Tablas, with a population of less than 200k, is the largest of the islands that comprise Romblon province in the MIMAROPA region. The island lies about 50 kilometres from the southernmost part of Mindoro island.

Tablas is accessible by boat and plane. Going by sea takes 10 hours from Manila Port and 8 hours from Batangas Port.

Cebu Pacific flies daily at 1:15 pm. Flight takes approximately an hour and 10 minutes. Same plane departs for Manila at 3 pm.

Tablas is administratively subdivided into the 9 municipalities – Alcantara, Calatrava, Ferrol, Looc, Odiongan, San Agustin, San Andres, Santa Fe and Santa Maria.

Here’s our detailed itinerary 🙂

Day 1:

• Looc fish sanctuary – the place is about 20 minutes from the airport, so its best to drop by the place so you have one activity ticked off from the list already. Unfortunately for us, the weather was not cooperating and we were told that we cannot ride the boat going to the sanctuary. Too bad, because I read online that its one of the most recommended activity in Looc. We were advised to come back on Sunday morning when hopefully the weather is better.
• Check in at Aglicay resort – our kuya driver drove us to Aglicay beach resort, which took about 30 mins from Looc. Aglicay, in the town of Alcantara, is one of the first resorts in Romblon.

It was ❤ at first sight when we got to the resort. Who wouldn’t when you’re greeted by different shades of calm, blue waters with a shoreline featuring almost a half-kilometer stretch of white sand.

We registered and checked in to our rooms. Aglicay room rates range from P2,200 a night for 3 pax to P2,800 a night for 5 pax. Rooms are air conditioned with CR equipped with hot and cold shower and comfy beds. I must say the bedsheets smelled nice too!

No need to worry about food as affordable and delicious meals are available at Aglicay, with last order at 5 pm. They have a mini store where you can buy chips and drinks too.

Day 2: We planned our island hopping activities on the second day. Kuya picked us up from Aglicay at 7:30 am for Calatrava where we rented a boat for P2,000 for our group.

Our first stop was supposedly Tinagong Dagat. But because of choppy waters, our kuya boatmen said we’ll proceed with Lapus-lapus beach first and try to go later when waves are calmer.

We stayed for an hour to swim in this beach. Lapus-lapus was similar to Aglicay – white sand, clear water but smaller. Entrance fee is P20 per person plus table rental of P100.

The waves were still rough when we left Lapus-lapus and our boatmen suggested to proceed instead to Aurelio cove which is 15 mins away from Lapus-lapus. Aurelio cove is better since it has electricity and you can ask the owners to cook food for you. We ordered sinigang na lapu-lapu, inihaw na tuna and fresh buko juice. All for less than P2,000 for our group of 12.

The place also had a nice tree house, decent CR and unlimited water for shower. Entrance fee is also at P20 per pax and P150 for table rental.

They even have a bar serving local drinks 🍸

🙈🙉🙊

We headed back to Calatrava after lunch as we asked our kuya driver to bring us to souvenir shops for marble and Odiongan market so we can buy fruits for dinner.

If you still have time and up for diving, another recommended place to visit is Binucot beach near Odiongan. Read too that it’s perfect for sunset watching.

As for our group, we opted to head back to our home base and just relax at the resort.

After dinner was the usual kwentuhan with lots of laughter. Everyone called it a night early after a tiring day.

Day 3: Coming from a rough boat ride yesterday (rough enough that I saw my cousin and aunt doing the sign of the cross several times), we decided to just stay in the resort for our last day so we can enjoy the calm waters of Aglicay.

Staying in the resort gives you a sense of privacy as there are no other resorts in the area since the owner owns the whole cove.

The trip was memorable, made more meaningful with the company during the trip 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👪👭

We hope to be back soon and when we do, we just intend to stay at Aglicay and beach bum 👙