This is the first in a series of posts about my 5-day pre-summer reunion trip with college friends covering three islands in Visayas: Bacolod, Iloilo and Guimaras.
First, I'd like to acknowledge Cebu Pacific Air's seat sale June of last year, and my manager, from whom I've found out Iloilo flights still had open slots, as we were struggling to find any place available. And that brought about this trip, our first ever out of town vacation as a group, which took more than half a year of anticipation and planning. :)) I'd like to thank all my friends who encouraged me to carry on with this trip which I initiated anyway. Thanks to my family, officemates for letting me... :) I now know what I would have missed.
Our first destination after arriving at the Iloilo Airport was a resort in Nueva Valencia in Guimaras, a separate island only 15 minutes away via pump boat.
Getting There
The Iloilo Airport is around 30 minutes away from the city, thus, the transportation cost would be higher. Thanks to the really friendly locals from the airport who gave us tips on how to save on transportation costs. Straight from Iloilo airport, we hired a van to take us to Ortiz Port, the terminal of boats going to and from Guimaras. Our desired destination was the Jordan Wharf, which can be found in the town of Jordan (pronounced as 'Hordan' :p). If you're going to the town of Buenavista in Guimaras, then the desired destination would be its McArthur's Wharf which is accessible via Parola port in Iloilo.
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| Ortiz Port, Iloilo |
After registering and paying P13, one of the cheapest boat fare I must say, we rode the boat going to Guimaras. 15 minutes of tranquil ride, we arrived at the Jordan Wharf. We then registered at the Guimaras Tourism Board, where one can also get contact info of hotels and attractions found in the place.
We found the cost of renting a multicab exclusive for the group quite expensive given that we were few relative to its capacity, so riding the jeepney was the more practical thing to do. Our luggage were taken to the jeepney's topload. It was too late for us to realize they try to squeeze in as many people as possible by adding a bench in the middle of the jeepney. It was a fully packed one hour journey to the town of Nueva Valencia.
Kenyama Beach Resort
We stayed at Kenyama Beach Resort for one night. The rooms were pretty decent and have reasonable price. It had a restaurant, videoke machine, and billiards table.We arrived at almost 1pm and had our late lunch there.
The only problem was we all forgot to buy some supplies first before going to this rather distant town. No bottled water, no snacks, we had no choice but to fill our tummies with what we order at the hotel, and that's it. And for someone who gets hungry every two hours no matter how much she eats, this is a survival challenge. :)) We tried to check for restaurants or stores nearby and the closest thing we could get was a sari-sari store at the adjacent resort which had very limited supplies for sale. We found the food a bit pricey for the quality. But it was gotten even with by the really accommodating, reliable and friendly staff. :)
Beach Bumming
The beach in Guimaras was superb - white, pristine, relaxing. It was disappointing to visit it on a rainy day though. Thick clouds covered the sky and we were not able to witness the beautiful sunset tourists purposely visit, the hotel staff says. But we still had a great time to swim, play and chat by the beach.
Island Hopping
The resort we stayed at offers an island hopping tour for just P1200 good for 2 hours. I'd consider it more of island traversing since we did not really go to separate islands and only got around a big one. We woke up at 5am in order to take a 530am breakfast to prepare us for the 6am tour.
Our first stop was this cave (forgot to ask for the name). There's not much to see inside, no passageway to take you farther inside the cave. After some group photo ops, we head back to our boat.
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| First stop: Cave #1 |
Our next stop was another cave. This is a narrower one and there's not much light inside and similar to the first one the inside also is a deadend. We ran out of ideas on what to do this time. We tried doing some jump shots (inside the cave!) And sorry friends... take a peek on my impeccable sense of timing. :))
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| Second Stop: Cave #2 a la 127 Hours |
Our last stop was the white beach. The sand was finer. It was still raining though. But it was okay since our goal was to get wet anyway. I forgot to wear my aqua shoes this time, so I decided to not take off my life vest to ensure I never step into the rocks. Yes, I'm that paranoid. :p We spent almost an hour enjoying the beautiful white beach.
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| Third Stop: White Beach |
Guisi Lighthouse
The old lighthouse, only 5-10 minutes walk from our resort, opens at 8am and closes at 5pm. Because we did not know it closes at 5pm, we were only able to visit the next morning after the island hopping.
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| Going up the lighthouse is dangerous, not allowed (?) |
It looked antiquated, the staircase were covered with rust. We were pressed for time so only some of my friends were able to go up. What you would see is a panoramic view of the beach and the island.
It would have been nice to capture it during sunset. But oh well, it's never easy to get along with the weather especially while you travel.
It would have been nice to capture it during sunset. But oh well, it's never easy to get along with the weather especially while you travel.
Getting Out
We asked the hotel to find a multicab for us to pick us up going to Jordan for our tour. We left the resort at around 10am. Details of our Guimaras tour to be posted soon. Hehe ;)
Despite the scarcity of food and water, and the continuous rain, for the impeccable white beach, the fun company of friends, going to this southern town in Guimaras was indeed worth it. Some pictures grabbed from Steph Buena (galing mong mag-document). ;)
Tips:
1. Items added to list of things to check-in to the airport: umbrella, tripod
2. When going to the outskirts, don't forget to stack up on drinking water and snacks/emergency food.
3. It's always safe to bring aqua shoes.
4. Bringing of hairdryer turns out to be more than just for vanity especially after getting things wet/swimming.
5. It helps to bring a flash light in case there's a brownout. Good thing our resort had a generator.
6. Ask the tourism board for tips and contact info of known places to visit.
Expenses Guide:
| price per group (6) | price per head | |
| domestic terminal fee | 200 | |
| van tranfer from Iloilo airport to Ortiz Port | 500 | |
| boat ride to Guimaras (Jordan Wharf) | 13 | |
| jeepney ride to Kenyama resort | 50 | |
| Family room (+extra mattress) | 2060 | |
| lunch at Kenyama | 144 | |
| dinner at Kenyama | 199 | |
| KTV | 100 | |
| Billiards | 25 | |
| breakfast at Kenyama | 130 | |
| island hopping (includes boat and guides) | 1200 | |
| Guisi Lighthouse admission fee | 10 |
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