My newest resort experience was spontaneous.On a hot Saturday afternoon of September 8, 2012, I thought of going to panglao the famous island in bohol because of its known majestic view beaches and resorts. One of the newest resort in panglao is Bluewater the future Luxury in Bohol. Come and join me exploring the seven dolphins of bluewater, truly bohol's pride!
From Tagbilaran i took a ride on a jeep going to Panglao(ALONA-DANAO) P20. Bluewater Panglao is the third resort from the Bluewater group of cebu (Maribago and Sumilon).
A spacious guestroom that surrounds the main swimming pool. Simple yet elegant with cantilevered beds make this accommodation a delight to sophisticated but cost-conscious guests.
Area - 68 sqm. • King Bed or 2 Queen Beds • Mini Bar • Cable TV • iPod Dock • Telephone • Shower & Bathtub • Private Veranda • Coffee / Tea Service
Family Loft
A two-storey accommodation with bedroom loft. Ideal for families of 4 persons.
AMENITIES
Area - 68 sqm. at ground floor / 65 sqm. at first floor • King Bed & 2 Queen Beds • Mini Bar • Cable TV • iPod Dock • Telephone • Shower & Bathtub • Private Veranda • Coffee / Tea Service
The room design and size was similar to the other Bluewater properties. Two queen sized beds can easily fit 4 adults. The room had a comfortable ethnic design, and the beds seem to float.
FAMILY POOL VILLA
A two-bedroom villa with private dipping pool. An enclave for families who love to be nestled in one space.
AMENITIES
Area - 224 sqm. • King Bed & 2 Queen Beds • Mini Bar • Cable TV • iPod Dock • Telephone • Shower & Bathtub • Lanai • 2.5 sqm. Private Dipping Pool • Illy Espresso Machine Service
HONEYMOON POOL VILLA
A romantic setting that is perfect for couples. With its own dipping pool, this type of accommodation is a love nest for people in love.
AMENITIES
Area - 142 sqm. • King Bed • Mini Bar • Cable TV • iPod Dock • Telephone • Shower and Bathtub • Lanai • 2.5 sqm. Private Dipping Pool • Illy Espresso Machine Service
Nearby are the smaller Honeymoon Villas — Villa Cabilao, Villa Balicasag and Villa Pamilacan — named after the islands of Panglao. The 142-square-meter villa is like half of the Family Pool Villa and has a lanai, a dipping pool and one bedroom with a king bed.
A spacious guestroom that surrounds the main swimming pool. Simple yet elegant with cantilevered beds make this accommodation a delight to sophisticated but cost-conscious guests.
AMENITIES
Area - 68 sqm. • King Bed or 2 Queen Beds • Mini Bar • Cable TV • iPod Dock • Telephone • Shower & Bathtub • Private Veranda • Coffee / Tea Service
Rooms: 54 Rooms (46 deluxe Poolview, 4 Family Lofts, 3 Honeymoon Villas and 1 Family Villa)
I loved the bathroom, which was again spacious. There was a skylight roof that provided an outdoor garden ambience.
Dining. APLAYA RESTAURANT
means “by the sea” or “seashore” in Spanish and Filipino. Bluewater Panglao Beach Resort’s Aplaya Restaurant is a large, open-air hut that offers international, Filipino-Asian and regional cuisines (open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.).The menu was designed by Bluewater executive chef Gilbert Alan Mathay. The restaurant is now under supervision of sous chef Val Villarin. The restaurant offers delectable and ample choices. A section is dedicated to Filipino dishes, as well as fresh catch from the sea.
Baroto Pool Bar (All-day dining and cocktails). Wi-fi access at both outlets.
“In all our Bluewater properties, we want our guests to experience Filipino from architecture to the food. Aside from the many dishes, here in Panglao we offer kinampay, which is very Bohol. I heard it is the best kind of ube you can find,” said Julie Alegrado-Vergara, president of Bluewater Resorts. Kinampay is actually one of the province’s official symbols and is said to be the most delicious variety of ube (purple yam), sweet and creamy. Bluewater Panglao uses kinampay in its desserts in inventive ways. The Boholano ube kinampay dessert (P150) is a sandwich of coconut macaroons with halayang ube kinampay and cream with sago (tapioca starch balls), served with ube ice cream. Julie recommends the Boholano ube kinampay drink (P180), which she loves. It is a concoction of halayang ube, coconut juice and sago. Even if you are not a fan of ube, you will find something to enjoy among the restaurant’s Filipino specialties. Start with the Aplaya Platter (P325) consisting of teriyaki chicken barbecue, pork and shrimp spring rolls and sesame seared tuna. For soup, have the sinigang na baboy (P275), the Filipino dish of pork in sour broth usually made from tamarind. For salad, they have what they call the native salad (P250), made with cucumber, bitter gourd, tomato and jicama and topped with stir-fried shrimp and dry milkfish flakes, and the Bluewater Salad (P320), grilled chicken breast layered with assorted lettuce, peppers, green beans, mango, carrots, shallots, spring onion and cashew nuts in balsamic vinegar dressing with sweet and sour sauce
All the offerings in the Filipino and Boholano section are a must-try. They have the classics: bistek Tagalog (P435), which is sautéed beef steak marinated in soy sauce and calamansi and served with onion rings and rice; chicken and pork adobo (P435), pork belly and chicken leg quarters braised in vinegar and soy sauce; and pinakbet (P290), the Ilocano stew of assorted vegetables with shrimps, bagoong alamang or fermented shrimp sauce and pork belly strips.
Their adobo rice (P320) is eye-catching and a meal by itself. The rice is fried with chicken adobo flakes and sauce. Then it is placed on a bamboo tube and topped with adobong Bisaya, which looks like pieces of lechon kawali. I was taken away by their lechon kawali (P435), which I am not actually a fan of. The pork belly is slowly cooked until tender and then fried to crispness. The skin is so crunchy like a tasty chicharon and the meat flaky. I was converted. It is served with steamed rice and two sauces — soy and vinegar with chopped shallots and vinegar with chopped shallots.
A Bohol specialty is the hinalang na manok (P320). Hinalang means “pinaanghang” or “made hot or spicy.” The chicken is cooked in onion, ginger, peppercorn, chilli and coconut milk. Another is the tinolang pugapo (P440). The pugapo or grouper is cooked with chayote, moringa leaves and tomatoes in a broth flavored with ginger, lemongrass and onion. When pugapo is not available, pompano (jack) is substituted, which many deem as better. The fish is supplied from the towns of Ubay and Tubigon.
Entrée choices include grilled pork chop (P350); lemon herb chicken (P350); grilled lamb chops with rosemary merlot reduction (P1,300); grilled US Black Angus tenderloin steak with reduction of balsamic vinegar, beet, carrot and parsley (P1,300); grilled U.S. Black Angus porterhouse steak (P1,700); prawn curry with eggplant, tomato, okra and pineapple and served with fried plantain slices (P600); seafood tempura (P350); and Bohol bouillabaisse (P400), a seasonal stew of fish, shellfish and vegetables with local herbs and spices. Also offered are the three baked lasagne cups, each with lamb, beef and chorizo meat sauces (P325); bibimbap (P275); linguine with mussels and clams (P325); nasi goreng (P350); and spaghetti (P290) with a choice of Bolognese, marinara, pomodoro, Alfredo and carbonara sauces.
Popular is the live seafood offerings. One chooses one’s crustacean (lobster, rock lobster, sea crab, mud crab and prawns), fish (pugapo, pompano, managat or mangrove jack, eel and stone fish) or shellfish (abalone, oyster, scallops, bongkawil, manok-manok and clams) and have them cooked with a choice of cooking styles. The Chinese style can be steamed with ginger and soy; with salt and pepper and fried in sea salt and Szechuan peppercorns; in sweet and sour sauce; or in black bean sauce. The Filipino styles are grilled or fried and served with native vinegar sauces, in sinigang soup and in tinola soup. Have them prepared Japanese style — as sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce or grilled with teriyaki sauce — or Continental style — steamed or grilled with lemon-butter sauce or garlic butter sauce. There are also Singaporean (chilli sauce or yellow curry) and Thai (red curry or grilled with lemongrass and served with nam pla or fish sauce) styles.
They also have sandwiches and burgers, and a menu for kids.
Choice Filipino desserts are the Bluewater fresh fruit halo-halo (P290), which is fruits in season topped with ice cream and served in a young coconut shell; Bohol Island (P150), ube ensaymada filled with vanilla ice cream on Bohol tablea chocolate sauce; and puto ug tsokolate (P150), sticky rice served with Bohol tablea hot chocolate and mango.
For drinks, they have a range of fruit juices, shakes and soft drinks. To cap an all Filipino meal, they have desserts drinks (P180) of mais con hielo, sago at gulaman, halo-halo and guinomis.
On Saturdays, Bluewater Panglao holds a Filipino-themed dinner buffet and show called Barrio Fiesta, in which the buffet offerings include adobo rice, pinakbet, pochero, lechon manok, beef caldereta, inihaw na pugapo, liempo, chicharon Carcar, ube alupi and many more. Guests are entertained by Filipino folk dances, including Bohol’s kuradang, by the Bluewater Panglao Cultural Dance Troupe composed of the resort’s employees and local youths.
While dining, one is served by attentive servers, who check on you often. The staff is generally young, energetic, welcoming and eager to be of service, so eager it comes off as ingenuous, charming and disarming.
The main pool was huge and became the center of attraction in the resort. The rooms in the ground floor all open up to this pool, so from your veranda, you can jump straight into the water.
Two free form lagoon-shaped swimming pools with waterfall. This pool is beside the Aplaya resto
Headlining the services of Amuma Spa are the Filipino-inspired massages and treatments, such as the hilot, the Filipino massage. The Hilot Lamang (P1,500 for 60 minutes, or P2,500 for 90 minutes) uses long, flowing strokes to relax tense muscles. The Hilot Ablon (P2,000 for 75 minutes), said to originate in northern Philippines, is also known as the dry massage because it does not use oils. Said to improve circulation and relieve stress, the massage uses thumb and palm pressure on certain points in the body as well as stretching.
The Hinhut-an (P800 for 30 minutes) is derived from the rural pastime of picking lice or kuto from one’s hair. The activity is said to be relaxing. Here, it is a head and shoulder massage with hair pulling to induce relaxation and rubbing of the neck, back and arms. On the other hand, the Pikpik Kawayan sa Siki (P1,500 for 60 minutes) is a foot and leg massage using bamboo tubes to apply gentle pressure.
The resort was split into two, the main buildings and the restaurant and beach area. The owners may have plans for the middle portion of the resort, since it was an empty garden only. There are around 5 villas facing the expansive garden.
It was a nice ATV ride to the other end of the resort where the restaurant was located. As I surveyed the place, There is plan to build a full-service like the one in Bluewater Maribago, part of the second phase of development of Bluewater Panglao which includes the building of more rooms.
I can just imagine pictorials on this Diwata bridge, or along this stone path. going to aplaya resto
with a backdrop of a cascading waterfall.
The Aplaya restaurant can accommodate around 120 people. Again, it was truly made for events. The restaurant was airy and had a very relaxing atmosphere. I just wished they changed the chairs to make it more comfortable
In Aplaya Restaurant, the ceiling is made of pieces of rattan, the ones thrown away when pieces of furniture are made. These short unusable pieces were arranged in a pattern that looks impressive in its entirety.
The furniture is custom-built for the resort. Many pieces use slats of wood woven together reminiscent of mats. The thick grass roofs top the overall sophisticated tropical look of the resort.
Beside the restaurant was an infinity pool, which no one seems to use. It was perfect for pictorials, and not so much for swimming. It overlooked the open sandy area which is again perfect for weddings.
Here's the thing for Bluewater Panglao: there is no beach. It's a rocky coastline with spots of sand under shallow murky waters. So, do not expect an Alona Beach experience here. You can do a lot of water sports though, like kayaking, bobbie cat sailing (in season) and snorkeling in the nearby reef.
The resort is really more for relaxation for me, and if you are a first time visitor in Bohol, you may be itching for more. Bluewater Pangalo is for those who want to escape, amidst a tranquil and more private setting. I really recommend it to family who really want a strong bond between your kids..
Recreation. Snorkeling and diving at the adjacent marine sanctuary and nearby Balicasag Island,diving safaris,sailing and windsurfing.Gameroom.
Leisure. Island activities and theme dinners, fishing and boat tours, cycling around panglao island,Dolphin and Whale Watching (seasonal).Guided Island eco and adventure tours.
More Options. Tropical weddings,romantic private and beach picnics
Bluewater Panglao is not what I expected it to be, since i arrived i can fell the rhythm of their music, The best of the resort as well of Bohol was offered to guests.
They also have one of the friendliest staff I have encountered. The resort in Panglao is somewhat unfinished, and needs more facilities considering that it is a resort that's out of the way. Nevertheless, in my short stay here, Bluewater Panglao provided me with a satisfying mid luxury experience that is not pretentious.
Embrace the Charm of Island!
BLUEWATER PANGLAO BEACH RESORT
Danao, Panglao Island,Bohol,Philippines
For more information about their packages please contact me here...
Thank you.....
