Anda, Bohol - Amazing

The southeastern peninsula of Anda on the island of Bohol offers just about everything a family could want.  From private beaches to rugged hikes, Anda is the place to go.  There a number of resorts to stay at as you enter Anda, but we chose a secluded hilltop sport called East Coast White Sand Beach Resort.  Despite the long name, the amenities were classy, the views spectacular, food delicious, service outstanding, and beach pristine.  We spent 3 nights at this little haven and we could have spent more, as each day we found something new to do.

We could have passed each day swimming in the two infinity pools and snorkeling on our private reef, but that's just not our style so we set out to explore a bit.  Our first day there, Anna, Rosemary, my mom and I headed down to Long Beach and Anda town proper to see if we were missing anything...we weren't.  East Coast Resort lies about 5 km from Long Beach and Anda market, and when I booked the hotel I thought it was a bit closer.  We usually like to be within walking distance of a variety of things as we tend to get a bit antzy throughout the day.

Upon arriving at Long Beach, it was obvious that our spot was much better.  At low tide, the 3 km of beach looked dirty and not very enticing.  The few resorts that lined the ocean front were unimpressive and the food and drink at Boracay de Anda left much to be desired.  The highlight of being on the touristy beach was a 25 peso coconut water.  We returned to our resort reassured that we made the right decision.

On day 2, we decided to take a bit of a walk.  The walk led to a public/private beach, 40 oz San Miguel, Cave Pool swimming, and some intense heat.  Stumbling upon a local beach full of families (3) enjoying nature and jumping of rocks was a highlight.  Once again, we felt like zoo animals as the kids quickly swam over and waded in the shallow waters just in front of us so they could get a better look at us.  On our walk back, we saw a sign for Cater's Cave, and my wife wisely suggested that we check it out.  It turned out to be another local spot with a beautiful swimming hole and intriguing rock formations.

Day 3 allowed Anna and I to take a "date" adventure day.  We triked into town, then triked to Anda falls trailhead and started walking.  The trail was a wide dirt road, but provided amazing views of rice paddies and beautiful ocean.  The waterfall ended up being a piped spring that looked to be the main water source for Anda, that drained into a large pool.  We were able to cool off in a large spillover and it almost felt natural.  The highlight was the white breated wood pecker that we saw as we were leaving.  On our trek down, we realized that this was a birding hot spot and we saw 2 other new species: violet throated sunbird, and red keeled flowerpecker.  Along with those beautiful birds, a majestic Brahmini kite caught our attention as it was soaring towards the ocean.  We decided to walk back to town rather than take a trike we enjoyed the area so much.

The rest of our stay was spent enjoying our beautiful spot.  The snorkeling and beach provided hours of fun, and the relaxing waters of the pools provided a safe place to chill.  So glad that we went to Bohol, and Anda specifically.  Once again, we were impressed with the beauty of the Philippines.