So I’ve spent the last few nights getting legless so feeling all very blurry eyed and bruised…
Enough about my hangover let’s talk about actually getting here as it seems to be the subject everyone gets to first.There are three different airports on the island and most people came via Manila (regrettable, but it is somewhat unavoidable).
–
Caticlan Airport.
The nearest and the most expensive to fly into- although not outrageous. Hop off the plane and virtually straight onto a boat then a short little tricycle ride and you’re at party central in paradise.
–
Kalibo Airport.
Cheaper than Caticlan but not massively. A 2(ish) hour coach journey to Caticlan, then boat, trike/taxi etc etc. All run through a tour company called South West; incredibly efficient, they leave no man behind- even if you are dragging your heels having a fag outside the port with a German couple (sorry).
Naturally it’s a fair bit cheaper if you do all/parts of the journey off your own back. Total price with South West 600 pesos. Air Asia offer a cheaper price of 525 so buy on the plane if you can.
–
Iloilo Airport.
A proverbial ball ache to get to but considerably cheaper than the other two. It could also be a good option for travelling islands from Iloilo City, before pushing off to any other of the 7,000+ islands in the Philippines archipelago.
Journey time is long; a taxi from the airport to the bus terminal, a Ceres bus to Catlican port (350 pesos, air conditioned, and a choice selection of the most random films produced in recent years) journey time approx. 6 hours. Then the boat over to Cabdan port, a tricycle ride and you’re in business.
Considering it’s not the easiest place to get to, it’s certainly is one of the busiest! Every other person I meet seems to be British. I can only assume the massive ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ posters up in Waterloo Station were worth every penny.
gone shmavelling 