Islas de Gigantes, Iloilo (Part 1)

Islas de Gigantes (islands of giants) is one of the tourist spots destination in Iloilo. It is a remote group of islands located off the coast of Carles and Estancia towns in northeastern Iloilo.

The ffg are the places included in our tour:

1) Islas de Gigantes Mainland (Gigantes Norte & Gigantes Sur)

2) Gigantes Norte Lighthouse

3) Antonia Beach

4) Tangke Lagoon

5) Cabugao Island

6) Bantigue Sandbar (read in Part 2)

7) Bolobadiangan Island (read in Part 2)

8) Bakwitan Cave (read in Part 2)

Islas de Gigantes Mainland

        Actually, the mainlaind is divided into are 2 parts: Gigantes Sur and Gigantes Norte. We were only able to stay in Gigantes Norte as this is where our contact beach resort is located.

This is the sight which welcomed us upon our arrival:

        The boats cannot dock immediately adjacent to the shore due to the shallow waters. As such, we had to ride a much smaller boat to send us to the shore. We can't help but notice the piles of shells along the beach and on top are groups of townsfolk collecting the flesh from the scallops, clams, wasi-wasi, and other kinds of mollusks. What a waste of shells! Hopefully, someone could think of exporting them to other provinces and even countries to be used as decorations and others handicrafts .

Welcoming us are a group of smiling kids who kept on waving and saying hello to us. 

    Gigantes Norte is not really famous for its beaches since there are too many shells, rocks, and seagrasses. But still it offers a beautiful scenery on its own.

    At the time of our departure, we had to ride a motorcycle to the other side of Gigantes Norte to board a boat on our return to Estancia Port since the first boat was under repair. There are also several beach resorts just adjacent to each other here.

 

We had to stand on a raft with the boatcrew pulling us towards the boat

Gigantes Norte Lighthouse
We headed to the lighthouse on our first day. We rode a motorcycle then trek a little towards it.

It was drizzling when we went there and the wind was really strong.

Just in time to catch a glimpse of the rainbow

Children selling their own crafted souvenirs

We climbed our way to the top of the lighthouse

     This is our view from the top. The lighthouse uses the energy from the solar panels to produce light during nighttime. There is also an island visible from our spot which I t believe is the Cabugao island.

Antonia Island

   Our island hopping officially started on our 2nd day. Our first stop was the Antonia Island. We found out that there is also a beach resort here that caters to guests, many of whom were staying in big tents. There is also a snorkeling area in this place but at that time, the current was quite strong due to the wind so we didn't dare get too far from the shore.

These are some shots of the islands we passed by on our way to Antonia Island

I didn't venture far from the shore so this is the only shot I got of the corals

Tangke Lagoon

    This lagoon is one of my most favorite spots in our island hopping tour aside from Cabugao Island. It reminds me of the different lagoons in El Nido, Palawan although the Tangke Lagoon is much shallower and smaller. But it has its own unique beauty along with its irregularly shaped limestone cliffs and rock formations.

 

Here is another good shot of the lagoon courtesy of http://www.exploreiloilo.com/info/tangke/

Cabugao Island

   I really love this cute island! Just look at our photos to know why! ^_^

 

 

 

Our next stop was in Bantigue Sandbar, followed by Bolobadiangan Island, and Bakwitan Cave. Kindly click here to link you to the next page. ^_^

For those interested to read similar island hopping adventures, just click any of the links below:

• Malapascua Island, Cebu
• Mantigue Island
• Camiguin Tourist Spots: The Island Born of Fire (Day 1)
• Camiguin Tourist Spots @ Day 2: The Galapagos of the Philippines
• Gibitngil Island, Medellin Cebu
• Places to Visit in El Nido, Palawan
• El Nido (Tour A)
• El Nido (Tour B)