WW: Philippine Beaches

Wordless Wednesday

Its summer and the scorching heat of the sun really hurts big time. Going to the beach just seem so perfect this season. Last year, I've been to a few beautiful beach destinations in the country:

El Nido, Palawan

Isla Gigantes, Carles Iloilo

Sandbar Island Resort, Concepcion Iloilo

The Famous Boracay Sunset

Oslob, Cebu

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Travel Guide: Isla Gigantes in Less Than PhP2000

Ever since we have posted pictures of our Isla Gigantes Adventure, friends started to ask a lot of questions on how to get there, how much did we spend all in all, etc. So I thought I'd post a guide on how to get to Isla Gigantes and some tips on what to expect at the island.

Gigantes Group of Islands is accessible via Estancia (Iloilo) port.

How To Get There:

1. Estancia is just 2 hours away from Roxas City, Capiz via Ceres bus. Fare is PhP81.
    From Iloilo, bus ride is approximately 3.5 hours. Fare is PhP145 via Sara/Balasan-bound Ceres bus.
    Estancia-bound bus fare from Iloilo is PhP152.

2. From the bus terminal, you can go to the port of Estancia by riding a tricycle. Fare is only PhP10.

3. Passenger boats leave from Estancia port at 2pm so make sure you arrive early. Boat travel is approximately 1.5-2hrs and fare is PhP80 per person. From Isla Gigantes to Estancia port, passenger boats leave at 9am.

4. Once you get to the island, you will have to ride a motorcycle going to Gigantes Hideaway Inn. Fare is also PhP10 per person.

Important Notes:

*For those who need to travel by plane, nearest airport would be in Roxas City. But flights are very limited. If there is no flight to Roxas City from your area, next option is Iloilo or Kalibo. But I am not sure if there is direct bus or van routes from Kalibo to Estancia.

*Sara/Balasan Ceres bus will only drop you off at Bani-an corner where you will have to ride a tricycle going to Estancia port which is about 5-10 minutes. Tricycle fare is also PhP10.

*I think there are also L300 passenger vans that travel to Estancia but I'm not sure about this.

*It is best to contact someone from the Island to know if there is a boat trip when you get there. They may also arrange a boat service for you.

*It is best to go there during summer as it may be difficult or may not even be possible to go to the island when there is low pressure in the area.

Electricity

Electricity in the island is limited. It is only available from 4pm-11:30pm. Though the resort uses a generator after the electricity is cut off. But i think they only turn the generator on for a few hours.

Mobile Networks

There is no mobile network signal in the island. You can try hanging your cellphone on the tree. You may be able to receive some text messages. If you are desperate to make a phone call or send a text message, the resort caretakers can accompany you to a higher area within the mountains where there is a signal. They call it their "call center". ^^

Water Supply

The resort owner, Mr. Joel Decano, boasts of their unlimited water supply which comes from a natural spring. You can even drink water straight from the faucet. We brought our own mineral water but we were also able to drink from their supply. It has a taste so you may not get used to it easily. :)

Gigantes Hideaway Inn Expenses

Accommodation

Accommodation is PhP200 per person per night. You can take any of the rooms they offer. Our group occupied the whole house which has 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, and 1 restroom.

Food

The resort can provide food for you. They will charge you with the same price from the market. Then you will just give their cook, Manang Anggay, a tip for her cooking service. Seafoods are very cheap in the island and our sumptuous dinner on our first night was only PhP745.

Island Hopping

Boat rental is PhP2500 including the tour guide fee. This activity will take you to seven beautiful islands including Tanke, a natural pool.

Spelunking

The tour guide fee for spelunking is PhP200.

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Breakdown of Isla Gigantes Expenses (Accommodation, Food, Activities, Tips):

Dinner: 

3kgs Scallops (Shell-on) @35/kg - 105
1kg Scallops (meat)                       100
1.5kg Fish @ 80/kg                       120
2kgs Crab @190/kg                       380
Soup                                               40 

Total                                             745

Breakfast:

7 Eggs            56
Hotdog           25 

Total              81

Lunch:

.5 kg Scallop (Meat)    50

Dinner:

2kgs Scallops (shell-on)     70
.5kg Scallops (Meat)         50
1kg Fish                            80
2kgs Crab                         380
1.5 gantang Rice              120 
Total                                 700

Accommodation (2nights)

7pax @ 200each - 2800

Activities & Misc.

Boat Rental - 2500
Spelunking Tour Guide Service - 200
Cooking Service Tip - 358

Overall Total Expenses at the Island: 7700

Total Expenses per person: 1100

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Here is a breakdown of the overall total expenses for each person (in a group of 7) for the Isla Gigantes trip:

Bus fare from Roxas or Iloilo: 80 (Roxas) / 145 (Iloilo)
Tricycle Fare from terminal to Andok's Restaurant: 10
Andok's Restaurant (lunch): 40
Tricycle Fare To Pa-on Beach Club (Side trip while waiting for the boat schedule at 2pm):10
Pa-on Beach Club Entrance Fee: 20 (consumable)
Tricycle Fare to Port: 10
Boat Fare to Isla Gigantes: 80
Motorcycle fare to Gigantes Hideaway: 10
Gigantes Hideaway Inn Expenses (Accommodation,Food,Activities  + tips): 1100
Boat Fare Back To Estancia - 80
Tricycle Fare to Pa-on Beach Club - 10
Lunch at Pa-on Beach Club (No entrance fee if you eat there or maybe order something) - 145
Tricycle Fare To Bus Terminal - 10
Bus Fare to Roxas or Iloilo - 80 (Roxas) / 152 (Iloilo)

Overall Total Expenses Per Person:

From Roxas - PhP1685

From Iloilo - PhP1822

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Isla Gigantes Contact Information:

Joel Decano

Proprietor/Tourism Officer

09184685006

09155796612

Facebook: Isla Gigantes

email: isla.gigantes@yahoo.com

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Isla Gigantes, Carles, Iloilo

Second on my summerscape 2012 list is Isla Gigantes, located in Carles, Iloilo. Though a boat trip to Isla Gigantes is only available in Estancia. My companions were from Roxas City, Capiz and I'm the only one who's coming from Iloilo so I had to leave at least an hour earlier than them. Travel time from Iloilo to Estancia is approximately 3.5 hours while from Roxas City is only 2 hours. I took a Sara-Balasan bound Ceres bus since there was no Estancia route yet. The Ceres officer instructed me to get off the bus at corner Bani-an and ride a tricycle to Estancia which was 10-15 minutes only. And that's what i exactly did. :)

Bus fare was PhP145 while tricycle fare was PhP10. Me and my friend agreed to meet at Andok's restaurant and we coincidentally arrived right at the same time and that's where I first met 5 of my companions!^^ Lunch at Andok's was only PhP40 for each of us. It was just 12nn and the boat was scheduled to leave at 2pm. So we decided to go to the plaza which was just across Andok's. Since we had to wait for more than an hour, we decided to go to Pa-on Beach Club. Tricycle fare was also PhP10 per person. Entrance fee at Pa-on Beach Club is PhP20 and it's consumable. You can order for a bottle of mineral water or softdrinks for that. :D The view at Pa-on was very beautiful that we felt like looking at a painting. It only got us very excited to go to Isla Gigantes.

From Pa-on, we went to the pier at around 1:30pm. We did not take the passenger boat because our contact person from the resort said that they will fetch us using their service boat. So we had to wait for another 1hour for the service boat to leave because they were waiting for their other supplies to be loaded on the boat. Since it was not a regular passenger boat and they were loaded with supplies, it took us approximately 3 hours - which felt like forever - to reach the island.

When we arrived, it was low tide already and we had to take a very small boat to go to the shore. We were also a bit disappointed to find out that the resort was not in the front of the beach. The shore is also not good for swimming because it was actually a mangrove. We were already planning to swim after settling at the resort because we felt exhausted of the long travel. But all the disappointment disappeared when we saw the food they prepared for us!lol

The island is abundant of seafoods, especially scallops. They gather a minimum of 2 tons per day according to Mr. Joel Decano, owner of Gigantes Hideaway Inn and tourism officer of Isla Gigantes. We were worried that the food might be very expensive especially that they prepared a lot. But it wasn't. They just charge us with the same amount on how much they bought it from the market (the scallops were just PhP30/kilo). Then they just charged us with the spices and other cooking ingredients they used. For the cooking services, Sir Joel told us to just give the cook a tip. A detailed breakdown of our expenses will be provided on the next post. :D

So after the sumptuous dinner, we stayed outside the house and had a "few" drinks. There are cottages and other rooms but we stayed in the house with three bedrooms, a living and dining room, kitchen and a restrom. Sir Joseph, brother of Sir Joel, joined us and showed us photos of the islands where we will be hopping the next day. The pictures were very beautiful and we got really excited. He also told us some information about the island and its history.

Isla Gigantes is actually a group of islands. It was called Isla Gigantes because there were wooden coffins found in one of the caves in the island which measured 7-12ft. We even saw 2 of the coffins that they brought in the resort. The island is rich in history and it was even featured in Magandang Gabi Bayan years ago.

We started our island hopping adventure early the next day because there were 7 islands waiting for us but I think we only went to 6 due to lack of time. Nevertheless, we had a great time! 

Island 1: Uaydahon Island

First stop was the Uaydahon island. White sand, big rocks, pristine water, a hammock, coconut trees, seashells - simply paradise.

Island 2

I don't know the name of this island but this is really beautiful. This is a diving site so we really enjoyed swimming here. We also had our lunch here. The sandy part in between also gives you a "back-to-back beach". Isn't that nice? :D

Island 3: The Natural Pool called Tanke

Cliff Diving

The "Tanke" was the highlight of the trip. The natural pool surrounded by the tall rocks was  stunningly beautiful. The  water was very clear and the place itself was mesmerizing.  There is a small hole somewhere in the rocks that fills the lagoon with seawater during high tide. Then it washes away the leaves fallen from the trees and other dirt during low tide which explains why the lagoon looks clean.

Island 4: Cabugao Island

Island 5

There were some people having a picnic in the island. We just visited the small cave and went on to the next island because we were running out of time. 

Island 6: Sand Bar

The Sand Bar is also a good spot to go swimming. The water becomes deep a few feet away from the shore due to steep sand. It was also a good spot for snorkeling and you can actually see different fishes unlike in the 2nd island where we didn't enjoy the coral reef, only the cool water. :D

The reason why we need to finish the island hopping early is because we wanted to go caving or "spelunking". It was a fun and thrilling adventure as we climb through the rocks at the cave and trailing our way down to the rocky mountain.

After caving, we went back to the resort and freshened up. We were all tired and all we were thinking was to drink an ice-cold coke or water and indulge in the fresh seafoods that Manang Anggay (the cook) prepared for us. :D After dinner, we stayed at the tree house, had a few drinks and lots of stories to share with each other. 

We left at 9am the next morning aboard the passenger boat. Travel time was only 2hours and we headed straight to Pa-on Beach Club to have our lunch. We paid 80 each for our lunch and additional 65 for the halo-halo we ordered individually. After lunch, we all went home with lots of memories to cherish at Isla Gigantes. :)

Isla Gigantes Contact Information:

Joel Decano
Proprietor/Tourism Officer
09184685006
09155796612
Facebook: Isla Gigantes
email: isla.gigantes@yahoo.com

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