If we’re talking about islands, then lighthouses are bound to be an unavoidable fixture. And the Islas de Gigantes is no exception. Considering how islands of varying sizes are grouped together in one place, there is bound to be at least one. In this case, it is the Old Lighthouse.
Las Islas Travel & Tours booked our accommodations at Rejohn’s Beach Resort in Gigantes Norte. We were informed to wake up at dawn the next day so we could head to the Old Lighthouse to witness the sunrise.
At 5am, a group of motorcycles (or habal-habal) and their local drivers came to pick us up, and took us on a 15-minute ride to the lighthouse. (Check out the end of this post for links to Las Islas Travel & Tours.)
It was quite a bumpy ride in the relative darkness of dawn, but it was so much fun! XDD
From the road, it was about a couple of minutes’ walk to the gate leading to the Old Lighthouse.
The lighthouse is right beside the ruins of what looked like a convent. From the outside, it does look like your usual ruins.
You could tell, however, that a lot of effort was put into preserving it into the rustic yet beautiful ruins (the idea sounds ludicrous but there it is) it is today.
But if you walk inside, one area was transformed into a wide hall complete with heavy wooden tables and chairs. It’s like a restaurant/coffee shop inside. There were even some staff members hovering, just in case we wanted to have some coffee.
We just took pictures, though.
If you step out on the other side, you’d see the lighthouse in all her glory. We would’ve wanted to climb to the very top, but the caretaker was not around, so they could not unlock the door that will gain us entry inside.
Too bad, we had to make do with just taking photos outside.
Perhaps you can tell, but the lighthouse does not look that old, does it?
The lighthouse was originally built during the Spanish period. In fact it was said to have been built back in 1834, making it the second oldest lighthouse, after the one in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
The lighthouse was 53 feet in height, Originally. Until a strong typhoon struck the region in 1985 and severely damaged the lighthouse.
A major rebuilding effort was done in 1994, and the result was a much taller lighthouse, this time lofty at 67 feet.
It was also quite a bummer that morning that the skies weren’t clear enough to give us a sunrise viewing. Clouds were too thick for any sun beam to pierce through,
So we just had to make do with the view that we were given.
Apparently, this is a must-visit spot in Gigantes Norte, but the best time to visit it would be early in the morning, in time for sunrise. It was just too bad that when we were there, the morning clouds were just too thick, we couldn’t have a clear sunrise sighting.
After spending several minutes here, we headed back to Rejohn Beach Resort for breakfast and prepare to head back to the mainland. See ya in the next post!
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