Romblon Province Archives

Gomot Falls in Cajidiocan, Sibuyan Island, Romblon, Philippines

February 27, 2014 by Josiah 2 Comments

(May 8, 2012) It was the fourth day of our visit around the Province of Romblon and we were now ready to go and hike Gomot Falls. One of our main destinations in the island of Sibuyan Island.

The day before, we had to visit the Municipal Hall of Cajidiocan since we needed to have permission to enter the land where the Indigenous People (IP) of Cajidiocan resides because that is where Gomot Falls resided. I think it’s also inside Mount Guiting-Guiting Natural Park. Once we got permission to enter the land we finally had our much needed rest for the trek the next day. But the municipality had different plans for us, as we were invited to judge a contest in one of their baranggays.

The event ended at around 1:30 AM and we had to wake up early so we could start our trek early to Gomot Falls.

We woke up at around 6:00 AM, ate breakfast and met with our guides (Kuya Inggo and Kuya Jeffrey) which actually live near the falls. We decided to buy burgers for lunch at a local shop, which was actually a bad move as they have really slow service making us start to leave town at around 7:53 AM. But at least we were starting.

We started at together with Marky of NomadicExperiences.com, Dazl of DazzlingDazzle.com and Pam a friend of Dazl which became our friends too. But after a few minutes it was obvious that the group had different speeds. Dazl and Marky guided by Kuya Inggo were in the fast group. Me and Pam guided by Kuya Jeffrey were in the not so fast group.

So we kept on walking through coconut plantations and through trails without cover. The sun was hot which encouraged us to walk faster for shade.

Motorcycle Tour around Banton Island, Romblon

February 21, 2013 by Josiah 1 Comment

The afternoon that we arrived at Banton Island in the Province of Romblon, we inquired on how we could go around the island. Ate Osing of A & A Lodging House told us that we could rent a Single for us to go touring around the island.

In the Municipality of Banton, roads are designed only for motorcycle, that is why most of their roads only has a width of less than 2 meters. Some of the residents have their own motorcycles, but for people like us that do not have one, the Single would be our faster means of transportation other than walking.

The Single is a motorycle that has an extended railing at the tail to accommodate more people. That’s why a Single could accommodate Dazl, Jessica and me plus the driver… plus a possible person to be seated in front of the driver. On other parts of the country the Single is popularly called Habal-habal.

The next morning we negotiated with the driver and agreed to pay hime 500 Pesos for him to tour us around the island. Here’s how our motorcycle tour around Banton Island went.

9:12 AM – Start of Tour via Single

Roads along the shore

Mossy Road around Banton Island

Tiamban Beach, ITT Tower and Agbaliga Waterfalls in Romblon Island, Romblon

February 9, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

It was the 22nd of May 2012, I was happy that this day was a rest day as I was tired from continuously traveling the Province of Romblon for 17 days. The plan was simple that day, for Dazl to spend time with her family at Tiamban Beach in Romblon Island. But seeing that I was only going to be here for a few more days before going back to Manila, I quickly hid my tiredness and decided to do more than just lie on the beach. I asked Jessica on what other places we could visit on Romblon Island, she answered some waterfalls and ITT Tower where I could see a great view of the island of Romblon from a higher vantage point than Fort San Andres.

View from the ITT Tower

A friend of Jessica fetched me from where we were staying. He was riding a motorcycle so we could go move around and stop as we pleased. We first stopped at a gas station little under a kilometer from town. We loaded the motorcycle with a hundred pesos of gasoline and continued through the circumferential road around Romblon Island.

We passed by Tiamban beach as we were decided to visit ITT Tower first. After a few minutes we turned left and was now battling our way on the rough-uphill road passing by fewer houses and sometimes quails running across the road. As we quickly ascended I saw glimpse in between trees on how high we were as the town was significantly smaller. I wanted to stop the motorcycle but stopped myself from requesting as I find it important our momentum to not be stopped. I just hoped that we were going back the same route.

Rough road to the ITT Tower

Less than 30 minutes passed since we left the town we were now at one of the highest points of Romblon. The weather was cooler than the usual from above and the dark clouds floating above may have added a chill factor to the air. I looked at the transceiver in front of us and turned around to one of the best views I have seen in Romblon Island. Lush green trees on mountains, some where covered in coconut trees. The town was below us showing different colors from paints of houses and roofs. Different coves and islands that explains why the Romblon Island port was a refuge from rough seas of the boats.

Late Afternoon Around the Town San Fernando, Sibuyan Island, Romblon

January 5, 2013 by Josiah 2 Comments

It was the day after we trekked to Gomot Falls at the municipality of Cajidiocan in Sibuyan Island, Romblon. The day when Marky and Pam spent a whole day riding on top of a jeep, a ferry, then a jeep again and another ferry again to separate their adventures from us, as they needed to be back in Manila. We (Dazl and I) watched the yearly float festival of different baranggays of Cajidiocan. Dazl decided that we should proceed to travel to the municipality of San Fernando after ~~lunch~~ her afternoon nap.

When 4PM finally came, we were now looking for a tricycle to take us to San Fernando. 50 minutes and 80 Pesos/person butt numbing tricycle ride passing by rough roads beside small cliffs and the sea had passed before we arrived at the small public market of San Fernando.

Road to San Fernando from Cajidiocan

First mission was to find a lodge and there was one in town, Sea Breeze Inn. (Details posted at the end of this post)

After setting our stuff on our respective individual rooms, we decided to take a stroll around town and ask the locals on what the place has to offer. To gather some details too.

The locals told us 4 places we could visit from the town proper. First is Cresta de Gallo Island, an island about an hour boat ride away from the town that offers sand beaches, rocks and a simple life in the island. Second, third and fourth are Busay Falls, Cantingas River Resort and Dagubdob Picnic Grove, which are freshwater adventures of different levels.

The first one (Cresta de Gallo Island) we would need to pay 2,500 Pesos for a maximum of 6 pax per boat roundtrip to Cresta de Gallo, which was in no-way could our budget cover such an expense. The other 3 was only a 700 Peso tricycle ride away, so we decided to concentrate our next day for the fresh water adventures.

We then proceeded to the port where we heard that there’s a boat the ferries people from here to Roxas City, Capiz and vice versa. We were lucky as the boats were there and the crew were doing maintenance work on the boat. We asked questions, we got details. (Detils posted at the end of this post)

The port was simple, a concrete bridge that does not connect on another land on the other side. Shorter than most concrete ports I’ve seen.

Busay Falls in San Fernando, Sibuyan Island, Romblon

January 2, 2013 by Josiah 4 Comments

It was our second attempt of the day to visit Busay Falls. The first one was a failed attempt due to the strong rain that threatened us with floods through the path we took. When we went back to the trail, the waters on some sections were above my ankles. When the tricycle went off to our next destination I never thought we would be able to visit Busay Falls on the same day.

First attempt to visit Busay Falls but failed due to the rain

After spending half of the day visiting Cantingas River Resort and Dagubdob Picnic Grove, we were back at the town proper of San Fernando in Sibuyan Island, Romblon at a little past 1PM. We were hungry. We tried many times to look for eateries but their stock of food was no longer available. We were hungry. Then we tried going to go inside the public market and we got lucky to see a karinderya still open. The atmosphere wasn’t really conducive for eating as the karinderya was beside the river but the food tasted really good! The prices were affordable too.

We finished our meals at around 1:30PM. We though of what we should be doing for the rest of the day. We wanted to go to Cresta de Gallo but it was too expensive. That leaves us with nothing to do except to try going back to Busay Falls.

From the town proper we decided to walk. Taking a right turn to the National Highway and asking people along the way where the small street is going to Busay Falls.

National Highway

Dazl dazzling on the small road to Busay Falls

After about 15 minutes of walking we were back on the large dry river, walking back to the house where we took shelter from the rain on our first attempt. This time no rain could be felt but the sky was still white with clouds.