After a 1 hour flight from Manila to Cebu, 5 hours of land travel via bus, and 1 hour of sea travel, we were finally able to reach Bantayan Island. This island is at the northern tip of Cebu, and has recently become more famous when a local movie showcased its beautiful white sand and shores on the big screen. Many were curious as to where the film was shot, and we were lucky enough to have time to journey and find this little piece of paradise in the Philippines.

From the ferry ride (the last leg of a long travel to reach the island), there are many tricycles that can give you a ride to your desired part of the island. For us, that was Kota Beach or better identified as where Camp Sawi is located and was shot. (The title of the film was Camp Sawi - "sawi" being a Filipino term with no direct English translation, yet is close to being defined as ill-fated in love, I guess.)

The beach did not fall short of our expectation, and made the long travel to get there well worth it. There's a long stretch of white in the middle of the shore and the rest of the sea - a beautiful sandbar where we spent most of our day. The sand was white and fine, and the waters were a gradient sea of blue. There were picnic tables and beach chairs where you could, like us, eat some famous Filipino halo-halo to beat the summer heat, and even drink some wine to celebrate under a starry evening.