Its only pricey if you want to live like a tourist!!Panglao/Alona Beach is lovely, much nicer than Boracay, I was it's what Boracay should be like if it wasn't full of disco's, posh hotels, hookers and touts. It is a bit pricey though, on par with Boracay, but i imagine that is down to the diving schools attracting large numbers of Koreans with big wallets.
Loads of reasonably priced restaurants and bars for us locals!
By far, the best beaches are the Bohol beach club area and a bit further round the island over at Dolho..
The cheapest 24 hour stays range from 700.00 (with motor bike) to 5000 P..The most expensive resort here will set a family of 3 back 140,000 PHP per night.
There is one more beach here that I prefer to those mentioned above but it wont be for long if I advertise it!!
Cheers,
Fred.