Ever since I tried going to Panay via 2GO Travel I’ve always thought that the island is easily accessible from Metro Manila for a quick weekend getaway. If you’re working on a day shift, you just have to work undertime on a Friday to catch the vessel in the evening and go half-day on Monday (the vessel may arrive early but there’s still the bus ride from the port and it’s a manic day). It wasn’t long until I did it again to bite a late summer escape in Hinugtan Beach in Aklan.
When I came across a blog post (which I can no longer find) on skydiving in Bantayan Island and saw that Skydive Greater Cebu was already accepting reservations, boy, the following day I found myself at the bank paying for the down payment amounting to ₱3,000. The activity cost ₱18,000 but they had an early bird promo which reduced the amount by ₱3,000. That meant I had ample time to save for the balance and my birthday. Very doable, if you ask me.
Carabao Island, locally known as Hambil, is a stone’s throw away from the famous Boracay Island, about an hour away from Caticlan, Aklan. Like Boracay (and Hinugtan Beach at that), it boasts the same powdery, white sand but is more tranquil and clean!
When I first heard of Fortune Island and the pillars on it which resemble those of the Parthenon, I immediately locked it as a target because I know for a fact that in this life I’ll probably never step foot in Greece. So when I read in the comments of a blog post (while looking for beaches to go to) about a trip to Fortune Island organized by #JJTours, I hit up two friends and in no time I was already at the bank paying for our down payment. What did just happen.
For a change, I spent Valentine’s Day on the beach with two of my roommates when I was a college freshman. On the eve of the Dinagyang Festival, we were out drinking, celebrating it our way. That’s when they mentioned their plan of visiting Maniwaya Island in Marinduque. As I can’t just let this life pass by without seeding my seemingly growing love for the beach, I didn’t bother putting up a fight.
The year’s Independence Day brought me back to the place where I earned my degree. The holiday fell on a Tuesday so one just had to file a leave for Monday and call it a looong weekend. As for my ticket, booking it was semi-accidental; I was just playing around with Cebu Pacific Air‘s Travel Funds when… Boom! Flight to Iloilo confirmed. The destination? Kenyama Beach Resort in Guimaras.