Top Things To Do and Places to Visit in Guimaras

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Things to do in Guimaras

After having visited Guimaras island for so many years, it has changed a lot. There are so many new places to visit and fun things to do there this year 2020. Guimaras is known to be the MANGO CAPITAL of the Philippines. Do you want to know why? Yes, you guessed it right. Guimaras island is famous for their best export quality and sweetest mangoes in the Philippines.

Guimaras-export-quality-sweetest-mangoes

But not only that,  flocks of tourists visit Guimaras for its boracay-like white sand beaches and old light houses. Although there’s nothing to compare how fine the white sand is in Boracay, many tourists still don’t want to miss it when they’re visiting the City of Love, Iloilo City.

Boracay-like white-sand-beach-guimaras

Besides that it’s way cheaper than in Boracay, the time travel to get there is pretty easy and short. Also, it’s not crowded or touristy like Boracay. So if you are looking for some quiet place to relax with your family, Guimaras island is the perfect place for you.

Best Places To Visit in Guimaras Island

The Smallest Plaza

Guimaras-smallest-plaza-Guinness-book-world-of-record

The first place in Guimaras that you should not miss to visit is their smallest plaza.

Did you know that Guimaras has the smallest plaza in the world? Yes, it has an area of not more than 300 square meters. Thus, it earned its title from the Guinness Book of World. This plaza might be really small but you won’t be able to miss it.

How to get there:

Along the road, it has a big signage as seen in the picture above. It is located in Jordan.

The Guisi Lighthouse

Guise-light-house-guimaras-island
The old light house in Guisi, Guimaras Island

Here’s another tourist spot in Guimaras that’s famous for its architecture. The Guisi Lighthouse is one of the popular places in Guimaras to visit.

If you are visiting Guimaras, you must not miss Guisi lighthouse. It’s rusty old architecture enticed people to visit this place. Some couples even have done their prenuptial photo shoot here.

Old-historical-site-Guisi-ligh-house-guimaras-place-to-visit

In addition, the Guisi lighthouse will also give you a beautiful panoramic view of the beach from above. I believe I have been in this historical site for a thousand times already.

Best-beach-view-Guisi-guimaras-light-house

It is around 1 hour by tricycle from the port to get there. It is located in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. You will need to hike uphill for about 10 minutes to get to the Guisi Lighthouse ruins.

Here’s a drone video of our visit to the lighthouse:

YouTube video

Guisi Beach Guimaras 

Guisi-white-sand-beach-guimaras

Guisi beach is my favorite place to visit in Guimaras island. Its sand might not be as fine as other beaches but its wider.

If your are looking for a long stretch beach, Guisi beach is perfect for you. Just beware though, the beach is rocky. Nevertheless, it has a very clear water.

Guisi-beach-place-to-visit-in-Guimaras-islan

Now, there’s a restaurant on the beach where you can order some food or rent a cottage. What we would usually do is bring a beach towel and just buy food from them. And yes, they sell cold beers!

Here’s a drone video of our visit to this beach:

YouTube video

The wind farms

The east side of the island can actually get a fair amount of wind, making Guimaras a net exporter of electricity to surrounding islands such as Negros or Panay. As such the local residents can also enjoy lower electrical costs. They are also rather majestic to look at as you drive by them and worth a climb up for an awesome view. They are located in this part of the island:

Map of Guimaras wind farms

And here is a drone video of our visit there:

YouTube video

Boat tours and island hopping

  • Alubihod Boat Tour
    This is also our favourite beach to hang out at. Great for children and lively.

Resorts worth checking out

Our favourite beach resort picks:

However, rather sedate and if you’d like something more lively, this section of the coast is nice:

Raymen beaches

There are several resorts around Raymen, our favourite being the California. Great and popular beach for kids. That is also where the Alubihod boat tours start and mentioned just above. On the way there you will pass Andana Resort, which has great swimming pools with view, and a floating park for kids.

Other things to do on the island

You can check out our Guimaras category for more ideas, such as resorts, beaches or restaurants to visit, or boat tours to take.

Here is another page we have on Guimaras.

Road trip!

And if you are not sure what is the best way to see all these sweet and delicious sites, a simple road trip will take care of it.

History of Guimaras Island

Sweet-mangoes-export-quality-guimaras-island-things-to-do

Have you ever wondered where does the name Guimaras came from? Guimaras was called before as Himal-us. Based on its peculiar history, there were two lovers who went swimming and didn’t come back anymore. The couple was Guima and Aras.

With that being said, in their honor, the pre-Spanish Ilonggos changed the name of the island from Himal-us to its present name Guimaras.

Wedding-on-the-beach-guimaras-island-guisi

The Province of Guimaras is composed of five municipalities with Jordan as the capital. As of 2020 census, Guimaras has a total population of 187,842.

How to get to Guimaras

Alubijod-alobihod-cove-white-sand-beach-place-to-go-guimaras

Guimaras is 604.7 km2 and it can be reached by plane and boat from Manila and other origins, via Iloilo City and Pulupandan, Negros Occidental. Moreover, including transfers, it takes approximately 5 hours and 10 minutes to get from Manila to Guimaras island.

On the other hand, if you are coming from Iloilo City, you can take a jeepney or taxi to take you to  the Iloilo Ferry Terminal-Parola, it is next to City Mall – Parola. From there, you can take a pumpboat to get you to the Guimaras island. Travel time is about 15-20 minutes.

Alubijod-cove-white-sand-beach-guimaras-island

If you have a car and you want to bring it with you to Guimaras, you may do so by taking a RoRo (big cargo ship) from the Iloilo-Jordan RoRo Port in Lapuz. There are two shipping lines, FF CRUZ and Montenegro. Travel time is about 20-30 minutes.

Motor boats or bangka fare costs 45 PHP during day time and 90 PHP at night. If you are taking a RoRo, fare would cost you 50 PHP. If you have a car, you’ll have to pay 700 PHP plus a terminal fee, no need to pay for the fare of the no more than 3 people including yourself.

Take note:

  • Day time : 6:00 – 17:57 @ 43 passengers/trip
  • Night time: 18:00 @ 31 passengers/trip

Best Time to Visit Guimaras Island

Guisi-beach-guimaras-island-place-to-visit-2022

Guimaras has been one of the famous weekend getaway places of Ilonggos. However, it has becoming to be popular for other tourists. The best time to visit Guimaras island is during summer. With that being said, it’s best to explore the island from December to May. 

However, the perfect month to visit the island is in May. May is the month when they celebrate their Manggahan (Mango) Festival for two weeks. During the festival, there are street dancing contest by different barangays.

Moreover, if you love mangoes, joining their “eat all you can mangoes” would be perfect for you. This is another thing to do in Guimaras that you should not miss when visiting.  I once finished two kilos of ripe mangoes within an hour. Well, I did not have breakfast so I guess it was a perfect timing.

Transportation Around Guimaras Island

Guimaras-island-things-to-do-visit

Once you have docked at the port, there will be drivers hovering around you. You may choose between jeepneys, tricycles or tuktuk,  and vans. If you are just doing a day trip to explore Guimaras, hiring a tricycle for a day is your best option. Jeepneys in the island aren’t available every minute thus witing for it will consume most of your time.

Alobijod-cove-guimaras-island-beach-place-to-visit

In addition, you must get back to the port before 6pm so you won’t miss the last boat. However, the downside of renting a tricycle is its price. It would cost around 1,000pesos for a day trip depending on the places you want to visit. On the contrary, if you are with your friends or family, it would be cheaper because you will be sharing the cost.

Do you know what’s another best part in traveling in Guimaras? There is no traffic at all.

Guisi-beach-guimaras-places-to-go-visit

The cheapest and best way that I have used when traveling alone in Guimaras is by renting a motorbike.

Moreover, I have learned this trick when I was traveling Siquijor, Bohol and southern part of Cebu. For budget travelers like me, you can walk further from the port. After the gasoline station, there’s a small kiosk next to a vulcanizing shop. You may ask people around where you can rent a motorbike.

However, some people might tell you that it’s not allowed but that is not true. I’ve done this so many times so can you. If you want to explore off the beaten paths in a cheap way then rent a motorbike.

In addition, rent of a motorbike costs 700 pesos/day or you can still negotiate the price for around 600pesos. But, you need to fill in the tank full before returning it. Driving a motorbike gives you plenty of time to explore the island flexibly. With that being said, you can stop whenever and wherever you want.

For Guimaras Island Hopping tour, prices are 700 PHP for the first hour and 250 PHP extra per hour. It usually takes about 5 hours to see all the other islands.

Visiting the islands in El Nido and Coron, Palawan? We offer private island hopping boat tours for you.

Private-island-hopping-boat-tour-between-elnido-coron-Palawan-private-island-hopping

Home » Visayas » Guimaras » Top Things To Do and Places to Visit in Guimaras
Lou PrataliLou Pratali
11:04 25 Jul 23
This is a must to do!!Super ultimate tour is the best with Kayangan and barracuda lake, twin lagoons (my favorite), coral garden (blue fabulous coral) were the best. It’s really worth it to pay for private tour (3500 to 4000 PHP). You will also have to pay for entrance fees (150 to 200PHP by location) and eventually shopping at the market - must do (count 300 for 2 for fish, pork, fruits and vegetables, water).
Gérard BENOITGérard BENOIT
16:11 07 Feb 23
I was looking for a personalized excursion to the beautiful Gulf of Bacuit.Seeing the comments, I contacted Mel.Very responsive, very efficient and perfect organization.The flight attendants were very friendly and very helpful.And I'm not even talking about the meal on board...a marvel.In all fairness, this excursion will remain an excellent memory and I cannot recommend Mel and his team highly enough.A big thank-you.
Alyse TarbottonAlyse Tarbotton
23:48 30 Aug 22
This tour went well above all our expectations! I couldn't recommend this enough! The boat crew, captain and tour guide were nothing but amazing, everyone was so kind, helpful and friendly. The crew knew the best spots to visit that weren't overcrowded with tourists, 3 times we were lucky enough to have whole islands to ourselves! It was my partner's birthday while away and everything went above and beyond, bonfire, cake, birthday card, singing and celebrating with us.If you love camping this is definitely a tout you should do, it has been the highlight of our trip!!
Danish KayaniDanish Kayani
10:24 31 Oct 19
Coron is the best place i have ever seen.. picturesque. Beautiful. Peaceful
We booked a 4 days/3 nights private boat trip from Coron to Sibaltan. The organization went very well from the beginning, the owner answered to all my questions, and we were able to choose which islands to visit and where to sleep. The first night we slept in a bungalow in Banana Island, the second we camped in Araw beach and the last we slept in a seafront bungalow builded on a tree in Pical on Iloc Island.The islands in that area are the most beautiful islands I have ever seen, with clear water, lots of coral reef and fishes to see, white sand and almost deserted. The crew was very friendly and polite and they organize every single meal and for camping they give you a tent which was just perfect! This was our highlight in our 2 weeks in the Philippines and I wish I had booked a longer trip. A private trip gives you the freedom to decide where and when to go.
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A wife and a mother of one with a small family business operation. We love to travel so we know what you need. In our family, I’m the one who loves organizing romantic wedding proposals and El Nido and Coron private day tours.

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Guimaras
Average rating:  
 1 reviews
 by Karel
lovely island

Several beaches and good resorts, the mango festival is a blast.

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