Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
MIMAROPA

ROMBLON [Carabao Island]

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Bugtong Bato Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
What do the provinces of MIMAROPA region have in common? Huge waves. Whether it’s southwest monsoon or northeast monsoon or even during summer, the sea condition is usually rough. Thank the gods I hailed from one of these provinces. At least I no longer get dizzy since I’m already used to bumpy boat and ferry rides.
📍Bugtong Bato Cave

🇵🇭CARABAO ISLAND ADVENTURE PRIMER🇵🇭

✈️🛳🚌 How to get to Carabao Island, Romblon:
⏺ Take a plane from Metro Manila to Caticlan (e.g. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia).
⏺ Hail a tricycle to get to Tabon Baybay.
⏺ Ride the public boat bound for Port of Said (travel time: approximately one hour).
⏺ Hire a motorcycle for your tour.
 
🏄🏝🚴 Sites to Explore/Activities:
 
Said/Inobahan Beach
Kuding-Kuding Point/Cave
Cathedral Cave
Bugtong Bato Point/Cave
Maglahob Beach, Lanas
Angas Point/Cave
Tagaytay Point/View Deck
 
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Visiting Carabao Island or locally known as Hambil was originally not part of the plan. We were supposed to see Boracay Island as a side trip to our Negros-Panay adventure leg but since Boracay was closed for rehabilitation, we had to alter our itinerary.
📍Said/Inobahan Beach
Kuding-Kuding Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
My friend and I boarded the public boat bound for the island of Hambil that morning. It was the month of May but the weather in this part of the country was still being affected by the northeast monsoon. After a half hour of waiting inside the boat, it started to rain. I kept my fingers crossed for a good weather by the time we arrived in Carabao Island.
📍Kuding-Kuding Cave
Maglahob Beach, Lanas, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
After battling the ginormous waves en route to the island for about an hour, we finally arrived at the port of Said.
📍Maglahob Beach, Lanas
Kuding-Kuding Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
The captain of the boat would be our motorcycle driver and tour guide as well. He drove us to our accommodation so we could check in our stuff.
📍Kuding-Kuding Point
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We roamed around the small town to check out some eateries where we could eat. Right after lunch, we went here at Said Beach to take some photos while waiting for our guides to pick us up.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
The truth is, we were somehow disappointed with what we saw. As you can see in this picture, the beach was full of seaweeds washed ashore.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
I remember asking our guides why Said Beach did not look as great as we were expecting it to be. They said that it’s because of the northeast monsoon. The direction of these monsoon waves carries the clutter to the shore unlike southwest monsoon waves when the sea was calm and these seagrasses were nowhere to be found.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
There were still nice spots though just like this one where you could take a swim.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
This beach might not be as impressive as its photos online due to the seaweeds but its powdery sand comparable to that of Boracay was definitely worth the visit.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We took some more photos before our guides finally arrived. Our boat captain arrived with another colleague of his because I told him that we would prefer to hire two motorcycles for each of us.

⏰⏳ SAMPLE ITINERARY:

DAY 1
8:00 AM ETD for Tabon Baybay 
9:00 AM ETD for Port of Said
10:00 AM ETA Carabao Island
11:00 AM Check-in / early lunch
12:00 PM Start of tour
6:00 PM ETA lodge
 
DAY 2
5:00 AM Wake up call
6:00 AM Explore Said/Inobahan Beach
8:00 AM Check-out
9:00 AM ETD for Tabon Baybay 
10:00 AM ETA Tabon Baybay
 
💰💶 ESTIMATED BUDGET (for a solo traveler): Php 2,000 – Php 2,500 (exclusive of airfare)
***Expenses may vary depending on the type of accommodation you will avail and personal consumption of food and other necessities. If traveling alone, you will solely shoulder the motorcycle tour rates.
 
Maglahob Beach, Lanas, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We finally headed to our first stop for our island tour. This beach, known as Maglahob Beach in Barangay Lanas, can be found on the other side of the island.
Maglahob Beach, Lanas, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
The sand of Maglahob may be coarser than Said’s but this beach is still beautiful nonetheless.
Cathedral Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Our second destination was Cathedral Cave. My friend and I were guided by a couple of young boys as we entered this cavern.
Cathedral Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
There’s really not much to see inside so we just captured a few pictures before heading back.
Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
This is the cliff-diving spot outside Cathedral Cave perfect for adrenaline junkies.
Bugtong Bato Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Beside Cathedral Cave is this spot where you can also take a dip.
📍Bugtong Bato Point
Bugtong Bato Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We took some photos but didn’t swim though because my skin was already sunburnt from our adventures prior to our Hambil tour. But at least we were thankful that the weather finally cooperated.
Bugtong Bato Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We were about to head to our next stop but one of the locals said that there’s also a cave beside the swimming area.
📍Bugtong Bato Cave
Bugtong Bato Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
I was expecting it to look like Cathedral Cave but I was amazed the moment I saw the opening of this cavern.
Bugtong Bato Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
The turquoise water glistened as the sunrays entered the other opening of this cave. I could stay and swim inside this place all day!
📜✏️ Tips/Reminders:
📌Carabao Island is also known as Hambil while the official name of the municipality is San Jose.
📌There are available accommodations in the island where you can spend the night.
📌The boat bound for Port of Said from Tabon Baybay leaves at 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM every day while the boat en route to Tabon Baybay from Port of Said leaves at 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM.
📌Get to the port an hour before the estimated time of departure to ensure your seat. The passenger boat sometimes gets full quickly.
📌Once you board the boat, confirm with the boat crew if you’re off to Port of Said since there are boats bound for Lanas and Tablas.
📌You may include the island of Panay in your itinerary when you visit Carabao Island. 
📌Expect rain and rough sea condition during monsoon season (June-February).
📌Always observe the LNT principles.
 
☎️ Contact:
📌Motorcycle Driver/Tour Guide: Kuya JR (09081651866) – he is also captain of the boat that plies the Tabon Baybay-Hambil route in the morning. You can contact him in advance to have your seat reserved.
Kuding-Kuding Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Next in our itinerary that afternoon is undoubtedly one of the most famous destinations in Carabao Island aside from Said Beach.
📍Kuding-Kuding Point
Kuding-Kuding Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
The place was deserted when we arrived. We took advantage of this for our photo ops.
Kuding-Kuding Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Just like Bugtong Bato, this one also has a cave where one can enjoy swimming. But because the tide was still high and the level of the water was way too deep inside the cave, we decided to just chill and wait by the cliff-diving area.
Kuding-Kuding Point, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Some guests started arriving but thankfully we were already done with our pictorial. We were just killing time until the tide was low enough for us to enter the cave.
Kuding-Kuding Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
After waiting for an hour or so, we went back to the entrance of Kuding-Kuding Cave to see if we could finally enter.
Kuding-Kuding Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Luck was on our side. I lost track of time as we took loads of photos inside while enjoying the glowing water of this cave.
Kuding-Kuding Cave, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
This cave pool definitely reminded me of Bucas Grande’s Hagukan Cave.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We headed back to Said Beach where we capped off our short but fun-filled trip in Carabao Island.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Of course we didn’t forget to take that mandatory photo of this leaning coconut tree famous among backpackers who already visited Carabao Island.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
A lot of travelers would say that this is the beach in the country which is at par with Boracay in terms of sand quality. To be honest, I wouldn’t contest that claim. They’re right after all. Besides, I wouldn’t wonder considering its proximity to the world-famous island. Plate tectonics would answer that.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We waited for sunset before going back to our lodge. I could still remember the time when I was supposed to visit Hambil in November 2015. My plan didn’t push through because the locals working in Boracay advised me to postpone my trip here since the northeast monsoon was at its peak and I might get stranded in the island if the coast guard didn’t allow the passenger boat to sail because of the treacherous waves.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
Fast forward to May 2018 and I was finally able to see this piece of paradise. I’ll surely come back to explore more of Romblon’s islands in the near future.
Said Beach, Carabao Island, Romblon, Philippines
We woke up at dawn the next day and walked along Said Beach to get to the port to catch the public boat going back to Caticlan. It’s funny to think that Carabao Island which is part of Luzon is just a stone’s throw away from mainland Panay which is already in Visayas. As soon as we reached Caticlan, we hurriedly made our way to Kalibo. Time for another fun-filled adventure!

***For other destinations in MIMAROPA, you may visit this link.

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