Island hopping yebah!
Island Hopping In Guimaras
Raymen Beach Resort and all the other resorts around Nueva Valencia offer a variety of selections for touring around Guimaras Island among which includes the island hopping option. We decided to take the island hopping tour since it’s one of the cheapest they offered. They charged us P1200 good for 3 hours of island hopping, succeeding hours are charged at P150 per hour.
while waiting for our boatmen
Our boatman met us at Raymen Beach Resort beach front and showed us to our “Sexy on Board” boat. It was a pump boat large enough to carry at least 10 other people, not including the boatmen.
Seated comfortably inside the pump boat, we were then off to conquer our first island which the locales call the Turtle Island. I was expecting to see a number of turtles since the island was named after it. But to my disappointment, the island was just a beauty with no turtles to be found anywhere sprawled across the island. There were just four turtles hidden in a cage, good enough for the photo ops. But the island, like what I’ve mentioned earlier was a beauty. Although there were no corals to be found under, it was the silence of the place that added to it’s mystery. Enjoy the pictures shown below 🙂
After enjoying the chase with the turtles at Turtle Island, our boatman decided to take us to a cave nearby. I forgot the name of the cave though, pardon me. The cave’s mouth is big enough to fit in a large pump boat. And also big enough for the boat to find its way back to the opening. There were no bats inside so it’s not that scary to explore what’s could be found inside the cave. I have explored a number of caves in the past, but this one is just one of the small, eerie caves that will make you feel claustrophobic while exploring the insides. There were no special things to see inside, just the creepy eerie-ness one can only imagine when inside a cave. It’s just a short trip inside the cave since there isn’t much to see. We just had the usual picture-taking opportunity and off we go to our next island.
the mouth of the cave
inside the cave
preparing to leave
The next island for our stop was the Nagtago Beach. We passed by the Lamurawan Island by decided not to stop there since the boatman told us that Nagtago Beach is better compared to Lamurawan. Pressed for time, we decided to head off to Nagtago Beach as suggested by the our ever-knowing boatmen.
Nagtago Beach is owned by a gay foreign national who fell in love with a Filipino and the Guimaras Island. The boatman added that the owner has died about 2 or 3 years ago and left the property to the Filipino who was never seen after his lover died. The property is now taken cared of by a locale trusted by the foreigner when he was still alive. There were not charged with entrance fees when we visited the place but we gave donations so they would be able to properly take care of the place. Just like the foreigner, I too fell in love with the place. I loved the architectural design of the entire place, including the interiors which used native materials to enhance the look. Aside from the view deck, the rooms have their own majestic view of the entire island. And the waters, the clear waters are perfect for a beach-bumming party one could ever dream of. The privacy of the place is also to die for. It’s a perfect honeymoon-type of vacation I should say! The trip to Nagtago Beach was actually one of the highlights of our island hopping. According to the boatman, the entire place can be rented for a fee, however the comforts of having electricity should not be on top of your list as there is no power supply for this resort. It is ideal however for beach-bumming.
main view deck
top room view deck
enjoying the clear water, white powdery sands
After staying for almost two hours just enjoying the beauty of the island, and courageously enduring small jellyfish bites, the boatman then invited us to check out SEAFDEC or Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center. It’s one of the Regional Fishery Bodies located in Barangay Igang, Guimaras Island. Its main purpose is to develop and manage the fisheries potential of the region by rational utilization of the resources for providing food security and safety for people and alleviating poverty through transfer of new technologies, research and information dissemination activities. The center houses some of the largest fishes in the area, taken cared of by the government employees. They also have an Abalone Sea-Ranch where they also sell abalones for a price to those who crave for exotic delicacy.
one of the cages
one of the largest Bangus (Milkfish) I've seen
sampling the Abalone on our way out
We also decided to go to the nearby Igang Marine Station for some more sea creatures posted below:
The Igang Marine Station
small seahorse
mini octopus
We got tired of the sea creatures in SEAFDEC and Igang Marine Station and decided to head off to our next stop, the Guisi Island where the Guisi Lighthouse is situated. But we really didn’t have plans of going to the lighthouse (we were told that it’s a long way up to the top, with the threat of pure discomfort), just enjoy the clear waters of the island and hoping to catch some lunch. The boat stopped at Guisi Clearwater Resort. Stepping up at the resort, we were met by a few flora and fauna taken cared of by the owners. Unfortunately, they didn’t serve lunch for walk-in guests. They only cater to their in-house guests. This was one of the problems that we had while staying at Guimaras Island. One can only eat at the resort where you’re checked in, and no chance to eat outside your resort. Saying so we just enjoyed the true to its name clear waters and the views. After such time, we decided to head back to our resort to have late lunch and dinner.
the lighthouse from afar
the Guisi Clearwater Resort beachfront
water and views -- so inviting!
The Morbid Angel's Lair 