“The good news is that there are still undiscovered beaches out there—blissful hideaways where tourism hasn’t yet eclipsed the local culture and there’s more to do, for those so inspired, than loll on the sand,” travel writer David Keeps said in his introduction to the article.
Another travel writer, Lara Day—who wrote the section on Panglao—selected Ananyana Beach Resort & Spa as the best resort on the island, citing its luxurious facilities and Filipino-Mediterranean cuisine, including ube (purple yam) ice cream.
“You can also head back to Bohol Island to check out the Chocolate Hills—a surreal natural wonder of 1,776 dome-shaped hills formed from limestone [and] covered in grass,” Day said.
Panglao is an 80-square-kilometer island attached to Bohol Island by a 19th-century causeway. Though the beauty of the island is already well-known to locals, it is only now that foreigners are discovering the islands, which began to be developed for tourism in the 1970s.
It is a favorite destination for divers because of the 250 new species of crustaceans and 2,500 new species of mollusks found around the island by the Panglao Marine Biodiversity Project.
An international research study was organized in Panglao in 2004 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Total Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea, and the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Center for Biodiversity Conservation.
Since the late 1980s, Panglao and the nearby islands of Dauis and Balicasag have been the origin of deep-water specimens that were collected with tangle nets by small-scale fishermen for the international shell trade.
The government plans to build Panglao Island International Airport to make the island more accessible to tourists, but its construction is yet to begin.
Aside from Panglao, Travel+Leisure’s other best secret beaches are those in Todos Santos in Baja California Sur, Mexico; Puako, Big Island, Hawaii; Ibo Island, Mozambique; Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam; Salema, Portugal; Bethany Beach, Delaware; Palm Beach, Barbuda; Cirali Beach, Turkey; Koh Lanta, Thailand; Grand Haven, Michigan; Lord Howe Island, Australia; Pyla-sur-Mer, France; Cayucos, California; and Alagoas, Brazil.
Source: The Manila Times.net
Written by : Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz, Reporter
Published : Thursday, March 15, 2012
https://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/editorials/19270-panglao-named-one-of-best-secret-beaches-on-earth
