GUIMARAS Travel Guide – 2 Days and 1 Night Itinerary

Guimaras Island is a perfect side trip destination from our Iloilo trip. I am so excited to explore the Island because I heard it is known for being the land of sweet mangoes and pristine white-sand beaches. Although a day tour is possible, our travel plan was to spend 2 days and 1 night in Guimaras. Basically, spend the first day on a land tour and Island hopping on the second day.

GUIMARAS Island Travel Guide

If you want to enjoy an exciting getaway to the stunning island province of Guimaras on a private tour from Iloilo you can book through Klook using the link below.

BOOK HERE ► Guimaras Island Private Day Tour from Iloilo

HOW TO GET TO GUIMARAS

There are no direct flights going to Guimaras. The closest airport is Iloilo Airport. ► CHECK FOR THE CHEAPEST FLIGHT TO ILOILO. The only way to get to the island is via sea travel either from Iloilo or Bacolod.

From Iloilo – This is the common and popular way to go to Guimaras Island. Head to Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal at Parola and ride a passenger boat to Jordan Wharf (Guimaras). Fare is P15 per person. Travel time is 15 minutes.
The schedule is 5:30 AM to 7:30 PM daily. Return trip to Ortiz Wharf is 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM daily.

In Jordan Port, You can rent a tricycle for Php 250.00 (max of 4) that will take you directly to your destination.
If you prefer commuting, you can take a jeep for PhP 30.00 to the town proper. From there, you need to ride a tricycle again going to your destination.

From Bacolod – From the city proper, take a 30-45 minute bus or cab ride to Pulupandan Wharf. Then take a pump boat in the port going to San Lorenzo, Guimaras. Travel time is around 45 minutes and the fare is Php 75.00. The first trip usually starts around 8 am.

From Iloilo, we traveled to the Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Terminal at Parola, just beside CityMall. The pump boat ride took us around 15 minutes.

Day 1: Land tour in Guimaras

We arrived at the Jordan Port in Guimaras at around 1:15 pm. Since we are a big group, we opted to rent a van that can tour us around Guimaras. The van we rented cost Php 3,500 which we divide among the 12 of us. It costs us Php 291.67 each.

At their port, we saw this big mango statue – already telling us what we can expect here in Guimaras. There are tour operators offering tricycles, vans, and jeepneys for tours outside the port. Here are their rates if you are interested. If you’re a solo traveler, you can also get a motorcycle tour (P1000).

Multicab – P2000
Tricycle (good for 2-3 people) – P1200
Jeepney – P2500
Van – P3500

We immediately started the tour when we got out of the port. A land tour in Guimaras requires 5 hours at most, due to the great distances between land attractions. We only selected spots that we are interested in visiting.

Places to see in Guimaras

These are the attractions we went to see during the land tour:

Holy Family Mills
Oro Verde Mango Plantation
San Lorenzo Windmills
Provincial Capitol ( for the GUIMARAS sign)
Trappist Monastery
Smallest Plaza
Guisi Lighthouse
Alubihod Beach

Holy Family Mills

The first stop is at Holy Family Hills in Tamborong, San Lorenzo, a pilgrim site on the island. It is a very solemn place, you can see here life-size stations of the cross. There is no entrance fee.

Oro Verde Mango Plantation

The Oro Verde Mango Plantation and Guimaras Tree Farm are the largest and are located in Buenavista. Oro Verde alone spans 237.016 hectares with more than 18,000 grafted mango trees. according to the staff, this is also where the movie of Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa’s Forevermore was filmed.

San Lorenzo Wind Farm (more commonly known as Guimaras Windmills)

I have to say, the Guimaras Windmills are indeed a sight to see. The viewing area of the Guimaras Windmills offers a breathtaking view no tourist should miss out on. Also, there is no entrance fee. According to Guide To The Philippines, this 54-megawatt San Lorenzo Wind Farm is the first of its kind in the Visayas region and stretches up to 14 kilometers, making it one of the biggest wind farms in Southeast Asia. This farm comprises 27 wind turbines that each stand at about 123 meters tall, with each turbine generating around 2 megawatts of power. Thus, producing a total of 54 megawatts of renewable energy. The farm started operating in 2014 and has since been producing renewable energy distributed to Western Visayas, Negros, and Cebu.

Aside from being a renewable energy source, the farm has also become a popular tourist attraction in the province. While visiting here, you can learn how renewable energy works while admiring the view of the turbines across the picturesque landscape. For a better view of the surroundings, you can head up to Lookout Point Number Seventeen or WTF No. 17. From there, you can get a fantastic view of the wind turbines. It is also a great spot to enjoy the sunset.

Provincial Capitol

We are not supposed to visit their capital center. But on our way to our next location, we saw this huge Guimaras sign so we asked the driver for a quick stop over here.

Trappist Monastery

The Trappist Monastery grounds feature a church and a store for buying pasalubong, especially local assorted mango-flavored delicacies such as mango bars and mango otap, different-flavored crinkles, mango, and calamansi jams. There are also religious and souvenir items such as keychains and wallets.

Smallest Plaza

The Smallest Plaza in the Philippines is located in Guimaras. It was also the former Guinness Book of World Records holder of the same title. The plaza is around 200 to 300 square meters area with the Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal in the middle, and right beside the highway and residents’ houses.

Guisi Lighthouse

The Guisi Lighthouse is the farthest land attraction we went to. It’s an 18th-century architectural work built to guide ships steering along Panay Gulf. The lighthouse has turned rusty, the walls in the ruins taken over by plant roots. There is a small wishing well in the middle where we throw coins and made a wish.

The Pitstop Restaurant

Before ending our day tour in Guimaras, we had merienda in Pitstop, a restaurant that offers various meals with mangoes. There is mango bulalo, mango pasta, and its famous dish — mango pizza. The mango pizza was my favorite.

Where to Stay in Guimaras

Right after our land tour, the van dropped us off to our accommodation. We stayed at Alubihod Cove Resort just beside Raymen Beach Resort where we will avail of their Island Hopping tour the next day. If you are interested you can book using the Agoda link below.

BOOK HERE ▶ Raymen Beach Resort

Room Rates: Rooms 1 -4 (Php 3,800 with aircon good for 6 to 8 pax) | Rooms 5 – 12 (Php 1,800 with aircon good for 2 pax) | Rooms 13 – 17 (Php 2,800 with aircon good for 4 pax) | Rooms 18 – 22 (Php 2,800 with aircon good for 4 pax) | Rooms 23 – 24 (Php 3,800 with aircon good for 6 pax, beachfront). The excess person is Php 250.

Day 2: Island hopping tour in Guimaras

We woke up pretty early the next day and walk to the next resort Raymen Beach Resort – along Alubihod Beach because they offer island hopping tours. Here are the rates.

Php 600 for the whole boat for the first hour + Php 200 every succeeding hour (good for up to 10 people). Island hopping can take 3-5 hours depending on your pace.
Php 100 snorkel rent

We started the Island Hopping tour at around 6:30 AM. Here is a list of our itinerary:
►Fairy Castle
►Baras Cave
►Ave Maria Island
►Sea Turtle Sanctuary
►Natago Beach Resort
►Lamurawan Beach Resort
►Isla Naburot

SEAFDEC or Igang Marine Sanctuary

Our first stop is at SEAFDEC (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center), also known as Igang Marine Sanctuary.

We toured the facility and looked at fish pens. They have so many fishes like bangus or milkfish, lapu-lapu, pompano, lionfish, and other kinds of fish.

Natago Beach

Pawikan Island or Turtle Island

After about 3 hours of island hopping, we went back to the resort.

GUIMARAS ITINERARY

Here is our 2 days, 1-night side trip itinerary that includes some land tours and island hopping tours.

Day 1: Explore the Island
12:30 PM – Arrival at Iloilo-Guimaras Ferry Port, Buy ticket
01:00 PM – ETD from Iloilo Port
01:15 PM – ETA Jordan Port Guimaras
01:30 PM – Start of land tour
06:00 PM – Dinner at the Pitstop Restaurant
07:00 PM – Check at Accommodation.

Day 2: Island Hopping
06:00 AM – Breakfast
06:30 AM – Start of Island Hopping
11:00 AM – End of Island Hopping
12:00 PM – Lunch and check out at the resort
01:00 PM – Pasalubong Center
–:– PM – Back to Iloilo

EXPENSES

Here’s a breakdown of our expenses for our 2 days, and 1-night side trip on Guimaras island. The breakdown is per person and only includes necessary expenses like transportation, meals, entrance fees, and accommodation. Tips and other expenses like “pasalubong” are not included.

Day 1 – Iloilo to Guimaras
Jeepney Fare to the port: PhP 7.00
Boat Fare to Jordan Port, Guimaras: PhP 15.00
Land Tour via Van: PhP 35500.00 (3500/12 = PhP 292 per person)
Entrance Fee at Guisi Lighthouse: PhP 20.00
Room Accommodation (good for 8): PhP 3800.00 (3800/8 = PhP 475 per person)
Dinner PhP 150.00
Day 2 – Guimaras to Iloilo
Breakfast: PhP 100.00
Island Hopping Tour: PhP 600.00 (600/6 = Php 100 per person)
Entrance Fee at SEAFDEC: PhP 25.00
Lunch: PhP 120.00
Tricycle Fare from Resort to Highway: PhP 25.00
Jeepney Fare to Jordan Port: Php 30.00
Boat Fare to Iloilo: PhP 15.00

Total Expense: PhP 1,374.00

WHAT ARE THE THINGS TO PACK

You might want to continue reading: CAMP SAWI to CAMP WAGI – Omagieca Obo-ob Mangrove Garden, Bantayan Island Cebu

If you haven’t subscribed to my blog yet, please do so you don’t miss any of my posts. And please follow my socials:
Facebook page @Lucidhorizon
Instagram accounts @sayaramae
TikTok shop – @iwearph

Thank you in advance.