Travel Footprints

While staying in Raymen Beach Resort in Brgy. Alibuhod of Guimaras, I soon found out that there are more little islands of Guimaras that are waiting to be explored. So we hopped on a boat and set sail to our first destination – Sea Turtle Sanctuary!

There were about 7 sea turtles in captivity when we visited the site. One is the green sea turtle shown in the picture above and which I attempted to carry by myself but failed! That pawikan must have weighed about 15 kilos! The other species was a Hawksbill turtle which the caretaker opted not to show up close because of its rough back. They were saying they had an endangered Olive Ridley just a few months ago but was already released into the ocean. The caretaker tell stories about these released turtles sometimes being sighted near the sanctuary and about olden times where grilling of turtle meat is a common sight around the guimaras area. The visit to the turtle sanctuary is free but they do welcome donations to pay for the turtles’ medicines and food (they log every donation in their book!).

Next stop is Ave Maria Island, an islet with a pristine white sands beach and an ideal place to go snorkeling because of its low water level and abundant fish schools.

That’s Nemo and Gill! The fishes came from another boat with tourists who said they bought it in one of the islands. I asked where they intend to take it and how far can it be transported. Turns out they were just from Iloilo and they intend to put Nemo and Gill in their aquarium. Poor fishes! I hope they do survive the trip in that bag.

Our next destination from Ave Maria island was Baras Island. Before reaching the island, our boatmen steered us into a cave first –

We did take a dip in the water inside the Baras Cave. The water was deep in some parts of the cave but we stayed close to where the boat was parked in that rocky area of the cave. We would have stayed longer if not for a very close encounter of my travel companion with a 2-feet long banded sea snake who swam past her legs as we were chatting by the rocks which made us scurry to higher ground as fast as we can. I would have loved to get a photo of the harmless creature but we left our camera in the boat and the sea snake went about his business foraging for food out of the cave mindless of the panic it caused in our group

The sea snake sighting was a cue for us to pack up and head on to Baras Island. By this time though, I was really feeling the heat of the sun as we come close to mid-day. So we simply asked our boatman to just sail pass the islands as we contend ourselves with taking photos at sea.

That’s Fairy Castle island (private) and a cottage along Baras Beach. It was the perfect day for an island-hopping activity. The 2-hour boat ride cost us Php 550 (plus tip for the boatmen). Good thing about island-hopping, Guimaras-style, is that they have a boat association with standard rates of Php 300 for 1 hour and an additional Php150 for each succeeding hours. Just make sure to bring your own snacks and water bottles to tide you over during the island-hopping in wonderful Guimaras islands!