Guimaras Island Hopping Tour

I particularly chose to stay at Raymen beach resort after our Guimaras countryside birthday tour in 'coz it offers island hopping tours - very convenient. They have standard rates. They will charge 500 pesos for the first hour and 150 pesos for every succeeding hour. It maybe steep but I really wanna try it so we booked an early morning tour. You may also opt to share the boat with others - ask your neighbor guests for shared boats. 

a very normal scene on Alubihod beach - Raymen resort
don't worry, they've got nets on the water to prevent those

We booked for a 7:30 a.m. tour but we got off the shore at around 7:45 a.m. I expected the boatman to do a time check but he didn't (he asked me after the trip of the amount of time spent). First stop was the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC). It houses some rare breeds of fish that they use for propagation and some research stuff. We paid 5 pesos each for some "fee" and was toured by the guard of the area. He told us that the employees were having their rest day so he took charge of the tour. 

He toured us around some rare breeds of fish in some fishpens like a huge Lapu-Lapu that once bit a drunk guest who dared to dip his hand even when they warned him to not even try it. There were also some huge Bangus (milkfish). My mom (again) was so giddy and attentive during the whole tour. Good job mom!

not my slippers

underwear

those angel fish were gatecrashers

the expensive abalone

underneath the barge

Next stop was the Baras Cave passing by the Ave Maria island. I didn't expect anything so the cave amazed me. With the stalactites and stalagmites you would think that you are in Palawan. I dipped for a while inside the cave while my mom and the boatmen chatted with each other. 

skull-looking

Next was the Nagtago beach. This resort was owned by a gay couple (Filipino and a foreign national) who chose to stay in the island. They developed this island and opened it to guests until they both died few years ago. Now, the resort is just a stopover for island hopping tours and a little donation is encouraged to sustain the needs of the caretakers. 

While exploring the resort, me and my mom couldn't contain our excitement upon seeing different levels of view decks. We just love the whole place and thought of it as our retirement place - if only they maintained it. I also took a dip and noticed that the underwater scene was nice. I got giddy upon seeing a school of fish and then our boatman told us that those were baby hito (fingerlings).And then he saw a sea snake and I asked him to take a photo of it).

hito fingerlings

sea snake

Our last stop was the Turtle island - my favorite part. True to its name, the island houses some pawikans (sea turtles). I failed to take a photo of me and a pawikan while I was swimming in Apo Island before. This will be the closest I can get (again) with a pawikan. We were asked to donate 5 pesos each. There was only one pawikan at that time. They released all of them some time ago but this one returned - for good. There was also a small cave where you need to crawl your way to the other side of the island.

5-peso donation box

my mom playing with sand

it's really heavy!

i know we look like sisters - ugh!

We spent 3 hours on the island hopping tour and paid 800 pesos for it. I enjoyed the pawikan while my mom really loved the SEAFDEC. But nonetheless, this tour (more than anything else) provided us much time to bond with each other - away from my two brothers. Haha. The gastronomic adventure in Bacolod will be next!

see you again and again...

Check Guimaras accommodations here