I visited the Cuyo Islands in January 2007 and thought that some fellow travellers might be interested in some information about the place, as there is little information around and the little there is seems out of date. There is nothing in the Lonely Planet Philippines guide (8th ed) about Cuyo, and the Rough Guide (2004) has about half a page.

From Iloilo, Panay the MV Milagrosa left at 6pm. The departure area was good, with basic Philippino hot food and cold drinks available. At 25 peso for a bottle of Red Horse, good value. It is also possible to buy food to take for the trip. Tourist class was 600 peso, a padded bunk bed in a large air-conditioned area. This was the first time in the Philippines I needed a jumper, as the aircon is ferocious, at maximum strength. Looking at the upper decks, which were in the open air and not crowded, I was sorry I hadn’t booked there. It was also possible to book the “Admiral Suite”, a two person suite, for 1,500 peso for the trip.

There is a small canteen on the ship.

The Milagrosa was not running to timetable as its sister ship had broken down and was sitting at Cuyo Pier, waiting for a tow back to Iloilo. The word was that it would be out of commission for months.

Arriving at Cuyo Town at about 8am the next day, the first impression was of a large white sandy beach divided by a long pier. The pier is very long, as the water is very shallow in front of the beach, until you reach the drop-off.

I walked from the pier to a small eatery, where I had breakfast (noodle soup, sliced egg, meat pieces and a bottle of Coke, 30 peso) I then looked around for accommodation and caught a tricycle, which took me one street away to Nikki’s Pension & Fastfood. I was expecting very basic accommodation, but for 575 peso had a clean, aircon room with own toilet and shower. A good negotiator might get a lower price with TV included.

To me, the most noticeable thing after coming from Leyte, Cebu and Iloilo was the weather. The climate was very pleasant, with a constant cooling breeze blowing. There were two expats there, who had moved there from Boracay about 5 months previously, because of the great windsurfing here. In their opinion it was better windsurfing in Cuyo than Boracay, and watching them zip around the bay each day I could believe them. I know nothing about windsurfing, but apparently the regular winds and a protected sailing area gives ideal windsurfing conditions for six months of the year. They were scouting out areas in nearby islands for when the wind direction changed after six months.

The beach along Cuyo Town is interesting, with several abandoned boats sinking into the sand, some with only the skeleton remaining. Watched a group of fishermen dragging in a large fishing net by hand, a massive job which took hours. For fresh seafood, just place your order at the market or buy from the fishermen direct.

Cuyo Town is very clean, plenty of shops with the basics, even a homemade ice cream parlour. There was no litter around, and the shops and houses were well maintained. I received a few “hello Joe” greetings, but always with a smile. English is widely spoken and spoken well. People were genuinely interested in what you thought of Cuyo, and several people were at pains to point out how safe Cuyo was, with” no crime, no NPA, no Abu Sayaff”.

In the town there is an old fort with a church and convent, built around 1660 with quite a history. It still has an original tower, you can walk around the ramparts and the old cannons are still there.

I met very few Western tourists or expats on the island. There were Max and James, (the windsurfers), a German expat living on the island with his wife and young son and Martin, a Pole living in Amsterdam, visiting the island for a short stay. Apparently an Aussie also lives in the island, and is in the process of building a resort, but he was in Port Barton at the time.

There’s a very popular basketball court in town and Martin, a keen basketballer, was able to join in the games. Nightlife consists of a few bars, mostly karaoke, but these were a lot of fun. There was a full moon party on the beach which was attended by a lot of the locals.

Food was plentiful but basic. Nikki’s Fastfood, for example, would have about 6 dishes, e.g, a vegetable dish, squid cooked in its ink, chicken adobo, fish soup, caldereta, rice, etc, from 25-40 peso per dish, 10m peso for rice. However, it was always possible to buy your own seafood and take it to the Pension, where they would cook it for you. Fried eggs for breakfast if you wanted, but the rumour was that the cook couldn’t fry an egg without breaking the yolk. I don’t know if this was true, but the omelets were great.

There are plenty of islands around for island hopping. We teamed up with a real estate agent from Iloilo who was looking at the islands for possible development, a bit expensive at 2,000 peso per person (to a total of 6,000 peso for 3 persons) for the day, but this included food. We found out later that it is possible to hire cheaper boats, it pays to shop around. The first island we went to was Tagawayan Island, usually an hour by boat but because of rough weather it took us two hours. There was a rough swell, we were soaked the whole way (you need plastic to cover clothes, cameras, etc) but it was worth the trip, great snorkeling there, coral right up to the beach, plenty of fish – pipefish, clownfish, batfish, puffer fish, etc. The water was very clear, a small drop-off and canyons to snorkel along. The corals were untouched; there was no broken coral at all, (except from where our boat threw in the anchor and where the boat landed, as everyone walked to shore over the coral, it would make you cry). Probably the best snorkeling I’ve had in the Philippines to date. I haven’t been to Apo Island so can’t compare, but in my opinion it was better than say Balicasag, Bohol. Great b-b-q on the beach, squid adobo, fish, rice and cold beer – hard to beat.

We went past a few other islands but because of the swell we made slow progress and didn’t stop at many islands. We stopped at one island, the beach was covered in shells of all shapes and sizes. There had been a lot of volcanic activity around here at some stage, with volcanic rock imbedded in the sandstone. There were interesting landforms, possibly caves at sea level.

Although we only stopped at two islands, what we saw indicated some great potential for anyone who has the time to go island hopping here. I’ll certainly go back, but will try to hire a bigger boat and one which has a covered area in case of big swells!

Next day took a tricycle to the Sandoval Resort a few kilometers out of town. It had clean native-style cottages for 300 pesos a night, but not the sandy beach that Cuyo town has.

Next day walked to the top of Mt Aguardo, the highest mountain in Cuyo. A relatively easy walk to the top, there is a trail with Stations of the Cross all the way to the top. Good views from the top. Apparently in Holy Week there is a pilgrimage to the top, in which about 90% of the people living on the island participate.

There were plenty of options for travel from the islands apart from the ferry from Iloilo, Panay.

There was a large ferry going to Coron then Manila (10 hrs/2 days), another going to Roxas, Palawan, and then the ferry to Puerto Princessa, Palawan.

The MV Milagrosa to Puerto Princesa left at 4 pm, arrived Puerto Princesa about 6.30 am next day. Unless you have a very strong stomach, I would not recommend the lower deck, which is enclosed, but the other decks get a lot more fresh air and a lot less animals.

All in all, a great place to visit for those who want to get off the beaten track!

© by Mike Wright, Australia, 2007

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Cuyo Photo Gallery by Mike

Other Philippine Galleries by Mike

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