Around Sipaway Island

May 08, 2011 Travel

In maps, this is known as Refugio Island. I've visited this island several times, and I make sure I go whenever I visit San Carlos City.

Boats to Sipaway are docked at the San Carlos City port. They charge Php 10.00 per person a 15 minutes boat ride. Sipaway is only 3.5 kilometers away from San Carlos City.


The public boats will take you to this port, which they call Baybay.



During my past visits, we just stayed here and snorkeled.

This port is teeming with colorful corals and fishes. Some local boys also harvest seaweeds here, which are always good additions to our packed meals.

We first decided to go to San Juan. Habal2 is available here for Php 5.00 per head. There was a cottage for rent for only Php 300.00 but we haggled and brought it down to Php 100.00.

San Juan has a long stretch of knee deep water on white sand. White starfishes are abundant here.





We all wanted to swim, so we decided to move to Ermita. We again rented habal2s for Php 10.00 per head. This white-sand coral island is only 7 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide. Ermita is one of the two barangays here. The other one is San Juan.

The habal2 ride was actually fun and we got to see more of Sipaway Island.




Resorts are available at Ermita. We stayed in one where we paid an entrance fee of Php 10.00 per head and a cottage for Php 300.00. There are comfort rooms available and grill stands.

There are also rooms available here and at nearby resorts.



Ermita also has fine white sands. My niece had a fun time looking at starfishes and making sand castles.



Before lunch, we walked to the nearby port where we snorkeled. There is an obvious degradation of the corals here, but it is still good for snorkeling because of its abundant marine life.



We left Sipaway before 3PM, with most of us almost burned to the crisp. The very excited bunch forgot to put on sun blocks. Good thing another group rented a boat and we just hitched a ride. We didn't have to go back to the port.

There are other great places to visit in Sipaway.  Whispering Palms is a favorite resort.  There is also the century-old balete tree.  The other ports are also worth a visit.

Kelly is a public relations professional and entrepreneur whose projects have assisted multinational organizations, small and medium enterprises, government officers, international organizations and non-governmental organizations. She is partner-consultant of RubyComm-K.Austria, a public relations management and consultancy company. Kelly is also a former government employee having served at the Department of Tourism for two years. Being mountaineers, Kelly and her friends travel by land, sometimes on rough roads and trek for hours to give a new lease of hope to students. She is co-founder of the group TREK or Trails to Empower Kids.

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9 comments

  1. ceril joyceJuly 23, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    hi,, im making my itenerary for my negros tour..and while searching in the net, i found ur site..do you have contact numbers of resorts found in sipaway island? plsss..im so impressed with the pics u've posted! thanks. :)

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  2. Kelly AustriaJuly 23, 2011 at 10:15 AM

    There are two big resorts in Sipaway Island. Whispering Palms and Crystal Beach. Most of my photos was taken from Crystal Beach (or the resort beside it). We didn't stay there overnight so I am not sure but the number I got was 09082632701.

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  3. ceril joyceJuly 26, 2011 at 12:56 PM

    thanks so much!! :)))

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  4. Ian | Limbonis.comJune 16, 2012 at 8:14 AM

    interesting.. making my itinerary for negros here too. seems like im still short of beaches... dont want to end up in the bacolod city

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  5. Kelly AustriaJune 19, 2012 at 9:34 PM

    Sipaway Island is nice. Try visiting :-)

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  6. UnknownMay 4, 2013 at 5:14 AM

    Hi, is there other resort in ermita? and do by chance have their contact #'s? thanks a lot :)

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    Replies
    1. Kelly AustriaMay 4, 2013 at 6:55 AM

      Yes there are but unfortunately I lost their numbers already. Last time I went, we stayed at Whispering Palms and it was a good experience.

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  7. UnknownApril 10, 2014 at 10:22 AM

    Hi Kelly! Your blog is of great help. I've been wandering in the net for quite some time now unable to decide where to spend my long weekend this April. Thanks for your contribution. I'm considering Sipaway as my last drop off from Bacolod via Don Salvador Benedicto.

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  8. Kelly AustriaApril 12, 2014 at 1:00 PM

    Thank you very much! Here are other blog posts regarding Sipaway Island and San Carlos City. Might help you plan:

    http://www.kellyaustria.com/2013/05/biking-around-sipaway-island.html
    http://www.kellyaustria.com/2013/03/this-is-why-i-cant-stop-raving-about.html
    http://www.kellyaustria.com/2012/11/san-carlos-city-blooms.html
    http://www.kellyaustria.com/2011/05/when-is-san-carlos-city.html

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