Anchorage· Panglao· Philippines
Alona Beach Anchorage (Panglao)
9° 32.7′ N · 123° 46.3′ E · approximate
An open roadstead off Bohol's busiest dive beach, a one-kilometre strip of white sand under low limestone cliffs at the south-west tip of Panglao. Anchor here to go ashore for restaurants, ATMs and the dive shops that run the Balicasag and Pamilacan trips.
Practical
Position approx: placed about 300 m off the beach (Alona Beach coordinates 9.5484N 123.7734E from OpenStreetMap/Wikipedia) and checked as open water on the OpenStreetMap base map. No cruising guide we found gives a depth or holding for yachts here, so sound your way in and anchor on sand clear of coral. The beach faces south, so it is open to the south and to south-west monsoon (habagat, roughly Jun-Oct) swell; treat it as a day or settled-weather stop. Waters around Panglao are inside the Panglao Island Protected Seascape (Republic Act 11038, 2018), and the house reef is a busy training and night-dive site, so keep clear of dive flags, snorkellers and the constant bangka traffic off the beach. Land the dinghy on the beach. 7-Eleven and a BPI ATM are on Alona Beach (Wikivoyage; the ATM charged PHP 250 for overseas cards, verify locally). For a proper all-weather harbour use Tagbilaran (see Tagbilaran Port Anchorage).
Best for
Lunch-hook stop for Alona's restaurants and dive centres in settled NE-monsoon weather
Season
Best Nov-May; exposed to S/SW swell in the habagat