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.

Related post: Postcard perfect Cabugao Gamay

Its very similar in configuration to the postcard perfect Cabugao Gamay: fine white sand in between two limestone hills and the sea on both sides. However, Antonia's beach area is about twice the size of Cabugao Gamay's. If there are spots you should not ever miss in Gigantes, its these two.


Antonia Beach is one of the stops in island hopping tours offered by resorts in Gigantes Norte. Its actually a designated  "lunch stop" as its the only beach currently with a sari-sari store. That means cold drinks!


You will pass by Antonia Beach on the way to Cabugao but your boatman will often suggest you bypass this first and just head back at lunch. So there's a chance it can get crowded by that time. Though "crowded" can be relative, specially if you pick the right season to go here.


The west side of Antonia Beach is where the boats usually dock, so the other side is perfect for swimming. Although if you really think about it, both sides are simply perfect, boats or no boats.

don't miss the wasay-wasay

While in Antonia Beach, don't miss the chance to sample the wasay-wasay.  Look closely and you'll notice some of these shellfish actually resembles an axe or "wasay" ("wasay-wasay" means axe-like). For 200 pesos you get a basketful of these, they then just pour boiling water on the shells for them to "open up". If you are lucky, you'll find a small pearl in one of these shells [a friend of mine did!].

wasaywasay