Looking for an affordable out of town escapade with picture perfect beach? Islas de Gigantes or Gigantes Island, should be on your list!

Located in Iloilo, Gigantes is accessible from Manila via a one hour flight to Roxas City. An hour and a half land travel to Carles port follows. Road trip is fairly smooth as the roads are well-paved. Another one and a half hour boat ride from Carles Port will bring you to paradise.

About 30 mins on the boat, we had a quick stop over at Pulopandan Island for some photo ops. According to our tour guide, this island is a resting place for fishermen in case of bad weather.

After an hour or so, we arrived at Se San beach resort.

Se San offers basic room amenities – air conditioned room and clean CR (that’s what matters the most right?). Note that electricity is available only from 3 pm to 11 pm only. What, no electricity? Fret not, there is a generator, allowing you to sleep soundly until 6 am when they turn off electricity. With clear blue green waters right at your doorstep though, who would want to stay indoors right?

They also offer meals at P200 per head per meal which I must say is a good deal. Se San resort serve 3-4 viands for sharing. Viands comprise of mostly seafood as Roxas City is the Seafood Capital of the Philippines.

You can request for chicken or pork viands but they charge additional and you have to inform them in advance.

Now for our itinerary which was made possible by our tour guide – Jesan of Las Islas Travel.

Day 1

After having lunch and freshening up, we started with the land tour via habal habal (or motorcycle for those unfamiliar with what it is) at P250 per head. The cost already includes the tour guide for the afternoon.

Here we are ready to explore the island on habal-habal 👍

First stop was Bakwitan cave. After about a 6 minute hike, we reached the entrance of the cave. According to our ‘caveman’, Kuya Erwin, this cave is where the locals evacuate (thus the name Bakwitan – get it? 😂) during strong typhoons. It is also a burial ground as evidenced by the burial jars found in the cave when it was discovered.

Inside, various rock formations formed by stalactites and stalagmites can be found. It’s nice to feel cool inside the cave while it was super hot outside (and after the hike).

Some rock formations are not allowed to be touched (especially the sparkly, shiny ones) as Kuya Erwin said they will die because of the acid in our hands.

The cave is enormous enough to allow rappelling but unfortunately, we were pressed for time as we have 2 more places to visit that afternoon. Kuya Erwin said exploring the entire cave would take 2 hours.

Next stop was the Century Old lighthouse. It was established during 1895 as one of the Spanish lighthouse projects in the Philippines. As with most lighthouse, it is no longer operational. The place is a nice spot to have IG-worthy pics 😊

Last stop for the day was the sunset viewing. Unfortunately, it was cloudy that afternoon and below is the only picture I had. Still a pretty sight nonetheless ☺

Day 2

Island hopping was the order of the day for the next day.

We first visited Antonia island (about 15 mins away from Se San) and Tinagong Dagat next. We enjoyed scallops at Antonia’s at P1 per piece. Yep, you read that right – piso a piece. Both islands offer white sand beach and calm, pristine water.

Next on the agenda is Bantigue Island which boasts of a 2km white sandbar. This is where we had lunch, feasting on crabs, grilled and adobong pusit plus adobong manok. Uni (sea urchin) is also available on the island at get this – P15 each. Crazy as this cost about P300 minimum in Manila.

With full tummies, next stop was Cabugao Gamay – the most famous island in Gigantes Island. It boasts of palm trees and gorgeous white sandbar flanked on both sides by blue green waters beckoning guests to snorkel and swim – picture perfect!

Final stop is Cabugao Dako. The charm of this island (aside from the perfect beach) is its mini cliff diving spot which I think is about 6-feet. Great way to end our island hopping ☺

Here’s the hubby’s jump caught on cam.

And that’s me!

Day 3

Woke up early to catch the sunrise (one of my favorite past time) and I’m so glad i did. Look at this beauty 🌞

We left the resort around 9 am after breakfast so so we can still have some time to explore the city. We passed by Panay church – the oldest church in Panay. It’s walls, according to Jesan, our tour guide, is made up of corals and egg whites.

We also climbed 63 steps to reach the bell tower. The bell, weighing 10 tons, is the largest in Asia and is made up of 7 sacks of coins given by the townsfolk. Another interesting thing about the bell – it’s sound can be heard within 8 kms 😲

After saying our prayers, we went along and stopped by a couple of stores for pasalubong.

Jesan brought us to a place called Baybay for lunch. It’s a row of restaurants along the beachfront where diners choose meats (again, mostly seafood) for the crew to cook however you want it.

After lunch, we headed to the airport (which is about a 5-minute drive from Baybay) to wait our flight. ✈

All in all, this trip is one for the books. Affordable, off-beaten and uncommercialized crystal clear beach – definitely something worth going back to.  Sign me up anytime!

P.S. some cost estimates:

Fare (Mla-Roxas-Mla) – P3500

Tour + Accommodation (Las Islas Travel & Tours) – P2800 per pax for a group of 12 (3 rooms, van + boat)

Land tour (Bakwitan Cave, lighthouse, sunset viewing on habal-habal) – P250

Meal – P200/pax per meal

Tips not included