Experience the best of Panglao Island

Panglao Island lies off the south-west tip of Bohol in the central Philippines and is joined to Tagbilaran, Bohol's main city, by two bridges. White-sand beaches line its southern shore, among them Alona Beach, where dive shops, restaurants and small hotels stand behind the palms, and Dumaluan, which is quieter.

Offshore, Balicasag Island has a marine sanctuary with coral walls and turtles, and boats go out to Virgin Island, a sandbar that appears at low tide, and to watch dolphins at dawn. On the island, Hinagdanan Cave is a limestone cavern with a pool beneath a hole in the roof. Across the bridge, mainland Bohol has the Chocolate Hills, conical grass-covered mounds, and the tarsier, a tiny primate with huge eyes.

Seafood grilled at the beach, kinilaw, raw fish cured in vinegar and citrus, and calamay, a sticky coconut sweet from Bohol, are favourite foods. Dry, sunny weather is typical in the first months of the year, while rain and typhoons are likelier in the second half.