Alona Beach  Originally it was called Tawala Seaside, but in the early 1980’s

Philippine film star Alona Allegre - a favourite of deposed dictator and master-criminal President Ferdinand Marcos - came to the deserted beach in the middle of the Philippines and made a film in which she starred as a mermaid who falls in love with a mortal…and the local guys flocked to the beach to ogle the half-clad beauty from the rocks above the film-makers… ‘Let’s go and see Alona!’ was the cry around Tawala – and the fishermen’s tale and the name began. Then a few wandering European safari divers, looking for new places to explore, found where the mermaid lived, and fame rapidly spread worldwide… 

WHERE IS IT? Panglao Island is on the southern tip of Bohol Island, right in the middle of the peaceful Visayas region of the Philippines, and Alona Beach is at the southernmost tip of the island, facing south. Bohol itself is formed by 73 other islands and is connected to mainland Bohol by two bridges. It is only 20 km (half-an-hour) from the city of Tagbilaran, which has a port and a domestic airport linked to international airports in the Philippines.