Virgin Island Sandbar, Panglao
A 20-minute banca ride from Alona Beach delivers you to a blinding white sandbar that rises from the Bohol Sea like a mirage — shallow enough to wade across, surrounded by coral gardens, and dramatic enough that you'll feel like you've found something secret even with a dozen other boats anchored nearby.
The sandbar experience
Virgin Island is technically a small, scrub-covered islet with a sandbar extending from its western tip that is fully exposed only at low tide, transforming the surrounding water into a palette of aquamarine, teal and deep cobalt that makes every photo look edited.
Snorkelling directly off the sandbar is excellent — the coral begins just metres from the sand's edge and sea turtles are frequently spotted in the seagrass beds between Virgin Island and nearby Balicasag Island. Bring your own mask and fins to avoid paying rental rates on the boat.
Combining with Balicasag Island
Most island-hopping boats from Alona Beach combine Virgin Island with a stop at Balicasag Island, 8 km southwest of Panglao, which has some of the best wall diving in the Philippines — a sheer coral wall dropping to 40 metres teeming with jacks, barracuda and occasional thresher sharks.
Even non-divers can snorkel the shallower reef sections at Balicasag for a fee of around PHP 200 paid to the local marine sanctuary. The combination of sandbar and reef in a single half-day trip is hard to beat anywhere in the Philippines.
Virgin Island Sandbar, Panglao on video
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