Guimaras - Places to Visit in the Philippines

Traveling to the islands of the Philippines is an exciting experience and for some the reason to go there is to have a beach holiday and one of the places to see is Guimaras. Located in the southern part of the Philippines, the island paradise of Guimaras formerly known as Himal-us is famous for its wonderful beaches with clear blue waters, clean white sand and magnificent ocean life rivalling the other more popular spots in the Philippines. Guimaras was once a province of Iloilo but is now an independent island and just a 15 minute ferry ride away.

Getting There

Like pretty much the rest of the Philippines, Guimaras is an island and getting there is mostly done over the water. The island is accessible by either air and sea from Manila, or otherwise by boat from Bacolod city, with a easy 15 minute ferry trip from Iloilo city. On the island getting around is by any of the various forms of public transportation, trucks, tour drivers or motorbikes.

Iloilo being the nearest main city, there are ferry options that you can choose from which are offered by the local ferry companies including FF Cruz RORO Service, Pump boats from Ortiz Wharf or Parola Wharf which travels every half hour, and Fel-am Transport Ferry Service. Then there is also the roll on roll off ferry which travels its route to the island around five times each day. You can perhaps hire a chartered boat and travel there or if you have your own then you would be most welcome to do so.

Places to Go

Guimaras island has some of the nicest beaches in the 7107 islands of Paradise Philippines with a number of resorts on each of its beautiful white sand beaches. A few of the more popular beaches on the island include Puerto del Mar, Alubihod, and Roca Encantada, with more equally as interesting beaches also available. From anywhere between $8 to $50 a night, depending on the number of guests and the type of room you want, you can check-in to any of the local resorts that offer various amenities but the main draw is of course the great beaches that are right at the doorstep.

The beaches are obviously the first place that the tourist would want to see but other places that would be of interest could include visiting one or more of the dozen or so mango farms. There are more than 50,000 mango trees on the island and a tour to any of these farms is a unique experience on its own. The only reason anyone would want to pass up the chance to see the mango plantations is perhaps a dislike for the mango.

There are three major farms on Guimaras which are some of the largest in the Philippines, they include Southern Orchard in Jordan, Oro Verde and Guimaras Tree Farm in Buenavista. In general they are open for public visit and you would be welcome to visit any of them with open arms even though they don't often have too many visitors. Should you do decide to visit any of the mango farms then don't forget to go home without taking with you a box of Guimaras Super Mangoes as they are called, which to many are perhaps the sweetest mangoes anywhere in the world.