Islas de Gigantes in Carles in the province Iloilo has recently been getting more attention as photos of its beautiful islands flood the web. It's still a relatively off-the-beaten path destination and largely unexploited by mainstream tourism. This guide aims to provide the necessary information you need to plan a trip to the islands.

What the Islands of Giants lack in terms of giants, it more than made up with its beautiful beaches and towering rock formations :). One such beauty in Gigantes Islands is Antonia Beach.

While being promoted as "Antonia Island Resort", its not technically an island. The beach is found on the southern tip of Gigantes Sur's eastern side.

Cabugao Gamay ["smaller Cabugao", and "Cabugao" is the Hiligaynon word for "pomelo"] is simply the most photographed island in the Gigantes group of islands. Its small sandbar connecting two islets is now becoming to be the poster photo and unofficial face of Gigantes.

Its not surprising, the island is really beautiful. Cliche? Oh yes definitely! But I don't mind beautiful clichés.


Typhoon Yolanda washed away or eroded most of its fine white sands [photo above: the sand used to be up to the light green area even at high tide] and stripped its coconut trees of leaves, but the island is bouncing back.

There is a small hill on the northern end and this is where most of the photos of the island were taken from. A guide rope was laid to help the climbers. The area at the top is not very wide and could easily get crowded, but offers the best view. Its worth the climb on a sweltering day.

The swimming area is perfect after you have worked out a sweat climbing the hill. But our guide advised us to use snorkel/goggles to make sure we don't bump into jellies.  Care must be taken as well for the shore slopes from waist deep to "help I can't swim" deep in just a few meters.

Cabugao Gamay is one of the stops in the island hopping package offered by resorts in Gigantes Norte. If its not a package tour, you'll have to pay Php 50.00 as "entrance fee". See this map for island's location.

Strong, sturdy, unwavering, and resolute, they stand firmly along the shore of Asluman in Gigantes Norte. I did not find any "real giants" in Islas de Gigantes, but these beautiful mangroves could very well be the giants. For two beautiful mornings I stood among these giants and enjoyed the dawn.

If you find yourself in Kota Kinabalu needing a break from the islands and beaches, Kundasang in Ranau district is the perfect destination. In fact, you can just skip the islands and head straight here if you fancy cooler climes and mountain vista.

There was barely a slit in the eastern sky that the sun can peek through as dark rain clouds paraded that morning. I was hoping the rain gods would get their business over with quickly and relinquish the sky , but no, they had too much fun taunting us, occasionally sending a brief shower to get you guessing whether to pack your gear or stick it out.

If there is another spot in Singapore that looks spectacular at night, aside from the Marina Bay area, that would probably be Clarke Quay. Situated upstream along the Singapore River, this historical quay puts on her best night lights as the sun goes down.

With only a few hours to spare before my flight back to the islands, I headed to one of the most iconic locations in Singapore: Marina Bay.  You can literally spend the whole evening going around and not run out of eye-candies to shoot. But with my limited time and such a huge area, I went straight to Marina Bay Sands and the nearby Supertree grove.