Things to do in Guimaras

This article is part of our guide to adventure travel the Philippines on a budget.

This island’s landscape is rugged and arid, compared to the rest of the Philippines, very peculiar of this island. Guimaras is world renowned for mango production, those are told to be the best mangoes in the world. But it’s not just for the mango that we came here, Guimaras is really worth a visit, could be explored in a few days and you’ll never forget the feeling of this island.

check here our 4 itineraries for 4 incredible islands in the Visayas

As usual, there are many ways to get here by boat, and we chose maybe the most dangerous, the pump boat from Pulupandan, Negros. This was a very scary experience and we seriously suggest to avoid it, especially if you are prone to seasickness (which we are not), but if you’re that kind of person that enjoy adventure no matter the risk, then try it.

Our itinerary was around 70km long in 2 days, including the ferry transfers. Here is the detailed map of our itinerary in Negros, with elevation profile. It’s the GPX track recorded by our GPS during the whole journey.

The JBLMF park is nice, the entrance fee is around 1$, there are a butterfly garden and the main attraction, the mangrove forest, with wooden catwalks to watch the forest from above, really worth it. Some more nice beaches too inside the park.

From there you have no choice but going back up to Poblacion. Then another climb awaits you on the road to Jordan, the capital town of the island and the only place where to find an ATM. From Jordan there are ferries (this time nice and almost safe RoRo ferries) that would bring you to Iloilo in Panay island.

This article is just an outline about Guimaras island, you’re welcome to contribute in the comments to make it more complete. The most useful comments will be inserted in the article.

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