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Empty Nest Vacation Home in Tagbilaran City, Bohol

When I travel, I usually stay at a hotel. In my numerous visits to the central Philippine island of Bohol, I have always stayed at a pension house in Tagbilaran City or at beach resorts in Panglao Island. Aside from hotels, resorts, and pension houses in Bohol, there are also many home stay options in the province. I have never stayed at a home stay until recently. Along with 9 member bloggers of the Cebu Blogging Community (CBC), we stayed at Empty Nest Vacation Home in the Mansasa district of Tagbilaran City during the familiarization tour for the Seas The Day Bohol Tour.













Empty Nest Vacation Home

The Cebu-based CBC travel bloggers stayed at Empty Nest Vacation Home with a street address at 0042 E. K. Inting Street at the Mansasa District of Tagbilaran City. The house which is offered as a home stay option in the Bohol provincial capital city is located in a residential area which is situated in the middle of the way from Tagbilaran City to Panglao Island. The house which is located in a residential compound is a bungalow. It had 3 air conditioned bedrooms, each of which can accommodate at least 3 persons. Other house features are 2 toilet and bath, an indoor sanitary kitchen, a dining area, a living room, a front yard, and a 2-car carpark. Guests can utilize the fully equipped kitchen that has a refrigerator, a 2-burner gas stove, a 1-burner electric stove, a microwave oven, an oven toaster, and a percolator. Kitchen utensils, cooking utensils, cutlery, and drinking glasses are also made available for guests' use. Both the dining area and the living room are fully furnished. an 8-seat dining table with 8 molave chairs occupies the dining area. While a sofa and a center table are placed in the living room. The front yard features a well-maintained flower garden with an outdoor lounging area in the middle.


Empty Nest Vacation Home
Empty Nest Vacation Home
(Photo credits: Emjae Argallon of EmjaeFotos.com)


Rates for Empty Nest Vacation Home

Staying at Empty Nest Vacation Home in Tagbilaran City costs PhP 3,000 per night for 4 persons. For each of the fifth person and onward, an additional PhP 500 will be charged. The vacation home can accommodate 10 guests without compromise to comfort. To book the vacation home, dial 0918 3132009.

What To Do at Empty Nest Vacation Home

Guests who stay at Empty Nest Vacation Home can live like they are at their own homes doing their own chores like cooking and doing laundry. For entertainment, the house is cable-ready and a television set can be provided upon request. Wifi connectivity is also available.

If they are feeling lazy to do some cooking or want some restaurant food, guests can use the Green DasH delivery service. They can be reached through mobile numbers 0922 5438160 (Sun or Smart) and 0997 1116800 (Globe). One may also access the Green DasH Facebook page. Through Green DasH, one can have their favorite food from Metro Tagbilaran restaurants delivered at the doorstep.

Seas The Day: A DIY Customized Tour

Since I'm a frequent Bohol visitor, I am quite familiar with the common tourist spots that are included in most tours in Bohol such as the Bohol Countryside Tour, the Panglao Island Land Tour, and the Panglao Island Hopping Tour. Our recent visit to Bohol provided some novelty into how I experience Bohol each time.

We got first peek at Empty Nest Vacation Home's summer package, the Seas The Day Bohol Tour. It is a customized tour where guests get to decide which places to visit in their tour. Ours was mainly a food trip with a couple of stops at heritage places and a calorie-burning exercise in Panglao.

#CBCTravelNation Seas The Day Bohol Tour  

The #CBCTravelNation #blaagers consisted mainly of visits to restaurants or other food joints that were either owned or operated by family and friends of the owners of Empty Nest Vacation Home. Also on our itinerary were a couple of places with historical significance and a public beach in the island of Panglao.

JMJ Transport Services provided us the Toyota Hi-Ace van that we used for the tour. Arrangements for car and van rentals in Bohol can be made with JMJ Transport Services. Reservations can be made through Mr. Josias V. Datoy through mobile number 0999 7225564 or Ms. Elena "Ruth" Datoy through mobile number 0917 3043818. They may also be reached through office number +6338 4125271 or mobile numbers 0918 3348481. Their website is jmj-transport.com.

The 9 other bloggers who joined the trip arrived in Tagbilaran City in the early evening of 28 February while I had to take a slow craft that arrived the day after. Because of my late arrival, I was unable to join them for dinner at Abi's Seafood and Grill on the 28th of February. I arrived at 3 a.m. on February 29th and since I didn't know the exact location of Empty Nest Vacation Home, I had to wait for someone to respond on chat. And with Google Maps, I was able to locate the place and arrive at around 6 a.m. I caught a nap before we started the day's activities at 9 a.m.

Our first stop was at Estrella Bakery at the heart of Tagbilaran City. My blogger friends enjoyed coffee at the only place in Bohol that serves Illy coffee. The first meal of the day saw us enjoying breads and pastries #OnlyatEstrellaBakery. Croissants, pan au chocolat, tuna sandwich, chicken sandwich, crepés, and scones were served for breakfast.

Estrella Bakery
Estrella Bakery


National Museum Bohol Branch was the first heritage site we visited during the tour. I have long wanted to stop here and visit. But it was only recently that I finally got the chance. On display at the museum was the geological history of Bohol. It showed how the island's rock formation developed through millions of years. Burial jars, a 500-year old skeleton, antique pottery, farming implements, and fishing tools are on display at the museum. Paintings that depict some scenes of Boholano history are hanged on walls at a room in the museum.


National Museum Bohol
Skeletal remains on display at the National Museum Bohol




The President Carlos P. Garcia Museum was our second stop at a place with historical significance in Tagbilaran City. The museum was the residence of the former president of the Republic of the Philippines. There were a group of local students doing a tour at the museum when we got there. We did a quick tour of the first floor of the property then we were ushered to an audio-visual room for some film viewing. The first film showed to us the work done in Bohol after the major earthquake of 2013. The second film was about the life of former Philippine president Carlos. P. Garcia.

Carlos P. Garcia Ancestral House
Family portrait of the Garcia family



Barely 2 hours after having our first meal of the day, we were to have lunch at Sun Cafe. Tuna Garden Salad was served as appetizer. The house specialty Texas Pork Ribs was served as main entree along with Chicken Cordon Bleu.


Sun Cafe
Sun Cafe


While it was not part of the original itinerary, we were whisked away to Loay town where we were able to board the last Loboc river cruise of the day aboard one of the boats of the Rio Verde Floating Restaurant. To know more about Rio Verde Floating Restaurant, one may visit their website at rioverdebohol.com or get in touch with them through e-mail at rioverdefloatingresto@yahoo.com and mobile numbers 0918 942 8370 (Smart) and 0915 897 8390 (Globe or TM).

Rio Verde Floating Restaurant
Rio Verde Floating Restaurant


The highlight of the cruise was not the buffet lunch on boar. But the interaction with natives at the Ati Village. We hardly ate during the cruise as we were so full already.

Ati Tribe
Ati kid in Loay
We were off to burn some calories with some serious paddling activities at the original Dumaluan Beach Resort in Panglao Island. The resort is located in my favorite beach spot in Panglao Island, Bolod's White Beach. Dumaluan Beach Resort recently completed construction of bigger rooms within the property and we were able to use them to wash up after some activities at the beach.

Bloggers were also able to interview Lola Mayang, the original owner of the resort. She shared to us how the resort started as a family gathering place, their struggles at keeping the property, and how it has stayed affordable to cater to the masses who wish to enjoy Bohol's beaches which are otherwise becoming ridiculously expensive.

Dumaluan Beach Resort
Carlo interviewing Lola Mayang


Note: There are several resorts in Barangay Bolod that bear the name Dumaluan Beach Resort.




The original plan was for us to do stand up paddle from Dumaluan Beach Resort to Alona Beach and back. But bigger than usual waves scuttled the plan and the bloggers were content with rowing on their sea kayaks at the vicinity of the resort. Guides from the Bohol Paddlers' Association did a mini clinic before the bloggers took to water on their paddle crafts.

As energy refill, we had dinner at Gustus Restaurant where we served mostly Filipino dishes such as Pork Crispy Pata, Sizzling Bulalo, Cajun Shrimps in a Bag, Sizzling Sisig, Adobo Rice, Bagoong Rice, Buffalo Wings and Fries, and Asian Cajun Wings and Fries.

Gustus Restaurant
Sizzling bulalo from Gustus


Familiarization trips are opportunities for bloggers to bond and get to know each other better. After an eventful day, bloggers settled down for some group bonding activities at Empty Nest. While I missed the fun when they played Uno while I was still en route to Bohol, I sure did not miss the fun playing Bullshit while having a good drink of Soju and Pineapple Orange Juice.

Before our return trip to Cebu the next day, we had breakfast at Jojie's Painitang Bol-anon. Breakfast items served were Chinorizo, Kosahos Baka, Kosahos Baboy, Vegetable Lumpia, and Inun-unang Piniritong Tulingan. We were also treated to a generous serving of desserts that included Dinumugan, Puto Balanghoy, Biko Dukot, Cassava Cake, and Bibingka Boholano. As pasalubong, we got half a box of Biko Dukot and half a box of their delicious Cassava Cake.

Jojie's Painitang Bol-anon
Kakanin from Jojie's


The night before, we were also given some pasalubong packs consisting of baked polvoron, peanut polvoron, and peanut crunch. This was courtesy of Tienda Boholana. Tienda Boholana products are available at Baclayon's Aproniana Souvenir Shop, Angel's Basket near the Tagbilaran City pier, and in all supermarkets and malls in Tagbilaran City. Orders may also be done through telephone number +6338 4220040.

Create Your Own Seas The Day Tour

For tourists wanting to visit Bohol in the summer of 2016 and want a different experience from the usual tours on offer, they have an option to customize their tour through the Seas the Day Bohol Tour package offered by Empty Nest Vacation Home for a limited time only.

Full disclosure note: We were hosted free of charge by Empty Nest Vacation Home during this tour. All activities and food were also sponsored by the various businesses mentioned. Rest assured, the author's opinion is his own and is in no way influenced

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