How to Get to Isla de Gigantes via Roxas or Iloilo City

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​Isla de Gigantes is still for me, one of the most beautiful off-the-beaten-path beaches in the Philippines and despite the difficulty of getting here, I would still recommend visiting these islands. It reminds me of El Nido because of its limestone karsts, white sand beaches and one-of-a-kind lagoons. Although there is only one lagoon included in the tours, I heard there are other lagoons in the area but much more difficult to reach. So here are the ways to get to the islands.

1. FLY TO ROXAS CITY OR ILOILO CITY

From Manila: ​If you are coming from Manila, there will be 2 possible airports of entry -- Roxas City and Iloilo City. I would highly recommend that you go via Roxas City, which is nearer Estancia/Carles (the drop-off points to Isla de Gigantes). From Roxas City, Estancia/Carles would only be 2 hours away while it will be about 3-4 hours away if you're coming from Iloilo City. Flights tickets are generally cheaper as well via Roxas than Iloilo. AirAsia and Cebu Pacific both offer flights going to Roxas City. 

From other points in the Philippines : If you are coming from other parts of the Philippines, the only way would be through Iloilo City International Airport. There are direct flights to Iloilo City coming from Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Clark, Davao, General Santos City and Puerto Princesa. 

From international airports: Only Singapore and Hong Kong via Cebu Pacific have direct flights to Iloilo City. All those coming from other countries need to pass through Manila. 

To book the flights, here are the websites of the local airlines flying through Iloilo International Airport:

• Cebu Pacific: www.cebupacificair.com
  
• Philippine Airlines: www.philippineairlines.com
• AirAsia: www.airasia.com
  

Photo © Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iloilo_International_Airport

​​2. RIDE A BUS/VAN GOING TO CARLES OR ESTANCIA

There are two seaports with boats going to Isla de Gigantes -- Carles and Estancia. Since Isla de Gigantes is part of Carles, would make more sense to come from there. The islands are also closer coming from Carles so the boat trip would be expectedly shorter. However, traveling to Carles would take more time because it's farther away than Estancia. There are also more public transportation heading for Estancia than Carles. So just weigh your options -- shorter land trip but longer boat ride or shorter boat ride but longer land trip?

From Roxas City to Estancia Port: ​​

1. From any point in Roxas City, ride a tricycle and ask to bring you to Roxas City Transport Terminal.
2. Once you are at the terminal, hop on the Estancia-bound Ceres buses or v-hires/vans. The trip by bus will be about 2 hours all the way to Estancia. V-hires/vans are faster since there are fewer stops and will cut the trip by half an hour.
3. All public transportation will stop at the Estancia Bus Terminal. From there ride a tricycle going to Estancia port.

From Roxas City to Carles/Bancal Port:

1. From any point in Roxas City, ride a tricycle and ask to bring you to Roxas City Transport Terminal.
2. Once you are at the terminal, you can hop on the Carles-bound buses. Note however that there are very few buses bound for Carles. If you are not willing to wait, you can hop on the Estancia-bound buses instead but asked to be dropped off at Balasan crossing (which is the junction bound for Carles). 
3. At the Balasan junction/crossing, take a tricycle going to the public market or better yet, ask if the tricycle driver is willing to take you straight to Bancal Port in Carles. The tricycle trip to Bancal Port would be about 45 minutes.
4. If you took the tricycle to the market, ride a jeepney heading to Carles town proper. The jeepney ride would be about 30 minutes. 
5. From Carles town proper, take a habal-habal to the Bancal port.

From Iloilo City: From any point in Iloilo City, go to Tagbak Terminal in Jaro District and ride a bus/van to Estancia or Carles. Then follow points #3 onwards from either of the instructions above.

Van terminal in Roxas City going to Estancia (Photo © IHeartPH 2015)

Estancia bus/van terminal (Photo © IHeartPH 2015)

3. BOARD THE BOAT GOING TO ISLA DE GIGANTES

Whether coming from Estancia Port or Bancal Port (Carles), you will need to ride a passenger boat to Isla de Gigantes via Langub Port in Gigantes Norte. Although the popular destinations are located in Gigantes Sur, Gigantes Norte would be a more popular drop off point since most of the resorts are here. From Estancia, the boat ride would normally take around 2 hours but coming from Bancal Port (Carles), the trip is cut to 1.5 hours only. Here are the public boat schedules:

From Bancal Port (Carles) to Langub Port (Gigantes Norte): 

• Fast craft: 10:00 AM and 4:30 PM from Mondays to Thursdays
• Fast craft: 8:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 4:30 PM from Fridays to Sundays
• Ordinary passenger boat: 10:00 AM daily

From Langub Port (Gigantes Norte) to Bancal Port (Carles)

• 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM from Mondays to Thursdays
• 7:00 AM, 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM from Fridays to Sundays
• Ordinary passenger boat: 3:00 PM daily

From Estancia Port to Langub Port (Gigantes Norte):

• 2:00 PM daily

From Langub Port (Gigantes Norte) to Estancia Port:

• ​​8:30 AM daily

Estancia Port (Photo © IHeartPH 2015)

More blogs and websites with information on how to go to Isla de Gigantes:

• ​The Lost Kids PH: DIY Travel Guide to the Island of Giants
• Explore Iloilo: How to Get to and Around Gigantes Islands
• The Lone Rider: Overnight in Carles Iloilo
• Manong Lakwatsero: 3D2N Enchanting Isla Gigantes Trip
  

Here are my blog entries on places that you can go to in Isla de Gigantes:

• Tangke Salt Water Lagoon
• Cabugao Gamay
• Cabugao Dako
• Antonia Beach
• Bantigue Sandbar

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