The Panay Island is located in the Western Visayas Region of the Philippines. It consists of 5 provinces: Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Iloilo and Roxas.
Me and my friends only have 3 days to spend so I decided to choose my top 3 picks! (Aklan, Antique and Iloilo) Let me share our 3 days experience in this blog. :)
Day 1
Boracay Island, Aklan
Of course when one speaks of the province of Aklan, the first thing that comes into mind is Boracay! Foreign tourist go to Philippines to experience Boracay. One of the World's Beautiful Beach because hey, it really is! I've been to many beaches in the Philippines and sure, those beaches captured my eyes but only Boracay captured my heart. The fine white sand is to die for. The night life is superb and you'll never get bored! Well, at least for me. :) There's just so many things that you can do in Boracay from day 'til dawn. I love Boracay that I'll come back crawling even if I lost my phone. Yes, that's right. Be very vigilant when in Boracay because you know what I mean. Some locals are taking advantage of the tourist. (I'm not generalizing tho.)
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| Stand Up Paddle (SUP) |
Here are some of our pictures:
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| Sit Up Paddle? Lol |
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| Banana Boat! |
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| Parasailing! |
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| Twinning Swimsuit with my BFF! |
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| Jetski! |
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| Night Life! <3 |
Book a flight to Kalibo or Caticlan Airport. (Alternative: Iloilo) We got our tickets for Php 700.00 each Round-trip thru Air Asia's Red Hot Sale last year.
From Kalibo:
1. Ride a van bound to Caticlan Jetty Port.
Estimated Time of Travel: 2 hours
Fare: Php 200.00
Lots of van operator are in 24 hours operation so I suggest go DIY. Don't get the van+boat package they offer.
2. At Caticlan Jetty Port, pay environmental fee (Php 75.00) and terminal fee (Php 100.00) and boat fee (Php 25.00). A total of Php 200.00 to finally ride the boat that goes to Cagban Port
3. From Cagban Port, you have the option to ride a tricycle (special) that goes directly to your hotel (Php 120.00/way) or you can ride an e-jeepney that stops from station 1 to 3 then you'll just walk to your hotel (Php 25/pax)
BORACAY ACTIVITIES (As of 2017)
Island Hopping - Php 500.00
Banana Boat - Php 1,250.00 (Group of 5 pax)
Parasailing - Php 1,000.00
Flyfish- Php 600.00
Helmet Diving - Php 500.00
Jetski- Php 2,500.00
I forgot to include other boracay activities in my breakdown of expenses. But at least you know the basics, your expenses are based on your activities. :)
Day 2
Tibiao, Antique
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| Kawa Hot Bath of La Escapo |
1. Kayak Inn (It was featured in Matanglawin)
2. La Escapo (Much cheaper than kayak inn and this is where we stayed)
La Escapo Lodge Rates
Kawa Hot Bath - Php 200/person/hr - But can go unlimited as long as there's no other tourist waiting
Fan Room Accommodation (Kubo) Php 250/person/night
Food is very cheap!!! We had 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for Php 400.00 divided by 4 is Php 100 each :)
Here are some of our pictures:
How to get to Tibiao, Antique:
1. From Caticlan Jetty Port, just walk towards Ceres Bus Liner and ride a bus bound to Antique. Tell your conductor/driver to drop you off at Brgy. Importante. Fare is Php 100.00 and a travel time of 1 hr. (Ordinary Bus- No Aircon)
2. Ride a habal habal from Brgy. Importante to the accommodation of your choice. Php 70/way.
Day 3
San Joaquin, Iloilo
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Here are some pictures:
How to get to San Joaquin, Iloilo:
1. From Kalibo, Caticlan, Antique. Ride a Ceres bus bound to Iloilo and tell your driver to drop you off to San Joaquin. From Tibiao Antique the fare is Php 132.00 with 4 hours travel time.
2. Ride a tricycle to Garin Farm. Fare is Php 10.00 each
I'm not quite sure if the travel was worth it because we just stayed at Garin Farm for about an hour. Then we traveled back to Kalibo for almost 6 hours. If you plan to copy our Itinerary have your return flight to Manila via Iloilo Airport so you don't have to go back to Kalibo.
And yes, that sums up our tri province backpacking! With a budget of less than Php 5,000.00. I think we pretty much enjoyed Panay Island even if I lost my phone. Did I repeat that too much?
I'll probably come back for Guimaras, Roxas, Iloilo (Gigantes Island! OMG.) and Boracay again and again and again!
Where do you think I should go backpacking next? Suggestions, please!
Wrote by Diaries of A Financial Traveler
