Firstly, thank God that He gave us three very good days, sunny and no rain, despite the heavy rain on our arrival in Manila on the third day. Despite the suspension of Zest Air flights, we were transferred to PAL hassle-free.
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| While waiting for our flight |
Iloilo-Guimaras trip is one of my many DIY trips. So let me take you to the activities and expenses we go through as we enjoy Iloilo and Guimaras within budget. Since I traveled with my friend, Julie, we shared the expenses.
DAY 1
2:00 a.m. - Departure Manila - Iloilo (4:20 a.m. flight moved to 8:55 a.m.)
11:20 a.m. - Travel from airport to SM Iloilo by shuttle van
12:30 p.m. - Travel from SM Iloilo to Ortiz wharf by taxi
12:50 p.m. - Travel from Ortiz wharf to Jourdan wharf by boat
1:10 p.m. - Register at the Tourism Office
1:30 p.m. - Travel from Jourdan wharf to Smallest Plaza, The Pitstop Restaurant for lunch by tricycle
3:30 p.m. - Check in at Raymen Beach Resort
Please note that we waited six hours for our flight at the airport so we are crunched for time for Day 1. The original plan was to commute via jeepneys or passad, as it was called locally, since we're on time restraint, we traveled by taxi and shuttle vans. Travel time from Manila to Iloilo: 1 hour and 5 minutes. From the airport to SM Iloilo, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic. From SM Iloilo to Ortiz Wharf, 10 to 20 minutes depending on traffic. From Ortiz Wharf to Jourdan Wharf in Guimaras: 15 minutes. Travel from the wharf to the resort, standard fare for tricycle is P250 for the first hour, preceding hours is P150. Travel time and rates within Guimaras from the port via tricycle depends on the places you want to visit. We stopped at the Smallest Plaza for some photo ops and decided to just eat lunch at The Pitstop and then went straight to the resort. We contracted the same tricycle driver on our travel back the next day.
Here's our expenses for Day 1.
EXPENSES TOTAL DIVIDED BY 2
Air fare (Zest Air one way) 1762.00 881.00
Coffee Seattle's Best at Airport 300.00 150.00
Shuttle van 100.00 50.00
Taxi to Ortiz Wharf 170.00 85.00
Boat to Guimaras 30.00 15.00
Tricycle (2 hours) 400.00 200.00
Lunch at The Pitstop 499.00 250.00
Raymen Resort (Y. Bell Room) 700.00 350.00
Raymen Resort entrance fee 50.00 25.00
Raymen Resort dinner 370.00 185.00
TOTAL EXPENSES DAY 1 4381.00 2190.50
Our lunch at The Pitstop is only P280 for two but we can't help ourselves but to try the mango shake and the mango pizza. Also, our dinner at the Raymen Resort Restaurant is a bit expensive because we opted to try their various seafood menus.
DAY 2
5:30 a.m. - Wake-up call
6:00 a.m. - Swimming
9:00 a.m. - Breakfast
10:00 a.m. - Check out at Raymen Resort
11:00 a.m. - Guisi Lighthouse
12:00 p.m. - Trappist Abbey Monastery
1:00 p.m. - Guimaras Adventure Park (Target Shooting)
2:00 p.m. - Jourdan Port
2:20 p.m. - Travel from Jourdan to Ortiz Wharf by boat
2:40 p.m. - Travel from Ortiz Port to Ong Bun Pension by taxi
3:00 p.m. - Check in at Ong Bun Pension
3:30 p.m. - Late lunch/early dinner
4:30 p.m. - Rest
7:00 p.m. - Check out Iloilo Nightlife
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| The "rustic" Guisi Lighthouse |
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| Target shooting |
DAY 2 TOTAL DIVIDED BY 2
Breakfast 180.00 90.00
Guisi Lighthouse entrance fee 20.00 10.00
Pasalubong shopping at Trappist 294.00
Target shooting fee + bullets 540.00 270.00
Tricycle (4 hours) 850.00 425.00
Boat to Iloilo 30.00 15.00
Taxi to Ong Bun Pension 79.00 37.00
Check in at Ong Bun Pension 545.00 272.50
Dinner 90.00 45.00
TOTAL EXPENSES DAY 2 2334.00 1167.00
We didn't have reservation at the Ong Bun Pension. The only available air-conditioned room was a single deluxe room at P495. We paid P50 for the additional person.
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| air-conditioned single deluxe room |
DAY 3
7:00 a.m. - Wake up call
8:30 a.m. - Travel to airport by taxi
10:20 a.m. - Flight Iloilo to Manila
We went to the airport at the earliest time possible because our Zest Air flight was cancelled. Luckily, our flight was rebooked for the 10:20 a.m. flight Philippine Airlines.
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| Our reliable driver for two days in Guimaras, Mang Raul Galon. |
DAY 3 TOTAL DIVIDED BY 2
Breakfast (Jollibee) 100.00 50.00
Taxi to airport 400.00 200.00
Airfare (one way) 2696.00 1348.00
Airport tax 400.00 200.00
Additional Pasalubong 300.00
TOTAL EXPENSES DAY 3 3596.00 1798.00
TOTAL EXPENSES 3 DAYS 10,311.00 5,155.50
Please bear in mind that I used P700 just for pasalubong. You can make the budget smaller if you're in a group.
Raymen Beach Resort
Address: Poblacion Nueva Valencia Guimaras
Telephone nos: (033) 396-0252 / (033) 396-0383
E-mail add: raymenbeachresort@yahoo.com
We made our reservation by e-mail. In fairness, they acknowledged our reservation and as we're checking in, they allowed us to check first the room/kubo before they checked us in. The kubo that we reserved has no toilet, so we opted the other kubo with CR. Hassle-free checking in at Raymen Resort.
Ong Bun Pension House
Address: corner Quezon-Ledesma Street Iloilo City, Iloilo
Contact number for tricycle driver, Raul Galon, to be followed.
Happy travels!
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