sabtang beach

The port at Ivana on Southern Batan island is the starting point for your adventure to Sabtang island. You board a fiberglass cum wood, wide-hulled boat called a falowa. At first I was apprehensive to ride this "tub" that didn't have outriggers but soon realized that it was perfectly designed to navigate the waves along the passage. Unfortunately, the life vests handed out are substandard (one size doesn't fit all) and lack zippers and ties. The boat is filled to capacity before setting off from the pier. The perimeter of the port is composed of huge concrete jack-stone shaped wave breakers. If you choose to sit at the front end of the boat, be prepared to be splashed with sea spray. You may be handed an umbrella. The ride takes around 30 minutes over large waves (kinda scary) on a good day. The boat men are very helpful and will assist you if you do not have sea legs. On arrival,transportation is through bikes, tricycles or jeepneys. The most popular place to visit if the Ahaw (arc-like cave) in Sitio Morong. The arch was formed from wind and water erosion of the limestone hills. It is covered with marine lichen and other coastal vegetation. Morong is in an off-white sand beach scattered with small cowrie shells and polished sea glass, surrounded by bushes of the genus Pandanus. Lunch is served in a nearby concrete-sided restaurant where really fresh grilled fish, steamed coconut crab, a vegetable stew made with onion flower stalks and coconut milk and seaweed-ginger soup are served. What a welcome treat after the uninspired basic fare on Batan island! There are two field toilets towards the back of the restaurant. You have to use a bucket to flush. Use sunblock because although the wind is cool, the sunlight is intense and can cause a sunburn. Seeing the Ahaw should be part of your visit to Sabtang. In real life, it is smaller than what you imagine from pictures.

Well, this place is the best. Very clean, unpolluted, very peaceful & really very beautiful. If you want to go back & experience our old culture, this place is for you. No beggars around. People are really very nice & very accommodating. Population is very low, so you can move freely anywhere you go. I'm satisfied & I can't ask for more but definitely I have to go back because 3 days & 2 nights is not enough to explore the whole Batanes.

The island of Sabtang is beautiful. We stayed overnight as part of a multiday trip to Batanes so we wouldn't have to hurry back to Batan on the same day, but I didn't know until we got there that there is no electricity (and hence no running water) on the entire island from midnight to 6am everyday. Since I was traveling with my 73 year-old mom and my 11 year-old, I would probably have skipped the overnight visit if I had known this. The rooms at Heritage where we stayed were very basic. My mom uses a cane and was worried she'd trip down the steps at the original homestay that was booked if she needed to use the bathroom (which is outside) in the middle of the night. No minivans had working airconditioning because, we were told, the road wasn't finished yet and was rough on vehicles, so the day was very hot at times. That being said, these were inconvenient but I'm very glad we went.

Sabtang is an island worth more than a day tour! An overnight (or five like me) me at Chavayan Village is one of the most amazing experiences I've had in all my travels. Stay at Tita Tilde's Homestay at P150/day (Matilde Hostillero- +639994896295) and you'll be treated like a king with their service. A truly rewarding experience. Sabtang has much to offer than the famous stonehouses. Batanes at its truest!

When you're on batan island and crossing over on the faluwa to Sabtang island, spend a day here! you will not regret it, it is one of the highlights of our trip. We stayed at the Municipal Tourism Center (yes they have rooms, ask your guide about it). There you get sounds of Pacific Ocean Waves crashing throughout the night, it's soothing and reassuring. They have rooms for 4 , 5 might be stretching it but they have 2 rooms ( one was bigger than the other). Take the one on the left upon climbing up the stairs. There is no wifi (good for us, we managed a night of heart to heart talk, something many haven't done in a while) and there is no hot water (which is fine for me, so I bathed). This island is magical, at night this local family drove us on a bike with cart attached to have dinner by the lighthouse (under the stars) and dinner was too affordable with simple and homely taste. For the rare times, we were not complaining about having to eat rice for consecutive meals. They were extremely accommodating. We were zipping through the small alleys to get to the dinner place and back, it was so special, almost romantic. true story. We missed the 1st boat ride back to batan island so we walked around and talked to the locals and once again the same family boiled us some hot water for coffee and got us some bread (freshly baked from a local provision (cum confectionery) store). They were the tastiest bread ever, no kidding. It has a slight sweetness to it and the fragrance of the flour lingers. Ask your guide for this!Food is not readily available i.e. no cafes lying around so be sure to arrange your meals beforehand. I hope you find hidden gems like we did!

Port of Ivana is the jump off point for those who is not on a group tour you can either ride a jeep preferably early morning jeep leaves town of basco to Port at around 5am fare is 30pesos, in case you miss the jeep you can hire a tricycle fare is 220.boat fee is 75 pesos one way dont even think they are going to bill you just like in manila were they will ask, give them the payment and in case you forget you can go down the boat witput paying...it happened to me but on my way back i paid the boat man... earliest boat leaves at around 8.00 am be sure to catch it return trip to Ivana around 2 or 3 pm.you need atleast 1 day to tour the island. make sure you have a contact in Sabtang, limited transportation, i highly recommend tricycle as the tranpostation choice, it is only through tricycle ride that you get to experience the duvek bay and little hong kong, roads are steep and one way traffic so jeepneys and van does not reach the other side of Sabtang.Lunch is at Nakabuang white beach the ever popular arch... stony waters look for a pool with sand on it and enjoy dipping, i did.tour in this island depends on the transportation you choosetricycle in my case would cost you 1,600, try haggling esp. if yu are alone you get it for just 800.tourism fee is at 100 if i can stil remeber it correctly.home stays in case you wanted to stay over night is possible you can stay at an Ivatan house in Chavayan there is a lady who sells shirt souvenirs you cant miss her when you go there she rents her house for just 200/night meals at 200 too.no electricity after 12midnight so be ready to get drenched esp. during summer. Chavayan is close to the beach cerulen waters crystal clear.

Sabtang Island Tour - Getting there is part of the adventureI'm going to start by saying this review is long overdue . We had booked this tour as part of a five-day tour package we booked with Batanes Travel in February 2013. This tour is contingent on weather conditions. Our guide Chris picked us up from Fundacion Pacita at 630 a.m. The drive to Port of Ivana was approximately 30 minutes long through winding roads. We were told that the ferry would leave the pier at 7:30 am but it was more like 8:30 when the ferry arrived from Sabtang Island. It appears that there is only one boat that plys the Ivana -Sabtang Island route; two round trips a day , weather permitting. Arrival and departure times are more approximations rather than exact schedulesTo say that our vessel is a ferry is a stretch of the definition. Discard the image of a hydrofoil vessel; think of a hulled fiberglass boat with wooden siding. The crew look more like fishermen rather than sailors. The Sabtang Island-Ivana route is open sea waters of the West Philippine Sea so the waters can be very choppy. The image that comes to mind is bull riding in a rodeo. The boat's cargo is a mix bag of whatever and whoever appear at the pier. On our way to Sabtang, the boat was filled with tourists, Ivatans, sacks of vegetables, and three motorcycles. Our trip to Sabtang took longer than 30 minutes because the crew decided to throw some fishing lines into the sea. The crew caught 3 fishes but before they hauled the fish on board the pilot brought the speed down to a crawl that caused the boat to rock from side to side. Two passengers got seasick during that short ride.On Sabtang Island, a minivan met us and we drove around the island. Tour included a walking tour inside an Ivatan fishing village, an old Spanish station, Sabtang Beach followed by lunch at the municipal hall. The sands at Sabtang Beach are more like ground/crushed coral rather than powdery soft. After lunch we headed back to Ivana (around 1:30 pm) on the same ferry. This time our cargo consisted of sacks of soil/sand.Although we were able to see the highlights of Sabtang Island I thought the tour package was short. But then again our departure back to Ivana was dependent on the sea currents. Our guide informed us that for the more adventurous, an overnight stay on Sabtang Island could be arranged by arranging home-stay with an Ivatan family. Tips: Take motion sickness pills before the trip. Bring Wet Ones, toilet paper, hand sanitizer. There are clean toilets in the municipal building. Go before starting the tour and before getting on the boat. Go easy on the coconut juice since this has diuretic effects. Clean flushing toilets a scarcity during the tour. You may end up roughing it during the tour.My opinion is that the tour is not recommended for kids under 12.

The province of Batanes is at the top most of the Philippine archipelago and it is the entrance of most storms in our country. No traffic, fresh air, full of culture and friendly people. You would be greeted by the locals with a refreshing good morning when you meet them on the street. The place is a bit backward which makes it more inviting especially for people from the urban Manila. It seems that everyone knows everybody. The expensive airfare makes it difficult for a local tourist to visit the place often. Flights are 3x a week only and once a day. Good thing that there are 2 airlines that fly now to Batanes. While the rainy season started early in the metropolis, it was the opposite in Batanes. Good thing the low pressure area was in the Mindanao area. The scorching sun and blue skies made our pictures more picturesque. The contrast of the blue skies and the green pastures was so pleasing to the eyes. No tall buildings, no loud music, not much cars made the place so serene.On our first day, we toured the Northern part of Batan island where we were brought to the lighthouse, Japanese tunnel, Vayang Ranch (rolling hills), Mt. Carmel church, Valugan Boulder Beach, Tukon Radar Station and Idjan (Ivatan Fortress). Our second day, we went to Sabtang Island. The sea was so calm that we did not even get wet. We were prepared with our raincoats because we were told that the boat ride is usually rough. Sabtang is more backward than Basco and we were able to see some old folks still wearing their traditional head gear call "vakul". We were toured around the Chavayan community which is a UNESCO nominated site and saw the stone house which are still being used by the locals. The thick walls of the house makes it cool inside. We had a chance to go to the beach which had crystal clear waters and no garbage. On our third day, we toured the Southern part of Batan island (where Basco is located). We had a chance to see the fishing village, another lighthouse, the windmills (but they are down for maintenance), Racuh-a-payaman (Marlboro Country), song song ruins (left by a tsunami that hit the area in 1950s) and most especially the visit to the Honesty shop. A shop that is left without a clerk nor cctv. You just list down what you bought and put in the payment in a drop box. You can see how honest the Ivatans are. Since it was scorching hot when we went, I plan to go back during their "winter" months when temperatures go down to 10 degrees which is during October to February. As Douglas Mc Arthur told the Filipinos...I shall return. I tell that to the Ivatans...I shall return...

If you are interested with stone houses, then this is the place to visit. You can still see original stone houses in the area. If you like scenic view, this is also the place. Beautiful view of the ocean from Sabtang. It's worth the trip.