Oceanica Resort Panglao, Bohol — Hotel in Panglao

We stayed two nights at the hotel There are some really nice parts and some truly disappointing things regarding the hotel that we like to share. I fully understand that the hotel offers a lot but as guests we can make choices and hopefully the management will change certain things.

First the good things: The staff is really nice, great rooms, amazing property, very clean beach: They do a big effort on cleaning up the beach every morning and remove trash and seaweed. Landscape is fantastic with many coconut trees and areas to sit or lay down and enjoy. The breakfast buffet has a great variety and fresh food. Since we are vegetarian, we wished there were a bit more choices for vegetarian food,.There are several pools with lifeguards but we never used the pools. There is a small gym which we enjoyed. In the evening there was live music which was great and not too loud, so listening and watching was really nice. Free farm tours and use of kayaks or SUP but more details below.

The Downsides: There are many people flying drones. Drones should be prohibited for privacy and noise disturbances. Soap, shampoo and conditioner are provided but in such small plastic tubes that all rooms together create a big amount of trash. It would be much better to offer refillable dispensers. The restaurant offers Tilapia fish and those are kept in very small tanks on the side of the restaurant. Tilapia are territorial fishes and chase and bite each other. Thus most of them had severe injuries. In fact, all the fishes that we had seen in the tanks were terribly sick/stressed. I took a picture of one tilapia that had one eye blind and the other eye hanging down on the side. Most of the fishes had this issue. The tanks were so crowded that they could barely move around and the water was murky and dirty. Not only for animal cruelty but who really wants to eat such diseased and stressed fishes?!? As consumers we can make choices (for example what to eat) and this will influence how things will be at the resort. The same animal cruelty is true for the South Farm: It is their own farm, not far from the resort where they grow plants and food and have animals. A great concept but lacking welfare for the animals. The rabbits for example are kept in very small cages, no solid ground, only standing on grid, multiple levels, meaning animals defecate on each other. They breed and mothers with their offspring are kept separate in same poor condition. A lot of the rabbits were sick. The highlight of visitors is to have pictures/selfies with animal and especially children enjoy feeding or petting them. I am sure this can be done much better, for example having different areas and maybe less rabbits so they have solid ground, also for birthing and nesting. Truly wish that the management of this hotel would change the concept and keep this great idea of having an own farm that people can visit but with welfare of animals as priority. For example rescue animals with options to adopt/sponsor is a great concept these days that benefits the animals, the owner/resort and sponsor.

One last remark regarding the kayaks: We choose this hotel because we wanted to use the kayaks that they offer and explore the ocean. We went to the hotel one week before our stay and talked to the lifeguard to check if we can use the kayaks (we had also called the hotel prior and they confirmed that we can use the kayaks). They have many, also SUP and the only requirement was wearing life jackets. When we checked in, we found out that there is a 30 minute time limit for use of the kayaks per day and also that they can only be used within the “property”. Not sure if they own the ocean but meaning a very small area, just good enough for people that wanted to take selfies. We talked to the management and there was no exception that we could use the kayaks longer or go farther out. Maybe makes sense for the safety for most people but we had a different purpose and were...

To start from the conclusion – given the remote location of this hotel in a “tropical paradise” I believe this is a great place to come and enjoy a tropical sea and beach vacation (obviously, if you can venture that far!).||To start off with the positives: the location is great, the sandy beach is fantastic and there is even a small patch of (live) coral near the shore where you can do some nice snorkeling. Food is alright and not expensive. You can easily go along the beach to see the surrounding area, or hire a car or a tuk-tuk and go around Panglao or the bigger island of Bohol.||Not many people know this, but Bohol is one of the few places in the world where you can swim/snorkel with whale sharks! There are several locations around Bohol, and one of them – Albuquerque – is less than an hour drive away from this hotel! Local fishermen feed them each morning, so you are virtually guaranteed a close encounter with these huge oceanic creatures!||Last but not least in terms of positives – the local Filipino people are very pleasant, nice to interact with – so we really enjoyed their company and service during our stay at this hotel!||Now off to the downsides. While this hotel is located on a tropical paradise beach, its whole organization seems to be focused on the idea that people would come there only to spend their time in or near the swimming pools 😊 If you want to go to the beach the big problem you encounter is the lack of sunbeds. In the “west wing” of the hotel (where we stayed) there were exactly zero (once again – zero) sunbeds on the whole beach area. There are quite a few sunbeds in the central area near the bar/swimming pool – but it is very crowded and there is no shade, so you would not want to spend a lot of time there. So you try to take some of those “central” sunbeds and bring them to the empty beach area in the West wing – and you immediately start getting questions from the security staff who tell you this is not allowed… Then you try and go to the “East wing” area – and there are a couple of sunbeds, but each of those appears to be connected with a respective beachfront villa and you end up sitting right in front of somebody’s terrace. All in all, such a small (at first glance) problem really spoils your experience and the impression you get.||Secondly, people at the reception spend quite a bit of time to tell you about the local agriculture farm nearby (which probably is a nice location, but might not be at the very top of your holiday sightseeing list) – but they are totally silent about the coral section of the sea in front of the hotel with a lot of colorful fish or on the opportunity to snorkel with whale sharks at a nearby village (which is a truly unique opportunity). What’s more – we directly asked these questions at check-in, and did not get a helpful reply (so we had to do our own research speaking with various local people and searching the internet). ||Then there is a noisy tractor that starts raking the beach each morning at about 05:45am. So if your windows are facing the beach and you are a light sleeper – probably you will be woken up each morning before 6 o’clock.||Lastly, choice of food at breakfast is so-so, and gets even more limited by around 9am (although officially breakfast lasts until 10:00). The good thing about breakfast is the variety of delicious tropical fruit!||To finalize – we enjoyed our stay and we would recommend this place to other travelers, but you need be aware of some of the things...

To start from the conclusion – given the remote location of this hotel in a “tropical paradise” I believe this is a great place to come and enjoy a tropical sea and beach vacation (obviously, if you can venture that far!).

To start off with the positives: the location is great, the sandy beach is fantastic and there is even a small patch of (live) coral near the shore where you can do some nice snorkeling. Food is alright and not expensive. You can easily go along the beach to see the surrounding area, or hire a car or a tuk-tuk and go around Panglao or the bigger island of Bohol.

Not many people know this, but Bohol is one of the few places in the world where you can swim/snorkel with whale sharks! There are several locations around Bohol, and one of them – Albuquerque – is less than an hour drive away from this hotel! Local fishermen feed them each morning, so you are virtually guaranteed a close encounter with these huge oceanic creatures!

Last but not least in terms of positives – the local Filipino people are very pleasant, nice to interact with – so we really enjoyed their company and service during our stay at this hotel!

Now off to the downsides. While this hotel is located on a tropical paradise beach, its whole organization seems to be focused on the idea that people would come there only to spend their time in or near the swimming pools 😊 If you want to go to the beach the big problem you encounter is the lack of sunbeds. In the “west wing” of the hotel (where we stayed) there were exactly zero (once again – zero) sunbeds on the whole beach area. There are quite a few sunbeds in the central area near the bar/swimming pool – but it is very crowded and there is no shade, so you would not want to spend a lot of time there. So you try to take some of those “central” sunbeds and bring them to the empty beach area in the West wing – and you immediately start getting questions from the security staff who tell you this is not allowed… Then you try and go to the “East wing” area – and there are a couple of sunbeds, but each of those appears to be connected with a respective beachfront villa and you end up sitting right in front of somebody’s terrace. All in all, such a small (at first glance) problem really spoils your experience and the impression you get.

Secondly, people at the reception spend quite a bit of time to tell you about the local agriculture farm nearby (which probably is a nice location, but might not be at the very top of your holiday sightseeing list) – but they are totally silent about the coral section of the sea in front of the hotel with a lot of colorful fish or on the opportunity to snorkel with whale sharks at a nearby village (which is a truly unique opportunity). What’s more – we directly asked these questions at check-in, and did not get a helpful reply (so we had to do our own research speaking with various local people and searching the internet).

Then there is a noisy tractor that starts raking the beach each morning at about 05:45am. So if your windows are facing the beach and you are a light sleeper – probably you will be woken up each morning before 6 o’clock.

Lastly, choice of food at breakfast is so-so, and gets even more limited by around 9am (although officially breakfast lasts until 10:00). The good thing about breakfast is the variety of delicious tropical fruit!

To finalize – we enjoyed our stay and we would recommend this place to other travelers, but you need be aware of some of the things...