PANAY ISLAND TOUR OF BEACHES AND CHURCHES. Part One: Concepcion and Gigantes Islands

For Holy Week of 2017, I decided to travel around the island of Panay—excluding Boracay—visiting the parish churches of the towns along the way while also exploring some of the beautiful beaches and islands that the four provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and Antique had to offer. Although I had previously visited Iloilo, Roxas, and Kalibo, I had never been to Antique, nor had I ever made a complete trip around Panay Island.

I began in Iloilo and traveled northward to Concepcion and Carles, then continued to Roxas and Kalibo. From there, we rounded the northwestern tip of the island through Malay and Buruanga before heading south to Culasi and San Jose de Buenavista in Antique. We then followed the southwestern coast of Panay down to Anini-y before eventually returning to Iloilo. The entire journey took nine days. Along the way, I was also able to visit the islands of Concepcion, the Gigantes Islands in Carles, Mararison Island in Culasi, and Nogas Island in Anini-y. Two friends from Tacloban accompanied me on this adventure.

For this blog, I have divided our Panay Island journey into five parts: (1) Concepcion and the Gigantes Islands; (2) the Churches of Capiz and Aklan; (3) the Churches of Antique; (4) Mararison Island in Culasi; and (5) Nogas Island and the Rafflesia of San Remigio.

We arrived in Iloilo around noon on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. After lunch at Ponsyon Restaurant in SM City Iloilo in Mandurriao, where we had our first taste of local cuisine, we immediately visited Molo Church and then proceeded to the Cathedral. There, I met my priest friend, Fr. Jayr, whose family had graciously allowed us to use their car for our journey around the island. Fr. Jayr would accompany us for the first two days of the trip, until our visit to the Gigantes Islands.

We had a long drive ahead of us that afternoon, as we needed to reach Concepcion, about a hundred kilometers away, where we planned to celebrate Palm Sunday the following day. Along the way, we passed by the church of Dumangas but did not stay long, as we also wanted to stop at a bakery owned by a friend of Fr. Jayr. What made the bakery particularly interesting was its traditional stone oven, or hudnoan, which had reportedly been in use for some seventy years.

Upon arriving in Concepcion, we paid a courtesy call on the parish priest, Fr. Tutana, who invited us to dinner at the Home Economics classroom of the parish school, St. Mary of the Anawim of God Academy. During dinner, Fr. Tutana shared an amusing story about the school’s name. When it was first established, it was called Anawim of God Institute. The name was eventually changed because its initials, “AGI,” had an unintended meaning in Ilonggo and had become a source of teasing for the students.

After dinner, we settled in for the night at the Junbee Garilva Hostel in town, ready to begin our Holy Week journey around Panay in earnest the following morning

Aside from its distinctive Neo-Gothic architecture, Molo Church is also famous for its statues of female saints. Sixteen of these images are prominently displayed along the pillars lining the church aisles. Because of this unusual concentration of women saints, Molo Church has sometimes been dubbed the “Feminist Church.”

The Blessing of the Palms

We concelebrated the Palm Sunday Mass at the parish church of Concepcion. Afterwards, we immediately set out for an island-hopping tour of the beautiful Concepcion Islands.

Our first stop was Agho Island, after which we proceeded to Tambalisa Island, where we had lunch at JunBee’s Pan de Azucar Beach Resort. After lunch, we continued to Lumpatan Beach, a pebbled beach on another part of the island distinguished by its interesting rock formations. Our final stop for the day was Balubadiangan Island, popularly known for its beautiful sandbar—a fitting end to our day of exploring the islands of Concepcion.

CONCEPCION ISLANDS

Excited by the clear blue waters and beautiful white sand of Agho Island, I immediately jumped into the sea—only to realize, too late, that my cellphone was still in my pocket! It went dead almost instantly and never worked again. Fortunately, one of my companions had brought an extra phone, which he kindly lent me for the rest of the trip.

The JunBee Pan de Azucar Island Resort had some native cottages for overnight stay and cottages for day excursion. 

 Some of the rock formation at the Lumpatan Beach

We were back in the mainland of Concepcion by late afternoon. We packed our things as the next stop was to the town of Carles which is the jump off point to the Higantes islands. We stayed overnight at the Palm Garden Resort in Carles. 

Palm Garden Resort in Carles, Iloilo

We took a passenger boat from Bancal Port in Carles for our trip to the Gigantes Islands. The boat left at ten in the morning and arrived at Langub Port in Barangay Granada on Gigantes Norte at around 11:40 a.m. At the port, motorcycles were waiting to take us to Rosewood Resort, where we would be staying. The resort was a little more than a kilometer from the pier.

Our first meal on the island gave us an immediate taste of what Gigantes is famous for. Lunch consisted of buttered scallops, locally called tikab, and crabs, both of which are abundant in the area.

Right after lunch, we set out for our island-hopping tour. Our first stop was Tangke Lagoon, followed by Cabugao Gamay Island. From there, we proceeded to Bantigue Sandbar, where we enjoyed freshly cooked tikab. Perhaps because they were so fresh, the scallops tasted exceptionally sweet.

Our final stop was Antonia Island Resort, situated at the southeastern tip of Gigantes Sur. Aside from its beautiful beach, the resort had lovely coral formations just offshore, providing a fitting end to our afternoon of exploring the Gigantes Islands.

GIGANTES ISLANDS

                          Our bahay kubo cottage at the Rosewood Place Resort. 

The small limestone island where the Tangke Lagoon is found.

The docking area for the boats near the Tangke lagoon. 

Tangke Lagoon

Approaching Cabugao Gamay Island in the Gigantes Islands of Carles

  The most photographed spot in the Higantes Islands at Cabugao Gamay.

Snorkeling at the Cabugao Gamay Island

           The famous tikab shells of Carles. Freshly cooked just with water they were soft and tasted sweet. 

The last stop was Antonia island where a beautiful coral garden was found at the left side of the island. 

The coral garden at the Antonia Resort

It was already six in the evening when we left Antonia Island Resort for our return trip to Rosewood Resort in Gigantes Norte, just as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon.

        

Saw this beautiful sandbar near the Langub port in Brgy. Granada of Gigante Norte as we were waiting for the boat to depart for Carles the following day.

Although it would certainly be worthwhile to visit both groups of islands if one has the time, if I had to choose between the Concepcion Islands and the Gigantes Islands, I would give the edge to Gigantes. Concepcion has beautiful islands with pristine white-sand beaches, but Gigantes offers a greater variety of attractions beyond its beaches.

There is, for instance, Tangke Lagoon, where visitors first dock at a wooden platform and then climb over some rocks to reach the hidden lagoon. It is best visited during high tide, when the water inside becomes deep enough for swimming. Some of the islands also have beautiful coral gardens, while Cabugao Gamay, with its distinctive landscape, is perhaps the most photographed of all the Gigantes Islands. And then, of course, there are the delicious tikab or scallops, which are plentiful and remarkably inexpensive.

Since Gigantes receives more tourists, its boat services and island-hopping arrangements are also more organized. Concepcion, on the other hand, had fewer tourists when we visited, and consequently there were fewer boats available for island hopping.

We experienced this firsthand during our trip around the Concepcion Islands. Perhaps hoping to earn a little more, our boatman took another group of tourists along with us. Since their itinerary differed from ours, he would drop us off at one island and then bring the other group somewhere else before returning for us.

The arrangement became rather complicated when we reached Lumpatan Beach. Our boatman told us that he would ask the JunBee boat, which might already be at Pan de Azucar, to pick us up. Just as he was about to leave, however, he shouted from the boat that he would come back for us himself. He never did!

In the end, we had to hire a small boat to take us to the Pan de Azucar Resort. Fortunately, the JunBee boat was there, and it was able to bring us safely back to the town proper of Concepcion. It was one of those unexpected inconveniences that eventually became part of the adventure—and a story worth remembering from our journey around Panay.