J&R Residence

J&R Residence: Hillside Villas Above Anda’s Coral Coast

J&R Residence sits in Sitio Dagohoy, Barangay Bacong — the same general stretch of Anda’s coastline as several of the municipality’s better-known small resorts — on ground raised about 12 meters above sea level, which gives the property an elevated view over the offshore reef rather than a flat beachfront outlook. It currently ranks second of roughly 46 hotels listed for Anda on Tripadvisor, and the OTA data backs that up: a 9.1 “Wonderful” score across 127 reviews, one of the higher review counts of any small property in the municipality.

Getting here

Reaching J&R Residence means reaching Anda first, and that’s a deliberate trip rather than a stopover. The municipality is about 110 kilometers from Tagbilaran on Bohol’s eastern peninsula, with no sea route — travelers either take a bus toward Guindulman and finish by habal-habal or jeepney, or book a chartered van for roughly PHP 2,000–2,500, which covers the distance in about two hours. This is not Panglao; the two sit roughly a half-day’s travel apart by road, one of the reasons Anda has stayed comparatively undeveloped.

The villas

Guest reviews describe several room categories — double, family, bungalow, and villa — with the villas the most spacious option: private terraces looking over the pool, the restaurant, and the sea, tiled floors, air conditioning, and small kitchenettes with a stove, fridge, mini-bar, and basic kitchenware, useful given how far the property sits from any real grocery or restaurant strip. A 24-hour front desk handles laundry and luggage, and the tour desk can arrange onward transport or diving trips; massage is available on request rather than as a standing spa service.

Pool and dining

The infinity pool is one of the most consistently mentioned features in guest reviews, angled to keep the sea in view from the water — reviewers with children specifically note it as a highlight, with grandparents ending up in it as often as the kids. The restaurant serves a mixed Filipino-and-international menu — salads, seafood, pasta, and meat dishes — and multiple reviews credit owners Jilo and Ralf directly for the level of hospitality, which in a property this size tends to mean the owners are present rather than running things remotely.

The reef and the beach

Direct beach access connects to an offshore coral reef, and the same water supports the snorkeling, diving, and swimming that draw most guests to Anda’s east coast rather than Panglao’s more developed one. Local dive operators put roughly 30 sites within a ten-minute boat ride along the Anda–Guindulman coast — mostly walls, sandy slopes, and macro-focused diving rather than the drift dives more associated with Balicasag or Cabilao further north.

History and lore nearby

Anda’s coast has been inhabited a lot longer than its dive tourism suggests. The municipality was formally established in 1850, during the Spanish colonial reorganization of Bohol, on what had been a relatively isolated fishing settlement — Punta Cruz Watchtower, a 17th-century defensive structure built against Moro raiders, and a still-working 1893 lighthouse at the peninsula’s tip are the clearest physical remnants of that period. Further out, Lamanoc Island off Barangay Badiang holds cave sites with pre-colonial burial jars and rock petrographs; the National Museum declared it an Important Cultural Property in October 2020, and visits go out by outrigger boat with guides from the Badiang Fisherfolk Association, which limits daily visitor numbers to protect the site.

Food, fishing, and the cash economy

Anda’s kitchens work from what its fishing fleet brings in — kinilaw made from tanigue or bariles rather than the tuna more common elsewhere on Bohol, and grilled squid cooked over coconut-husk charcoal at local eateries in town. Fishing remains the underlying economy of barangays like Bacong even as tourism grows around it, and that overlap is worth knowing before arrival for a practical reason: there is no ATM anywhere in the beach area, only in Guindulman roughly 30 kilometers back toward Tagbilaran, so guests need to carry cash for the length of their stay, including for habal-habal fares, which are negotiated on the spot rather than metered.

Rates and timing

The listed rate of about PHP 6,680 a night is estimated from comparable coastal Bohol beach-town properties with a similar review score rather than a live confirmed figure, so it’s worth checking Stay22 or Booking.com directly for current pricing. Anda’s peak periods are Holy Week and the mid-December-to-early-January stretch, mostly driven by domestic travelers from Cebu; outside that window the property’s various room categories tend to have more availability.

Who it suits

J&R Residence works well for families and small groups who want kitchenette self-sufficiency and a pool that keeps kids occupied between beach and reef time, and for travelers who’d rather deal directly with resident owners than a rotating front-desk staff. It’s a weaker fit for anyone wanting nightlife, restaurant variety, or a short transfer from an airport — none of which exist in Anda by design.