Guimaras Island Hopping

Alubihod Beach is the jump off point for island hopping trips. Because Raymen Beach Resort's boat was already fully booked for the day, we were pointed to a small booth on the beach, between Raymen Beach Resort and Alobijod Cove Resort. This is the Alubihod Motor Banca Owners Association (AMBOA) booth or the Island Hopping Station.

Our island hopping boat

At the booth, we were asked to write our name and number of persons in the group on the logbook. But we could not choose the time. We were to wait for the next available boat. If they called our turn and we had disappeared into our room or anywhere away from the booth, they would have given the boat to the next person on the list. Not wanting to miss our turn, we positioned ourselves near the booth, all ready with our snorkeling gear and snacks.

Credits to Iloilo Travel Guide

Island Hopping rates:

10 pax Php 500 for the first hour plus Php 150 per succeeding hour

15 pax Php 700 for the first hour plus Php 300 per succeeding hour

20 pax Php 1000 for the first hour plus Php 300 per succeeding hour

Our wallets allocated just three hours worth of island hopping and in three hours we were able to visit just five spots.

Fairy Castle

The boatman just pointed Fairy Castle out to us and proceeded to steer the boat to the next destination. From afar it looked like a good place for a swim so we asked the boatman to take us to the shore. Nearing the beach, we were disappointed to see that it was rocky and very shallow.

Lamurawan

Lamurawan was the next place they took us to. It had a small grotto with a nice view of the surrounding islands. But its waters did not tempt us for a swim.

Baras Cave

The boatman and his assistant steered the boat into small and semi–dark Baras Cave. But my friends did not want to swim in semi–darkness. Next please.

Ave Maria Islet

Ave Maria Islet had a small patch of white sand but the rest was just rocks. We spent a bit of time snorkeling in its surrounding shallow waters. Several boatloads of tourists have come and gone, but we were still there looking for fish.

Jannah Glycel Resort

Because we have not had enough of snorkeling in Ave Maria Islet, we asked the boatman to take us to a good place for snorkeling and he brought us to an area near Jannah Glycel Resort. Here we enjoyed looking at the colorful fish, but not at the dead corals.

We weren't taken to one spot that was supposedly included in the standard island hopping route: Pawikan Caring and Feeding Station. Baras Beach and Isla Naburot were just pointed out to us because these were privately owned and off limits. Overall, the island hopping tour in Guimaras was just okay. If you're looking for islands with fine white sand beaches to swim in, you will not find it in this tour. You would be better off just spending your time at Alubihod Beach.

Notes:

• Take note of the time you started your island hopping trip. If you're on a tight budget, be conscious of your time: if you use up just a fraction of an hour, they will charge for a full hour.
• Know where you want to go. If you'd like to be taken to the optional areas (see above island hopping route map), let your boatman know. If you won't tell them, then they'd only take you on the standard route.
• It seemed to me that the boatman was in a hurry to go back and start with another group. Not because he didn't like my face, but because they can make more money that way.

Guimaras:

On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia

Raymen Beach Resort

Guimaras Island Hopping (you're here!)

Raymen Beach Resort

Alubihod Beach is a short stretch of white sand in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. And on this short stretch, there are only two places to stay in for the night: Raymen Beach Resort and Alobijod Cove Resort. (Rico's Beach Resort, to the right of Raymen Beach Resort, has cottages but only for day use.)

Alubihod Beach

We picked Raymen Beach Resort. And it seemed like everyone else had chosen Raymen too. Raymen Beach Resort was crowded. Almost all the rooms were taken. All the open cottages were occupied. The restaurant was full. And the beach was swarming with people (while that of Alobijod Cove and Rico's Beach Resort were virtually empty).

The crowd had thinned out a bit at Raymen's beachfront

But still we chose to stay at Raymen Beach Resort (entrance fee of Php 25 per person, even if renting a room). Actually our wallet chose for us. And it chose Raymen's 700–peso room. The small room, with a wooden double deck bed and a very basic bathroom, was good for four persons. The ceiling was so low that I had to watch my head when climbing to the upper deck to avoid getting my mustache tangled in the ceiling fan. The wooden bunk bed was so wobbly and creaky, every time I climbed down from the upper bunk, the whole bed would shake, rattling my two friends awake who were sleeping on the lower bunk. But for 700 pesos, we couldn't complain. After all, our wallets were too cheap to spend for an air-conditioned room (Php 1600 up to Php 2700 for 3–4 persons) in the newer buildings of the resort.

Our 700–peso room

We ate our every meal at the resort's restaurant (corkage fees apply). Their food was okay and affordable, although could take a long time to get to the table especially when the restaurant is full. While waiting for the food, we kept ourselves busy by chatting, checking social media (WiFi is available only at the restaurant and at the reception area), and eating mangoes that were sold in the resort (sweet mangoes verified!).

When we got too full to eat another bite of mango, too full to sleep, too full to swim, we went island hopping. But because we didn't book Raymen's boat ahead, we were pointed to the Alubihod Motor Banca Owners Association (AMBOA) booth (aka Island Hopping Station) on the beach between Raymen Beach Resort and Alobijod Cove Resort.

Alobijod Cove Resort is less crowded 

When our three–hour island hopping stint was over (that was all we could afford: island hopping for a group of less than 10 persons was Php 500 for the first hour and Php 150 for the succeeding hour) but have not had enough of the sea, we went for a swim at Alubihod Beach. The sand wasn't very fine but the beach was clean. And even if the tide was out, we didn't have to go very far for the water to reach our neck. Each of the resorts had some sort of net marking their beach territory. I wanted to swim in Alobijod Cove's area where there were only a handful of people, but was afraid somebody would blow a whistle, fish me out by my neck, and transfer me to the center net where my cheapass self belonged.

Good morning Alubihod Beach!

Raymen Beach Resort

Alubihod, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras

(033) 396 0248 / (033) 396 0252 / (033) 582 1456 / (033) 582 1457

0918 520 7271 / 0927 560 5107

raymenbeachresort@yahoo.com

Entrance Fee Php 25

Fan Rooms Php 600 to Php 900

Aircon Rooms Php Php 1350 to Php 4500

Going to Alubihod Beach from Jordan Wharf: Hire a tricycle [Ronald 0906 760 6285] from Jordan Wharf to Alubihod Beach for Php 250 (Alubihod Beach to Jordan Wharf is Php 300). You can also take the jeepney (Php 30) from the wharf and get off at the junction for Alubihod Beach, then take a motorcycle (Php 15) to the beach. Travel time for the first option will be about 45 minutes, the second option will take longer than an hour as the jeepney makes several stops along the way.

Guimaras:

On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia

Raymen Beach Resort (you're here!)

Guimaras Island Hopping

Guimaras: On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia

We landed in the small island province of Guimaras just twenty minutes after leaving Iloilo on a pumpboat. The 604.6 square kilometer island of Guimaras is known for its mangoes, being the sweetest mangoes or so I heard. Guimaras has taken that claim to heart and welcomed us with a giant mango. I would have gladly verified the claim right then and there...if only the giant welcome mango were real.

Welcome to Guimaras!

Verification would have to wait until I could get my hands on some real mangoes. In the meantime, we rode a tricycle (Ronald 0906 760 6285; Php 250 per tricycle) to Raymen Beach Resort in Nueva Valencia, some 45 minutes south of Jordan Wharf. There were a few tourist spots on the way to the resort:

The Smallest Plaza

Jordan, Guimaras

This, they say, is the smallest plaza in the Philippines. And who else would be standing in the center of the Philippines' smallest plaza? The big small guy, of course: our Philippine hero, Dr. Jose Rizal! We waved to the big small man as we slow–zoomed in our tricycle.

Photo from banebanerbanest.wordpress.com

Pitstop Restaurant

Brgy San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras

(033) 581 2310

Daily 7AM to 8PM

Pitstop Restaurant is known for its mango inspired menu, with its mango pizza being the most famous. But we did not make a pitstop at this restaurant, not because we do not like fruit in our pizza nor fruit in our spaghetti, but because we have already tried its famous mango pizza in their Cebu branch.

Market at San Miguel

Brgy San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras

Fresh mangoes. Dried mangoes. Mango piaya. Mango tart. Mango otap. Cashew. Cashew brittle. These are just some of the food that we could have bought at the market in San Miguel had we had enough money and enough baggage allowance.

Trappist Monastery

Brgy San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras

The monastery was established in 1972 and is the only men's monastery of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (known as Trappists) in the Philippines. The Trappists follow the Rule of St. Benedict and the Benedictine motto "Ora et labora" which means to pray and work.

The Trappist Monastery has a church (pray!), a factory where they make mango bars, jams and jellies, otap, etc. (work!), a gift shop where they sell their food products, religious items, and souvenir items (work!), and a guesthouse (for a retreat: pray!).

The Church at Trappist Monastery

After Trappist Monastery, the next stop on the map would have been Raymen Beach Resort, but we decided to go farther to Guisi Lighthouse. (We added Php 350 for the tricycle for a total of Php 600 from Jordan Wharf to Guisi then to Raymen Beach Resort.) It was a bumpy half hour drive to Guisi from where we were supposed to turn right to get to the beach resort.

Guisi Lighthouse

Sitio Guisi, Brgy Dolores, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras
Entrance Fee Php 10 adult / Php 5 child

Open until 5PM

Guisi Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Punta Luzaran, was built in 1896. But what is left is its rusty skeleton and the ruins of its surrounding building where roots and plants now cling to. A new lighthouse has been built in the midst of the ruins.

We didn't climb up the lighthouse, old or new. One, climbing is prohibited in the old rusty lighthouse...unless you want to get tetanus. Two, somebody alerted the lighthouse keeper that I was coming and he locked the new one.

Guisi Beach

Sitio Guisi, Brgy Dolores, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras

From Guisi Lighthouse we could see a white sand beach below. This is Guisi Beach. We left the lighthouse and made our way down to the beach, passing a gate with a sign "Entrance Fee Php 20," but no one came to collect our money. It was a short walk down to the beach where we found that the sand wasn't fine but the water clear. The beach was deserted; not a soul, visitor or local, was in sight. The resorts in this area, Kenyama Beach Resort, and Guisi Clearwater Water, must be as lonely as the lighthouse above.

We left the quiet of Guisi for some civilization in Raymen Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia where we plan to commence our sweet mango verification, catch some zzzs, and embark on a short exploration of some of the islands of Guimaras by boat the next day.

Getting to Guimaras from Iloilo: Guimaras can be reached in just 20 minutes (fare of Php 14) either via Parola Wharf (to Buenavista) or via Ortiz Wharf (to Jordan) in Iloilo.


Guimaras:
On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia (you're here!)
Raymen Beach Resort
Guimaras Island Hopping