GUIMARAS ISLAND DAY TOUR 2017

HOW TO GET TO GUIMARAS ISLAND FROM ROXAS CITY

Roxas to Guimaras Port

I live in Roxas City, Capiz near Kalibo, Aklan and Iloilo City. I took an air-conditioned bus (Ceres Liner) from Roxas City Terminal going to Iloilo Ceres Bus Terminal. Since I wanted to arrive early in Guimaras, I left Roxas at around 4:30 AM. The ride took 3 and half hours to reach Iloilo City. My friends and I met at the Iloilo Ceres Terminal then we travelled again by a Jaro Liko jeepney ( a backpacker style). The driver dropped us at the overpass (near the Iloilo Museum). We walked for like 3-5 minutes to reach the Atrium mall and as we walked a bit on the corner, we took again a jeepney with a Jaro CPU route which dropped us in Ortiz Street. Then, we walked again for like 5 minutes to the port.

P.S: You might see some pedicab (sikad in Hiligaynon) or some may offer you to ride a pedicab to go to the port. For us, we simply asked people on the street where the port was then walked our way again. J

On our Guimaras journey

From the port, we took a big boat to the Jordan, Guimaras. We travelled for approximately 10-15 minutes and finally reached the island. We decided to take the tricycle to Nueva Valencia. If you're good at negotiating, you can ask for a discount and get a deal of 700 pesos for your tricycle fare . This will be your round trip for the whole day. Usually, it costs 400 pesos just for a one-way trip. You can save a hundred pesos for a good negotiation J. This tricycle ride from Jordan port to Nueva Valencia Port took 45 minutes. A friend of mine, told me that they did take the multicab ( a small jeep) they just paid for 500 pesos for 10 pax for a round trip ticket as well.

At Nueva Valencia Port, I looked for some people to ask about the boat fee. Through a small boat, we went to the Magic Island Resort to continue our negotiation and pay some more fees. It was a 5-minute ride. The small boat charged us 30 pesos and an entrance fee of 20 pesos for Magic Island. When we arrived, we decided to have an early lunch. Unfortunately, the receptionist in the resort said that it will take an hour for the food to be served because the meat was still frozen, so instead, we went ahead to take tour of the island so no time will be spent on waiting but just time to appreciate nature. It was a good thing we bought some snacks in the highway and sari-sari stores before we reached the Nueva Valencia port so while we took our selfies and island hopping, we also had a little recess. But anyway, if you plan on eating a meal first before going on tour, the dining hall in Magic Island Resort will cost you 100 pesos each or if you want to eat at their cottage, you will be charged an additional 1,500 pesos.

Riding a small boat, for the first 2 hours of the island hopping, it cost us 500 pesos. If you exceeded for the two-hour time limit, the succeeding hours will charge you 200 pesos per hour. The island hopping will take you to view the small islands and some private resorts and have instagrammable pictures at their attractive floating cottage. There was this Sand Bar also but my friends and I decided to skip it and head to the floating bar and cottage instead. However, if you want to go for it, it will take you a 30-minute boat ride from the Magic Island. Finally, we reached the floating cottage and did our pictorial and swam vigorously. We had a nice view and felt safe in our travel. The cottage was donated by Miss Gina Lopez as a tourism attraction in the island. Now if you want to save money, don’t take a tour guide because they will charge you 300 pesos. If you really want to enjoy a whole day of island hopping tour and don’t want a stopover at Magic Island, you can hire a boat directly from the Nueva Valencia Port for 1,000-1,200 pesos.

Expenses:

Bus from Roxas City to Iloilo Cieres Terminal (vice versa) 180 pesos x 2= 360 pesos

Iloilo Ceres Terminal to Atrium = 13 pesos

Atrium to Port near Ortiz Street = 7 pesos

Port to Jordan, Guimaras Port and vice versa (14 pesos x 2) = 28 pesos

Tricycle ride from Jordan Port to Nueva Valencia= 175 pesos (700 pesos divided by for 4 pax)

Island hopping= 150 pesos (500 pesos for 4 pax we exceeded for hour an hour so we added 100 pesos)

Boat fee to Magic Island plus entrance fee=50 pesos

Floating cottage fee = 50 pesos

Taxi fare from Iloilo port going to Iloilo Ceres Terminal= 200 pesos

Total: 1, 033 pesos

*food not included in these expenses

P.S: I didn't research for this trip. I just followed my cousin so there's not much of destination in our itinerary and it’s only a day trip just to visit and see Guimaras. When I go back in Guimaras, I probably will make a thorough research about it.