From bancogon, we waited for the boat that would take us to the resort. Arriving in sumilon at past 2 p.m., we were told that our cottage was still occupied; we stayed in the restaurant, with the staff probably unsure of what to do with, and tell to, the arriving guests. Nobody could properly explain the situation to us. Helpless with the sumilon staff, we made calls to their office in manila to inquire about the apparent faux pas, with the person on the other line assuring us of accommodation in the resort. Thankfully, after 2 hours, we were asked to proceed to a vacant cottage. No apologies nor offer of drinks/food were made to the tired, famished and frustrated guests.

Sumilon is a nice small island with good facilities and even better amenities what with an infinity pool and a lagoon -- and the feeling of being far from it all. But what makes a vacation truly enriching and enjoyable is the efficient service offered by the hotel and its personnel. Hopefully, sumilon would realize this soon.

This resort is: 3 hours car ride from Cebu airport to Oslob, then a ferry ride from Oslob to Sumilon island. If you don't get direct flight to Cebu, don't even imagine about going to this place. Too many stop overs. And not worth it.

The island is tiny. They said you can cover the island on foot in half hour. The resort is the only facility in the island.
My room wasn't ready, so I waited in the cafe having breakfast. The breakfast buffet had some fruits and local flair: rice and fried fish heads, etc. They didn't look too good especially with swarming flies and crawling armies of ants over the food.

They have private bunglaows, and the room looked great.

They have 2 beaches.
One of them is 3 flights of stairs from the resort and coral reef bottom beach, good for snorkeling. They had a thatched roof cabanas there.

The other beach is about 5 min walk from the rooms and a couple flights down stairs and it's white sand beach.
Looks incredible. Skyblue water, white sand and no one else. But there is no sunbed or parasol, nothing to shade you. I spent an hour and half there and got a sunburn.

The scenery is great over all.
I liked the white sand beach but couldn't stay there too long because of the blazing sun, so I moved to the other one with thached roof cababna.
Watch out for the mosquitos attacking you mercilessly in daytime. I didin't bother to put the repellent on since it was day time. What a mistake. You need both very strong sunblock and insect repellent on top of each other in that island.
The mosquitos follow you as you walk. I got bites all over swollen up and itching like hell.

The real problem came the second night.
The first night, there was sort of a typhoon, so they lay quiet perhaps, but on the 2nd night, the giant flying cockroaches came out with a full force. Whenever I opened my door, a few of them flew right in.
I freaked and freaked and freaked. I took my shoes and insect spray and put up a fight . I think it took 2, 3 hours to get them all plus a giant moth.
I mean there were some other clawling things on the floor, but I was so freaked by these super sized flying bugs I could ignore the others.
Although I got the [--], I couldn't really calm down and fall asleep, plus the mosquito bites increased to about 15.
I became neurotic. I jumped at every slight bustles and itches.

I was paying 180 USD for a room and I was a mess.
I booked the place for 5 nights but I coudln't take it anymore.
I got the first ferry out of the island.

I mean all these could be forgivable if the place was dirt cheap, like the bungalows in Bali. But 180$ would get me a decent hotel room in Tokyo or Hong Kong. Spending this much in Philippines, I expected a full force luxuary.
The island doesn't produce any fresh water or food. They import everything from mainland. That's perhaps why they are so over priced.
I've always fantasized about a private tropical island, but now I know it is not that picturesque to be actually in it.

The trip was a disaster for me, but for some people who is not too freaked about bugs, the island could be charming.
The beaches are absolutely nice.
And it is secluded, so could be quite romantic or a couple.
But for me it was like being locked in a bug prison.
My worst nightmare.