My Unforgettable Sweet Escape in Isla Gigantes or the “Island of Giants” in Carles, Iloilo, Philippines

A story of my summer escapade and adventure in Isla Gigantes, or the “Island of Giants” in English translation. Isla Gigantes, formerly named “Salauag” a name of a tree which can only be found in the Island, but during the Spanish colonial era, the name was changed to Isla Gigantes, or in English, “Island of the Giants”. The name was changed because the local legends found huge coffins inside Bakwitan Cave that contained the gigantic bones of humans, which supported the name change of the Island.

It will take 3 hours or so to travel from Iloilo City, Philippines, to Isla Gigantes, which is in Carles, Iloilo, Philippines. My friends and I rented a van to go there. If you go to Isla Gigantes, you have a tour of your choice. Either you will go on a day tour, which is only 1 day, or you can stay in resorts and enjoy the Island for as many days as you like. My friends and I decided to go on a day tour since our schedules were already packed for the week.

Isla Gigantes consists of ten Islands. If you are going to get their day tour you can choose which Islands are you going to go because sometimes there are visitors who just want to stay in one Island and swim there than go to other Islands which is not near each other, and you have to travel again by boat for an hour or more so it will just a waste of your time to travel here and there if you will only have a day tour. We just chose one island named “Cabugao Gamay” and one saltwater lagoon named Tangke or “tank” in English for our tour. These places are very popular on the Island.

This is the Island of Cabugao Gamay, which is one of the landmarks and a very popular spot here in Isla Gigantes. You can see a lot of local and foreign tourists taking pictures above here. You need to climb up a big rock to take a picture and have that breathtaking view as a background. It’s not that high to go on top, so don’t worry about it and just think about the prize that you will see when you are already up there. The long journey and boat ride were all worth it when I took my picture with that amazing view.

Cabugao Gamay Island not only offers breathtaking views but a blue and green clear waters and very fine white sand as well. We stayed here for more hours to take pictures, enjoy, and swim with my friends. It was a very fun day, and the weather cooperated very well.

These are only some among hundreds of amazing pictures that I took from the Island. Some local kids will take pictures for you, and you can just give them a tip. Those kids are from poor families; they do some side hustles at such a young age to help the family. Based on my pictures they took, they are already very talented, much better than I am when it comes to taking pictures.

Our last stop is in Tangke, or “tank” in English. This is a saltwater lagoon. Most of the trips in Isla Gigantes, the last stop, are always here because they have a scheduled time when they open the lagoon to the visitors. I am so happy that the Local government is very active in maintaining the cleanliness of the Islands and the Lagoon, and they want to preserve the Islands by not building hotels and big establishments for business like other famous Islands in the Philippines. They want the Island to be “untouched” like it was before, which I supported a hundred percent. Isla Gigantes should be protected, as Mother Earth should be guarded, protected, and taken care of for future generations.

Pictures are mine and edited by: Canva

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