitchen has stove, oven and fridge. The lounge/living room has dream satellite TV. The dining table is good for 6 and they include all pots pans, plates etc. It also has a balcony over looking the sea and the resort.

I paid P2900 for 8 of us. P2500 for 4 people in the 2 bedrooms and P400 for 4 mattresses on the floor.

I have video of it but I can't edit it and I do not want to upload the un edited version.

19

I looked over that next door resort, yes it is good value too, you get a fridge for the 1200 rooms as well, the Agta also has, unlike VRC, a half-decent looking restaurant, however the 700 or 800 basic fan rooms do not have a tv. There's a couple of other resorts quite similar on that 'block' too, the VRC is the best pick though. I'm sure you would get a reduced rate for longer stays on request, let's say it wasn't all that busy at least in early December, however I wasn't complaining about VRC's prices at all - a real bargain. The only place I saw on Biliran that was doing decent business was Marvin's in Naval, it looked a pretty slick operation to me actually, they do not have any fan rooms at all despite their being absolutely no need for aircon in a place like Biliran.

a GV hotel was just about to open up in Naval when I was there.

a newer place opened up 7km south of Naval in Catmon called Chamorita http://www.chamoritarp.com/ again very good value rooms however the fan rooms do not have tv, but I'm sure you could iron out some deal with the owner to not use the aircon in the 900 peso rooms that do have a tv. A very knowledgeable American guy incidentally, even if you don't stay here drop in for a drink one night, though the food in the restaurant is terrible. Very nice setting, again though not really that great for swimming.

20

I stayed at Marvin's for 1000pp for a double room for 2 pax. No a/c rooms indeed and no beach nearby, although there's a nice patio looking over the ocean. VRC is a much better choice, although sometimes it gets block booked by groups, so Marvin's is a fallback option.