White beaches
Under the palms.
Øyvind Holmstad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Øyvind Holmstad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Herbertkikoy — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Herbertkikoy — CC BY-SA 4.0 · John Martin PERRY — CC BY-SA 3.0
Bantayan is an island in the Visayan Sea, Philippines, west of the northern tip of Cebu across the Tañon Strait, and its resort beaches in Santa Fe lie about 8 km from the town centre in a straight line. About 145,000 people live on the island. It is divided into three municipalities: Bantayan in the centre, the largest; Madridejos in the north; and Santa Fe in the southeast, the centre of tourism. The island covers about 109 square kilometres, is mostly covered in coconut palms, and is almost flat, rarely more than 10 metres high. Some twenty small islets lie around it, the nearest reachable on foot at low tide. Dense coconut palms line long beaches of white sand, and bangka boats float on clear, shallow turquoise water. In places white sandbars rise in the middle of the sea, and green lagoons are fringed with mangroves. Visitors arrive by ferry from the northern Cebu coast to Santa Fe. The island is quiet and slow-paced, ideal for beach days, cycling and trips to the small islets. The dry season, from December to May, is the best time to go.
Under the palms.
Out at sea.
About twenty.
Santa Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines
By ferry from the northern Cebu coast.
December to May.