I bet by this time, most people have already gone on vacation for All Saints’ and Souls’ Day. Just here to drop a quick post about my last few hours at the beautiful Islas de Gigantes, featuring an island that was not originally in our itinerary, but since we were passing it on our way back to the mainland, we just had to stop: it’s the Buenavista Island.
After having breakfast and packing our stuff at Rejohn Beach Resort (and also hanging out with some island mutts, we boarded the boat that will take us back to the mainland.
First, let me show you a view of the beach at the resort where we stayed at.
Rejohn Beach Resort is, at best, rustic, but has the basics, which is really the important thing if you’re looking for a place for an overnight stay.
Now let us move on to Buenavista Island, which was added by our guide, Angie, at the last minute. As I said earlier, it was not included in the original itinerary. Which we totally didn’t mind.
Buenavista Island
is another privately-owned island. So I am guessing someone by the name of Buenavista owns it. *shrugs*
Since we were dressed up for a trip back to Iloilo City, this stop was just for sightseeing, even if we wanted to dip into the water. Oh, and there’s also the fact that there were a number of jellyfish hanging around close to the shore.
The place is so peaceful and tranquil~ We wished we could’ve stayed there longer, just hung out. Lots of shells and corals were washed onto the beach, so my companions had a ball of a time just walking and picking up the really pretty-looking ones to bring home.
If you’re visiting the islands any time soon, I suggest you do a short stop on this island. And if there are no jelly fish around, maybe even go into the water. Coz it’s just so darn pretty.
With kinda heavy hearts, we got back on the boat and made that close-to-half-an-hour boat ride back to Bancal Port. Once we landed on the dock, it finally occurred to us that our short sojourn at the Islas de Gigantes is now over.
This officially wraps up my blog series on Islas de Gigantes. In case you haven’t seen my previous posts, here they are:
Antonia Beach & Tinagong Dagat
Travel Tips:
The best tip I can give is to “know what you can and cannot handle by yourself”. Yup.
I know DIY trips are the thing right now, especially for budget travelers, and as much as I wanted to go that route, with a group this large, it just wasn’t possible.
There were 14 of us, and of varying ages, so backpacking was out of the question, haha! Plus, as I have mentioned several posts back, we didn’t have a lot of time, so we wanted to make the most of the day and not waste time by personally finding our way here and there.
Huuuuge thanks to Las Islas Travel and Tours for this. I’m usually iffy about dealing with travel agencies, but I took the risk with this one after reading many good things about it. And there is that DOT accreditation as well. (Yeah, I still have faith in those things, apparently.)
I reached out to them first via email, then I got a reply from Ms. Jesan, their Travel Supervisor. What followed was an exchange of emails until we came up with a package that satisfied both parties.
Basic details are as follows:
Tour Package: Enchanting Gigantes Islands Overnight Tour package
Package rate: Php 2940.00 per head
Inclusions:
Private van transfer from Iloilo City to Bancal Port, Carles and vice versa
Private boat for island-hopping
Gigantes Island-hopping Tour
Private Tour Guide
Environmental and Entrance Fees
Overnight accommodation (cottage-type, aircon room)
Potable Drinking Water
Overall it was a smooth exchange, and Ms. Jesan remained in contact from the moment we arrived at the airport until we left Bancal Port to go back to Iloilo City the next day.
Their contact details:
Las Islas Travel and Tours: Website | Facebook | Email
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