Before reaching it's main island, Kuya Wheng, our boatman on this island hopping trip brought us first to Guimaras' most visited cave - Baras Cave.
Baras Cave is just some minutes away from our previous destination, which was the Turtle Sanctuary. But if you are coming from the Guimaras Island itself, or from some main island resorts like Raymen Resort, where we stayed overnight, I think, it'll probably take you some 15- to 20-minute boat ride to reach this place.
My fondness over turtles started when I was a kid, and though, I haven't yet seen a live big turtles of "pawikan" back then, I found them really nice and really cool - that is if we are talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hehe.
Seriously talking, when we learned that one of the destinations that we are about to reach for the island hopping that we availed during our visit at the very beautiful island of Guimaras was the island's Turtle Sanctuary, I got all excited and really thrilled - a kid's dream in me, I think.
Since we've been to SEAFDEC that displays cultured fishes, to Tiniguiban Island that houses "Pulang Pasayan" and Ave Maria Island that's giving live to small fishes and jellyfishes , seeing this sanctuary of cute and most likable reptile in the whole wide world is a great treat to us from Guimaras.
I've been dreaming to go to Guimaras for a long time, thank God, it was answered last June 30 when I and two of my superfriends decided to spend our post-summer trip there.
I have big expectations about this province, really, because after that oil spill thing, I've read how the province gained back its glory and I can't really wait to see it.
We flew from Manila to Bacolod via Cebu Pacific piso fare then we took to boat rides from Bacolod to Guimaras. The first boat ride was a SuperCat ferry ride, which is Php250.00 one-way and Php400.00 two-way. Since our return flight for this vacation was from Bacolod to Manila, we booked the two-way trip from Bacolod to Iloilo, Iloilo-Bacolod. Van drivers from the New Bacolod-Silay Airport were all familiar as to where the SuperCat Terminal, so you don't have to worry about that, you just have to inform them what terminal you are going. I believe there are also other ferry companies that offer rides from Bacolod to Iloilo and back, so it's really up to you which one suits you best.
The ride from the airport to the ferry terminal is roughly an hour, and the schedule of the ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo can be checked at their websites, so you can really plan your trip there. From the Supercat Terminal in Bacolod to the SuperCat Terminal in Iloilo is another one-hour ride. I suggest to have something for your tummy before taking the ferry.
