Composed of ten islands, generally mountainous in the north and southeast, rich in cultural and linguistic commonalities — Batanes is now my new definition of paradise. Located in the northernmost part of the Philippines, my travel to Batanes was a dream come true. Aside from the fact that going to Batanes seemed impossible due to that expensive rountrip ticket, was also finding the perfect company who will also enjoy the sceneries and activities in Batanes.
How to Get There:
You’ll need to ride a plane going to Batanes via PAL Express. The price for a one way-ticket ranges from 10,000 to 13,000 pesos max while a round trip ticket will cost you around 20,000 pesos or so. It was fortunate of me that I got my ticket from the lucky draw which our company did last Christmas Party, yey! 🙂 Travel time is about 1 and a half up to 2 hours. Other means of getting there are (1) SkyJet- which will cost you around 4 thousand pesos (one-way) or more; or (2) Travel to Tuguegarao and ride a ferry boat which I am not sure if there are REALLY boats that transport passengers from Tuguegarao to Batanes. All I know is that these boats are used to transport commodities to Batanes.
Basco, Batanes Airport
Where to Stay:
We stayed at Time Travel Lodge located 10 minutes away from the airport. It was such a nice place to just relax if you have no itineraries for the day. For a people of 6, we stayed in one air conditioned room. All we did was just ask the receptionist for two additional beds and they only charge us for 200 pesos per bed. (Not Bad!) The room already has a mini kitchen where you can cook meals for a certain fee (which was already free for us. haha), a bathroom with hot shower, TV and electric fan. The place also had free wifi. You can also rent bikes for only 50 pesos per hour.
Time Travel Lodge
If you want to make reservations, contact them at 0939 632 8978 or like their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Timetravel-Lodge-BATANES
Where to eat:
The only restaurant which we were able to visit was the Pension Ivatan. The food was great and they also serve their famous dish–the coconut crab for only 1500 pesos which is already good for 3-5 people.
Pension Ivatan
Where to go:
If you are planning to go Batanes without contacting a tour guide or getting a tour package, I advice you to please think twice. Most of the tourists who went to Batanes without a tour guide were either slammed or taken away by waves in the view deck or got hospitalized due to sea sickness and dehydration. But of course I am not scaring you, instead I am warning you because we have seen this during our stay in Batanes. 🙂
There area many agencies that provides tour packages in Batanes. Time travel lodge arranged the tour for us. For about 9,000 pesos (tour package plus accommodation and food) I was able to survive my Batanes escapade.
a. North Batan
Day 1 of our itinerary was to explore the northern part of Batanes. First on our list was the Tukon Church, a church inspired from the Ivatan stone houses where you’ll fall in love with its beautiful and stunning interiors perfect for small and intimate weddings.
Tukon Church
After taking pictures at Tukon Church, we went to Overview Deck to eat our hefty lunch. The food and scenery was also great.
Overview Deck
After lunch, we headed to the Dipnaysupuan Japanese Tunnel or most commonly referred to as “Japanese Tunnel”. It’s a 5-door World War II tunnel which was built by the Japanese to provide shelter for their soldiers. However, according to our tour guide the Japanese forced the Ivatans to build this tunnel for them. It is located in the mountain of Tukon.
Japanese Tunnel
And of course, we could not resist taking pictures of the Rolling hills. The view will surely take your breath away.
Rolling hills
Another breathtaking view was the Pacific Ocean at Valugan Boulder Beach. It was so called Boulder because of the enormous stones spewed by Mount Iraya . Be careful here because the waves are really huge and strong. One of our friends even got wet. 🙂
Valugan Boulder Beach
One of many attractions in North Batan was the Vayang Rolling Hills. I was so afraid of walking in the steep and narrow hills of Vayang. Good thing, we had our tour guide to accompany me in my every step haha! The scenery was just beyond words. I was totally awed by the beauty of the place– the spectacular view of the South China Sea and the seemingly endless waves of rolling hills and amazing seascapes.
Vayang Rolling Hills
Of course, the finale of our North Batan Trip was the Naidi Hills, Basco Lighthouse and dinner at Bunker’s Cafe.
Naidi comes from the Ivatan words “Na” which means Past and “idi” which means settlement. The place is perfect during sunset and what a great way to spend dinner just beside the lighthouse at Bunker’s Cafe.
Basco Lighthouse
Naidi Hills (Above); View from top of lighthouse (below)
b. Sabtang Island
We woke up early for our trip to Sabtang Island. We were fetched from our accommodation by our tour guide Mark to go to Ivana Port where we need to ride a boat going to the island of Sabtang.
In the port of Sabtang, we noticed the famous Honesty Coffee Shop where there were no vendors to collect your payment for anything you buy. It was totally unmanned. As the saying of their store goes “The shop is too small for dishonest people”, no one ever dared to take anything unpaid 🙂
Honesty Coffee Shop
When our boat arrived, we don in our life vest and carefully positioned ourselves inside the boat.The waves were strong but for the Ivatans the waves were only mild then.
When we arrived at Sabtang Port, we rode a tricycle to get us to the Tourism Office where we registered our names as tourists in the area, of course. After which, we went to the Chavayan Village located 3 km. away from town. The houses were made of stones, typical Ivatan houses that survived heavy and such strong typhoons.
Chavayan Village
Chavayan Church
From the village we went to Morong Beach located in Barangay Malakdang to see the famous natural rock formation– the Mayahaw Arch.
Morong Beach and Mayahaw Arch
The scenery in Chamantad Cove and Tinyan Viewpoint were sights to behold. We carefully trekked the slopes of Tinyan for us to see the cove of Chamantad. The trek was a bit exhausting so it’s not a bad idea to rest a bit ,eat corn and just enjoy the scenery 🙂
Chamantad Cove and Tinyan Viewpoint
After our exhausting trip, we had our lunch and finally head to the Port to go home 🙂 In here, I had the chance to take a picture of the Sabtang lighthouse. Too small though.
Sabtang lighthouse (Below)
c. South Batan
First on our list was the Chawa View Deck where you can enjoy the view of the waves that crashes on the huge rocks that forms on the side of the deck. There’s also a staircase that will lead you down the adjacent cliff to take more photos or just enjoy the view.
Chawa View Deck
We passed through the Mahatao Boat Shelter Port but sad to say we did not get the chance to drop by the port. It is located in the vicinity of Mahatao Idjang to provide shelter for Ivatan boats during inclement weather conditions. In the town of Mahatao, we also dropped by the Mahatao Church (San Carlo Borromeo Church). This century old church was declared as a natural cultural treasure by the National Museum in 2001.
Alapad Hill was one of my favorite. This was the location of the movie “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit” which featured Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. This place is perfect for your “I-Dawn-Zulueta-Mo-Ako” moments.
Alapad Hill
We also went to the House of Dakay also known as Vajay ni Dakay which was originally owned by Lucia Estrella and later passed on to her sons and daughters and now owned by Floresida Estrella, popularly known as Lola Ida.
House of Dakay
We had our lunch at Marlboro Country or Racuh a Payaman, one of the most photographed places in Batanes. It is so called Marlboro country because it is quite similar to those Marlboro advertisements where animals (cows/carabao) roam freely in a wide area.
Marlboro Country
Last place which we visited was the Tayid (Mahatao) Lighthouse built recently in year 2000. It will give you a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean, other parts of Batan island and its rugged mountain cliffs.
Tayid Lighthouse
We were not able to visit the Island of Itbayat because we need to spend at least a night there for us to fully roam the island. Of course, all of us are planning to come back in Batanes and visit Itbayat since we’ve heard so many good things about the island. Till then, this is my UNFORGETTABLE 4 day travel to Batanes. Ciao! 🙂
Certified Byahera 