3D2N Guimaras Trip

I would like to thank the blog of Jikoyatako and Pinoyadventurista for their inputs about Guimaras in planning this adventure. 

We booked the earliest flight of Zest Air (cheapest) from Manila to Iloilo. It was the first visit of my friends to Iloilo so we decided to spend the rest of the morning in the city. We arrived at Iloilo International Airport around 6am, good thing that Tatay picked us and directed us to have breakfast at Ted's Batchoy near SM City (it's open 24 hrs btw). I think regular fare from Iloilo Airport to City proper in P70. Vans are parked outside the main entrance of the airport so it's not really a problem to find a ride to the city, if you have the budget you can take the cab (same flat rate as Manila).

Iloilo's batchoy for breakfast. :)

We visited some of the old buildings in Iloilo.

Sayang at sarado pa ang Iloilo Museum when we we're there.

Jaro Cathedral - also known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles. The shrine is located on top of the main entrance which can be reach through the side stairs. Kakaiba sa simbahang ito ang bell tower na nakahiwalay sa mismong simbahan. It is located across the street.

Jaro Cathedral or The National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles

Done with Iloilo City tour. next stop: Guimaras!

My tatay accompanied us up to Ortiz Port/Wharf, the jump off point to Guimaras. It's a 10-15-min boat ride from Iloilo to Guimaras depending on the wave current and P15/person lang ang fare. #angsaya #angmura 

Upon arrival at Jordan Port in Guimaras, marami ng lalapit sa inyo for transfers. Instead na makipagusap sa kanila we look for the DOT booth to inquire for our transfers with land tours. Since we're planning to spend the remaining day for the tour we chose the transfer via a multicab. Medyo may kalayuan din kasi yung ibang pupuntahan namin and it's not practical to ride the tricycle since we're four in the group. We negotiated the price with the driver for P1,600, prior quote is 1,800 #notbad. Some tricycle drivers even offered half the price but for the comfort and safety we opted for the multicab.

The Philippines' smallest plaza. Sabi ni kuya (the driver) this plaza once proclaimed as world's smallest plaza in the Guinness Book of World Records but another country has built the smallest one a year after. 

The smallest plaza in the Philippines and the research center for Guimaras mangoes.

National mango Research And Dev't Center - bagay to sa mga field trip very educational sa loob from scientific names to mango types. Pwedeng pumasok ang multicab, may mga nagkalat din na iba't ibang species ng birds at bayawak. 

Me, the multicab and the mango tree. haha

The Trappist Abbey Monastery - sabi ni Google this is the only monastery for men in the country and is open for guests for spiritual counseling, mediation and retreat. 

Meron silang food processing plant for fruit jams and chips. My personal favorite is their banana fries, sorry forgot to take a picture. Mas mura ata ang fruit jams and other Trappist products dito compared sa pasalubong center. 

Camp Alfredo - ideal for barkada getaway since they offer activities like zipline and hanging bridge. Cabin accommodation is also available, maganda yung rooms nasilip ko haha. We weren't able to try their zipline kasi wala sa plano at labas na sa budget, #sayang. We paid 20/person para makapasok at ma-tour ang camp. Parang masarap i-try yung infinity pool na kakagawa lang, also they have Stations of the Cross situated in the forest area, ideal maybe for Holy Week retreat. 

Camp Alfredo Land Adventures

Brgy. Ravina, Guimaras

"Commune with Nature"

09081232977

Valle Verde Mountain Resort - our driver insisted na dumaan kami dito for unknown reason. Nakakatakot yung daan papasok kasi medyo malayo s'ya sa highway, gilid ng bundok at puro talahib pa ang gilid ng daan. In fairness kay kuya hindi naman kami nagsisi kasi maganda naman, tahimik at secluded yung area. Overlooking  din ang beach dito. May swimming pool at cold spring, meron din silang huts for rent if you'll gonna spend the whole day here and rooms for overnight stay. If gusto mo ng tahimik na bakasyon, dito ka na!

Valle Verde Mountain Resort

09187303446

Guisi Point and Guisi Beach - last stop ng land tour namin, pinakamalayo at pinaka-nagenjoy kami.The 30-45 min ride is so worth it. Ang ganda at nakaka refresh lang ng lugar. Entrance fee is P10.

View from the top of the old lighthouse. The cream/white beach is the Guisi Beach.

The old and new lighthouse.

Buwis-buhay na pag-akyat sa old lighthouse. 

Raymen Beach Resort - this will house us for the next 2 nights of our Guimaras stay. Almost 6pm na kami dumating from Guisi, after checking in nagorder na kami sa cafeteria nila (you need to order an hour before since they don't have readily available food, iluluto pa lang nila upon order). We ordered our food around 6:15, they inform us na ready na around 7:30 tagaaaaal...

Second day - Island Hopping Day. :) pero before yan avail muna and complemetary breakfast ng resort. BTW our accommodation was AC Room for 4 for P2,200/night. I had tapsilog for breakfast. 

After breakfast we inquire about their island hopping, sadly tumaas na sya from P400 naging P500 na for the first hour and additional P150 for the succeeding hour. Since plan talaga namin na magisland hop for the whole day we avail the 6 hour service for P1,250. Pwede na.

We left Raymen Resort at 8am with our packed lunch na pinaluto namin sa cafeteria kasabay ng breakfast.

Beach front of Raymen Resort and first islet we saw in the island hopping.

Our sunny-yellow boat and the back entrance to SEAFDEC.

SouthEast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), Igang Marine Station - strickly for research daw ang mga isdang nandito. Isa sa kanila ay ang GIANT GROUPER weighing around 120 kilos and carnivore daw yan so di na namin inattemp na lumapit, mahirap na. Makikita din dito ang mga giant salt-water Bangus which is around 4-6 kilo each. In other fish pens, there are lapu-lapu's and other fishes under research. Floating fish pens naman daw yung buong area kaya safe kahit bumagyo at tumaas ang tubig.

GIANT GROUPER - carnivore #afraid

Pinag-aaralan din nila dito ang ilan pang marine animals tulad ng sea horse, sea cucumber at star fish. 

Ave Maria and Turtle Island. Kapag type mo ang snorkelling then Ave maria Island ang bagay sa'yo. Hindi mo na kailangang pang lumangoy sa malalim just to witness the underwater beauty of Guimaras, marami ka ng isdang makikita kahit sa waist-deep water lang. Huwag lang kalimutang magdala ng ipapakain sa kanila para lapitan ka. #underwatercameraiwant

Si kuyang bangkero na gustong maging engineer. #tiwalalang

Andaming star fish at iba't -ibang species sila! This one was my favorite. Perfect symmetry and patterns.

Baras Cave - a short cave and can be traverse by the boat pero low tide daw yung time namin kaya di kayang pumasok ng boat. Ang lamig ng tubig dito and sarap maligo. We stayed for 15 minutes swimming pero napagod din kami agad.

Turtle Island and Baras Cave

Natago Beach - We stayed here for the rest of the island hopping. Ito din yung favorite namin among the island/beaches na dinaanan/pinuntahan namin. Natago beach kasi literal na nakatago talaga s'ya. This island is owned by a foreign national who was out of the country that time so we're free to explore and enjoy the beach. Yey! 

The only house in Natago Beach. 

the close to white sand and the clear water

Medyo ma-coral at may sea snake lang pero okey na okey lang. Hehe #natakotngkaunti

Sea Snake :D

Best lunch ever! Everything was so perfect. Will definitely miss this.

our packed lunch :)))

Nakabalik kami kami ng Raymen before 3pm, lagpas ng konti sa 6 hour planned island hopping. 

henna tattoo and rainbow

Ang maganda sa Raymen, may ilaw yung shore nila kapag gabi up to 2am or hanggat may tao pa kaya safe magnight swimming. Pero dahil sa pagod nahiga lang kami sa shore, naglaro ng cards at nagkape. hehe

Day 3: Last chance to go swimming. We need to go back to Iloilo by lunch for our flight back to Manila. Dissapointed kami nung umaga kasi maraming jellyfish yung shore, as in hundreds of small baby jellyfish na mahapdi pag dumikit sayo. #swimnomore

Dapat jump shots kaso fail lahat. hehe

There's no way to better end your Guimaras Adventure than having these mangoes with you. 

Guimaras Mangoes

See you again Guimaras! <3

Boracay!

For this trip we opted for a Manila-Iloilo-Caticlan route kasi dadalaw na rin sa mga relatives in Iloilo. Iloilo to Catiklan is a 5 to 6-hour land travel via Ceres bus or direct van from Iloilo City to Caticlan Jetty Port. 

Since we're in a tight budget we took the bus. Manila-Baguio level lang ang tagal ng land travel.

Around 6am we arrived in Iloilo International Airport, thank you Cebu Pacific for the on-time departure in Manila. Iloilo's airport is a 30-45 minute drive pa to the city proper, you can ride the van for P70/head or via metered taxi  parked just outside the airport. 

On-time din ang sundo namin. Yihee! Nagbreakfast lang kami sa bahay ni Tita then konting kwentuhan then visited na some churches before going to the bus station.

 Bagong gising lang yan, ang cute na. #mycutepamangkin

We went to Jaro Cathedral just beside Jaro Plaza.

After Jaro Church, deretso na kami sa bus terminal. Konting hintay lang then umalis na din yung bus, we just slept for the whole duration of the travel. Nagising lang kami when we reached Kalibo to take some light snacks and to use the comfort room. 

After 1 hour 30 minutes we finally arrived at Catiklan Port. My friends paid for terminal (P100) and environatal fee (P75) before paying the boat fare (25). Buti na lang taga-Aklan ako so exempted sa ganung fees. If you can speak Aklanon, kaya namang lusutan ang mga officers dun na nagchecheck ng tickets. Sabihin mo lang na taga kabilang bayan ka and ro anwang ga-eongaeog sa eongaeogan. Madali lang naman di ba? :)

Kung ganito naman kagandang view ang bubungad sayo sa Boracay, sulit na sulit naman ang mahabang byahe. Station 1 at the famous Grotto.

Kapag low season, you can actually go near and even climb the grotto malapit lang din 'to sa Jonah's fruit shake. 

Ang view sa bandang likod ng grotto. Nice pa rin di ba?

Paraw boats parked along shores of Station 3. 

Second day na ata ito, first day  = rest day lang muna napagod sa byahe eh. 

Sand art. OO! Art na yan noh! Hahaha

One of the 3 areas na pinuntahan namin during the island hopping. Pinili namin to kasi walang tao compared dun sa ibang area. So nung time na yun kami lang talaga yung nandito sa side na 'to. This is Boracay 10-15 years ago, wala pang masyadong establishments at malamok pa tuwing gabi. Ngayon sa liwanag ng Boracay tuwing gabi, mahihiya na ang lamok. Hehe

the famous white sand...

Met my high school friend in the island. (Hi, Chresly!)

My travel companion, perfect for long walks and even for swimming.

Swimming! :)

Syempre jump shots na naman! hahaha

Umo-Oblation! Cool pala nito, parang nago-open yung clouds sa taas. Haha

Ayan na naman silang naninira ng moments. Ang ganda ng reflection ng sky sa shore! Yun lang.

More jump shots. :)

Seafood buffet along the beach in Station 2. Pati pala buffet dito natatawaran, from P300/head natawaran namin ng P220/head. Eto yung pinamalapit na buffet area sa D'mall, can't recall the name, I'm poor in recalling names. Sorry.

Real Coffe in Boracay is also a must try place. Sikat dito yung muffin/coffee combo nila.

Before going home the next day, we walked again the shores of Station 1 to 3 and saw this group of kids playing. Ang saya saya lang nila! Sana ang mga bata sa Manila maexperience din ang ganito. :)

Bye for now BORACAY!