Iloilo-Guimaras Tour (Last Part): Iloilo City Tour

Iloilo is primarily a business district. It is highly urbanized compared to the cities of nearby provinces. So if you're looking for tropical beach setting, you'll be disappointed. But if you're into architecture, history and food tasting, Iloilo has a lot to offer.

Transportation is easy and cheap. Enjoy the local culture by travelling via jeepneys. The drivers are very helpful but you must try to understand their language since they are using Hiligaynon. Feel free to ask the people since they are very helpful. Minimum fare is just P7.50. A half-day is enough to visit relevant places.

Places to see:

1. Iloilo Museum

Iloilo Museum is located just beside the provincial capitol. It is five minutes away from the city proper. You can actually get there on foot if you're into walking around the city. You can find artifacts and Ilonggo artistry. The museum also showcased budding painters when we went there. Entrance fee to the museum is P50.

2. Iloilo Provincial Capitol and the Arroyo Fountain

What make this places significant is there architecture. The Provincial office has an impressive facade which may remind you of the White House. The Arroyo fountain is just in front of the old capitol building.

3. Old Churches

Iloilo has a lot of old churches with Gothic architecture. Almost every town has its own church. During our trip, we specifically went to Jaro Church where the famous Jaro Belfry Tower is located in front of it. We also saw the church in Molo area where a big plaza is located in front of it. Plaza Libertad is also worth seeing and it's also near the city proper. Miag-ao and San Joaquin Churches are famous but they are far from the city proper so we weren't able to see them.

4. Schools

One thing that impressed upon me during our Iloilo City tour is the presence of a lot of universities- Assumption, St. Paul, San Agustin, UP, etc. Visit these places for their old acrhitecture.

5. Smallville

Smallville is the place for nightlife in Iloilo. This is reminiscient of Timog, Eastwood and Metrowalk in Manila. This is near SM City.

6. Villa Baybay

This is where the well-known Tatoy's Manokan and Seafoods is located along with similar restaurants. You can eat along the shore if you request for it. Sunset is spectacular at around 5:45 to 6:15 pm. Food is tasty and affordable. They also have big servings.

Iloilo-Guimaras Tour (Part 2): Island Hopping

At the very least, island hopping in Guimaras will take 3 hours. Unlike in other places, boats are rented in an hourly basis. The first hour costs P400 with P150 for the succeeding hours. A regular boat can carry around 4 to 6 people.

Places you'll see:

1. The Fish Sanctuary

It is a small fish farm where specific types of fishes are bred. We found several big groupers or lapu-lapu that weigh as much as a pig does. They also have breeds of pompona and milkfishes. You have to pay P25 to the caretaker. This will serve as a donation for maintaining the fish farm. Honestly, this can be missed if you're in a hurry. You won't be able to see the fishes up close. It's also a bit far from Alubihod beach and it's opposite of the other islands.

2. Ave Maria Island and Mangroves

Even if it's named that way, this island has no religious significance. According to the boat man, the island got its name because the owners are named Ave and Maria. The sand is yellow and the water is clear in this island. Just be careful cause there are some urchins. Opposite of this island is the island with mangroves. The water in between these islands is the best place for snorkeling in Guimaras.

3. Bat Cave

The name of the cave escaped me so let's just call it the bat cave although I did not see any bat. But I heard them while we took pictures inside the cave. It's a cave and that makes it special.

4. Nagtago Beach

You can find a rest house owned by a German national on top of the rocky cliff of this island. The place is peaceful and relaxing. There were no people in the island when we went there so it's very quiet. Sand is also yellow and water is clear. The calm waters make it a very good place for a dip.

5. Pawikan Rescue Center

You can find pawikan of all sizes in this sanctuary. The volunteers also allow people to hold the pawikans as long as you promise not to lose them. You're not required to pay anything but they encourage you to give donations to help maintain the center. Personally, this tied up the trip quite nicely!

Hotel and Accommodation at Guimaras: Raymen's Beach Resort

Raymen Beach Resort is located at Alubihod Beach, Nueva Valencia at Guimaras Island. It shares the shoreline with two more beach resorts which names I forgot. Raymen Beach Resort was our choice since we read good reviews about it and the price for their room are affordable.

We were supposed to stay at one of their Sampaguita room costing P700. However, upon seeing the room, we decided to transfer to a more comfortable air conditioned room which costs P1350. The Sampaguita room looks decrepit and dim. It has its own CR but the CR looks dirty. We're budget travellers but we also want to have some relaxation. Good thing about their staff is that they are accomodating. They easily granted our request for a change of room. The room that we got is comfortable but a bit small. The shower is also leaking making unceasing small noise of dropping waters. We had to play some music to drown the noise. They also don't have hot water and no TV. But they have towels, shampoo and soap.

Just like in any other resorts, food is pricey and you have to wait for 30 minutes for your food to be served. Since we're too hungry to wait, we went out of the resort compound and found an eatery just right in front of the resort. Food is cheap and tasty and service is quick. We only spent less than P200 for a serving of batchoy, pork sinigang, 3 orders of rice, fruit shake, coffee and pork barbecue. For dinner, you have to place your order before 7 pm because they won't be entertaining orders beyond the time.Their restaurant also closes at 9 pm.

beachfront of Raymen's 

The resort also boasts of boat services for island hopping. The first hour costs P400 with P150 for the suceeding hours. You'll need at least 3 hours to go to the islands so prepare about P700. The shoreline of Alubihod beach is short. You can walk along its shores in less than an hour. The spectacular sunset is also blocked by a protruding part of the island to its left side facing the beach.

The beach front of the resort has nets for for jellyfishes. It was also placed to serve as demarcation from other resorts. At night it is the only resort that is lighted. You can swim until 12 mn but be sure not to drown because the lifeguard is only posted until 8 pm.

There is also no need to contact someone to fetch you from the resort. Just outside the resorts are tricyles that will bring you back to Jordan Wharf for P250. It may seem pricey but you'll understand why when you learn that it will take you about an hour from Raymen to Jordan Wharf.

For reservations at the Resort, contact: 09185207271.

Iloilo-Gumaras Tour (Part 1): Guimaras Town Tour

Iloilo is a business center than a tourist spot. So if you're planning to have an all sea, sun and sand vacation, plan your vacation somewhere else. Guimaras may provide this but personally one night in the island is already enough. There's nothing much to do if you're looking for some relaxation coupled with activities.
So anyways, I'll just write about my personal experiences and leave it up to you if you still want to go.

My boyfriend and I decided to go to Iloilo because of Guimaras. Aside from the oil spill that happened years ago, it is also famous because of its mangoes and its shores. The locals claim that Guimaras has the sweetest mangoes in the world. Since our idea of vacation is beach, beach, beach, we decided to go there first and see if we want to extend our stay.

Day 1: Guimaras Tour

We arrive at Iloilo airport at 6:30 am via Airphil Express. This is your gateway to Guimaras. From the airport, we took a cab to Ortiz Wharf. The cab cost us P350. It was offered to us in fixed rate. Caution: Do not agree for a shuttle because they are offering their services at P600+. The wharf is just around 30-40 minutes away from the airport.

From the wharf, we bought tickets to ride the pump boat for Jordan Wharf  that costs P13.00. We saw that they are petitioning to have it a higher price. It only takes 15-20 minutes of travel from Ortiz to Jordan.

Upon arriving at Jordan, Guimaras, we are met by Kuya Gerald, our tour guide. He drove us around Jordan through his tricycle.  Tricyles in Guimaras can seat 6 people but if you can spare some cash, hire a muticab for comfort. Note that in Guimaras, transportation is pegged on a hourly basis not on distance. We spent P700 for a 4-hour tour, from 8 am to almost 12 nn. Honestly, the tour was just okay. Not much to see except for endless trees and greenery.

Kuya Gerald first brought us at Ambakan Falls. If you're not a hiker, I suggest don't go anymore. We're supposed to go to another falls-Sadsad, but we opted not to. We have to carry all our luggages for a 15 minute uphill trek. No thanks. Good thing about the place is its fairy-like atmosphere. You can bathe but if you're pressed for time, reserve your urges for the beach.

We also passed by Balaan Bukid Shrine which I wasn't able to take a picture of. This is the smallest plaza, according to the locals. After the falls, we went to the Trappist Monastery and met the only Filipino monk. According to Kuya Gerald, the monastery was named Trappist because the first monks were trapped in the island. You can write your prayers and give some donations.

After the monastery, we passed by the Museum which was closed for renovation. The facade was good though so we stopped and took a picture. Kuya Gerald said that saints can be seen inside the museum.

Along the way, we also stopped at the Valle Verde Resort. You have to pay P20 for entrance fee. You can swim at their pool. There's also a spring way way below the resort with a fee of P10. The place looks deserted when we visit so we just took pictures. There's also a 300-step to get to the spring. Since we felt lazy already, we opted not to see it anymore .

Before our trip ends, we stopped at some fruit stands and bought mangoes. The cost was P55 per kilo. Just a word of advice, if the mangoes are meant to be pasalubong, buy the ones in the boxes and buy the ones that are not too ripe. They will be ripe by the time you get to Manila.

Our last stop was the Guisi Lighthouse and Guisi Clearwater Beach. The Lighthouse is one of the oldest in the country which is quite obvious with its rusting facade. There's a resort in Guisi but our guide says that there's nothing much to see if we'll stay there. The sand is yellowish and rocky but the waters are really clear. You have to pay P10 to Guisi Lighthouse but the beach is free.

Our tour ended at around 12 noon without seeing Sadsad Falls. Kuya Gerald gave us a lift at Raymen Beach Resort in Alubihod Beach. Nueva Valencia where we will stay for the night.

Cost of a Half-Day Tour:

P350- Cab fare from Iloilo to Ortiz
P  13- Pumpboat Fare from Ortiz to Jordan Wharf
P700 - Tricycle Hire
P  50-  Tip for the Guide
P  20 - Entrance at Valle Verde Resort
P  10-  Entrance at Guisi Lighthouse
P1133 -total

Allot some more for pasalubong such as dried mangoes, mango biscochos, mango jam and other mango products.