I was roused from my slumber by the cold droplets of rain on my skin. In my long blue dress, I found myself scrambling to find shelter, improving myself up inside the fishermen’s quarter. It was much a lot more deafening inside the cramped sleeping quarter as the fishing vessel’s enormous engine sputtered underneath, like a snoring giant. To be honest, this was not how I thought of it would be. When my friend, Kara, told us that we can sleep while in transit to Seco Island, I imagined bunk beds and ferries. We got a substantial fishing vessel, used tarpaulins for beds, and our bags for pillows instead. but the dawn’s fiery display promised a better day.
It was a trip devoid of luxury but filled with priceless awakenings. Antique is just like that. It takes you back to basics. but although I might not always find the kind of comfort that a lot more developed vacationer destinations offer, it definitely gifted me with something a lot more precious: a much-needed tip that the best things in life are typically pure and simple.
WHAT’S covered IN THIS GUIDE?
UNDERSTANDING ANTIQUE
HOW TO get TO ANTIQUEVIA ANTIQUE airport (EVELIO JAVIER AIRPORT)
VIA ILOILO international AIRPORT
VIA KALIBO international AIRPORT
VIA CATICLAN AIRPORT
PER MARE
GETTING around ANTIQUE
WHERE TO stay IN ANTIQUESearch for a lot more Antique Hotels!
THINGS TO do in ANTIQUEKawa hot Bath
Tibiao Eco-Adventures Tour
Bugtong Bato Falls
Seco Island
Mararison Island
Malumpati cold Spring
Naranjo Water Park
Dioso Farm
Aningalan Highland Strawberry Garden
Igbaclag Cave and stone Castle
Antique Heritage Tour
Alpas
Nogas Island
Sira-an hot Spring
SAMPLE ANTIQUE ITINERARYOPTION 1: northern ANTIQUE ADVENTURE
OPTION 2: southern ANTIQUE ADVENTURE
OTHER ANTIQUE ideas FOR THE poor TRAVELER
FREQUENTLY ASKED questions about ANTIQUEIs Antique safe?
When is the best time to check out Antique?
Are there ATMs in Antique?
What are the local products of Antique?
How’s the phone signal in Antique?
What’s the power socket used in Antique?
More ideas on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️Related Posts:
UNDERSTANDING ANTIQUE
“Antique: Where the mountains meet the sea.”
Located on the western section of Panay Island in Western Visayas region (Region VI), the whole western side of Antique, from north to south, faces the Sulu Sea, blessing the province with a lot more coastal towns than landlocked ones. The eastern portion shares border with Aklan, Capiz, and Iloilo. Antique comprises 18 municipalities, San Jose (de Buenavista) is the capital and also the most populous. aside from the rugged terrains, inland natural wonders, beaches, and islands, the province is also laden with historical sites. All these and a lot more make Antique not just a mere side trip or day excursion attraction from its other well-known neighboring provinces but a genuinely worthy vacationer destination.
More info about Antique:
Location: Antique is part of Panay Island, which is in Western Visayas, the Philippines.
Language: Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon. a lot of of the Antiqueños can also speak and understand Tagalog and English.
Valuta: Peso filippino (PHP, ₱). PHP 100 is around USD 1.91, EUR 1.70, or SGD 2.60 (as of may 2019).
Mode of payment: cash is preferred. as of writing, a lot of of the banks, including major ones like BPI, BDO, Metrobank, PNB, DBP, and Chinabank, are located in San Jose, as a result ATMs are concentrated in the capital town. Robinson’s place and Gaisano Grand mall also have ATMs. Be sure to bring enough cash with you before going to remote areas.
HOW TO get TO ANTIQUE
Philippine Airlines flies to Antique, Iloilo, Caticlan, and Kalibo.
If you view Antique on a map, you will realize that it is shaped like a seahorse, swimming upside down towards the Sulu Sea (plus the offshore islands of Seco and Caluya). Stretching 155 kilometers from north to south, you can enter Antique from any of these gateways: Kalibo Airport, Caticlan Airport, Iloilo Airport, or Antique Airport. Philippine Airlines flies to all these destinations.
VIA ANTIQUE airport (EVELIO JAVIER AIRPORT)
Antique airport is also called San Jose airport because it is located in San Jose de Buenavista, the provincial capital. To avoid confusing it with San Jose airport in Mindoro, let’s just call it Antique airport in this post. (It is officially called Evelio Javier Airport.) Philippine Airlines uses the Clark – Antique route thrice weekly — Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. This is the best option for those traveling to the southern portion of Antique including the towns of San Jose, Sibalom, Hamtic, Tobias Fornier, Anini-y, Belison, San Remigio, Patnongon, Valderrama, and Bugasong.
Apart from these towns, those traveling to southern Iloilo towns — Miagao, San Joaquin, and Guimbal — find it a lot more convenient and faster if they enter by means of Antique Airport.
If you are coming from Manila, Genesis P2P buses operate between Manila (NAIA 3, Ortigas, andTrinoma) and Clark international Airport. See schedule here: CLARK P2P BUS SCHEDULE
From the airport to town proper transit, tricycle fare is P10 per person. You can also hire a tricycle for P50-100, depending on the number of luggage and location within the town.
VIA ILOILO international AIRPORT
A good option for checking out the southern towns of Antique is the Iloilo international Airport. This is even better if Iloilo is a part of your itinerary. several airlines have direct flights to Iloilo airport daily.
At the airport, ride a van to SM City Iloilo. Fare: P50.
Ride a taxi to Molo Terminal.
Take another van to Antique. travel time: around 3 hours. Fare: P180-200.
If you plan to head straight to the northern towns of Antique from Iloilo, you can ride a bus bound for Culasi, Pandan or Caticlan. travel time: 4-5 hours.
VIA KALIBO international AIRPORT
If you plan to travel to the northern portion of Antique such as Pandan, Culasi, and Tibiao, Kalibo international airport is a good option too. various airlines have direct flights to Kalibo, Aklan daily.
From the airport, you can take a tricycle to Ceres Bus Terminal.
Board a bus bound for Pandan or San Jose (depending on your destination).
Get off at your destination. If not sure of your stop, tell the conductor where you’re going and ask them to notify you when it’s your stop.
Travel time: 2-3 hours.
Fare: P100+
VIA CATICLAN AIRPORT
If you plan to check out both Boracay and Antique, you may also choose Caticlan as your jump-off point to Antique.
Ride a tricycle to Caticlan Jetty Port.
Around the jetty port area, find the Ceres buses bound for Antique.
Get off at your destination. If not sure of your stop, tell the conductor where you’re going and ask them to notify you when it’s your stop.
Travel time: 2-3 hours
PER MARE
Antique has two seaports: Lipata Port in Culasi and San Jose Port in the provincial capital. There are plans to connect Antique (Culasi-Caluya) to Mindoro by means of FastCat. For now, the available option for sea transit is the Roll-On Roll-Off ferries from Manila to Caticlan. At the Jetty Port, look for the Ceres buses bound for Antique.
GETTING around ANTIQUE
Antique is pretty much still under-the-radar. There are jeepneys, tricycles, hired vehicles, and even habal-habal (motorcycle taxis) that can take you within the town and shuttle you from town to town. However, these are still limited and they follow schedules. a lot of of the time, you will have to wait for the jeepneys to be filled with passengers. The waiting time can be 15 minutes to an hour, so if you are pressed for time, this might not work for you.
For convenience, you may avail the service of travel agencies and excursion operators for packages that best fit your personality, your needs, and/or your budget. Katahum excursions is one of the recognized excursion operators in Antique. It uses different excursion packages and carry services.
Katahum excursions contact Details:
Mobile: +63 947 531 6518 (Smart) / +63 917 450 3121 (Globe)
Email: fate@katahum.com or katahumtoursantique@gmail.com
Website: www.katahum.com
Facebook: Katahum Tours
WHERE TO stay IN ANTIQUE
Although San Jose is the capital town, other towns also have a respectable number of accommodations — hotels, hostels, inns, guesthouses, and pension houses. Tibiao, Pandan, Tobias Fornier, Mararison, and Anini-y are some of the towns that offer lodgings to tourists. As the province is still on its early stage of development when it pertains to tourism industry, don’t expect to find five-star hotels yet. a lot of have basic amenities like towels and toilets; others supply breakfast, toiletries, transportation service, and excursion packages.
Here are the places where we stayed during our time in Antique:
Esprutingkle service hotel (San Jose de Buenavista)
Aningalan Highlands Strawberry garden (San Remigio)
Calawag mountain resort (Tibiao)
Kawa Inn (Tibiao)
Enrique de Mararison (Mararison Island, Culasi)
Pandan beach resort (Pandan). ✅ check rates & Availability!.
Search for a lot more Antique Hotels!
THINGS TO do in ANTIQUE
For convenience, we can group the list below into two: north and south.
The North’s attractions include those of Pandan, Culasi, and Tibiao municipalities. These attractions are nearer the world-famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan. If you are planning to explore both Antique and Boracay but got limited time to do so, you can tackle these attractions first. These attractions are also a lot more practical if you are entering and exiting by means of Kalibo international airport or Caticlan Airport. here are the attractions in the north.
Kawa hot Bath
Tibiao Eco-Adventures Tour
Bugtong Bato Falls
Seco Island
Mararison Island
Malumpati cold Spring
Naranjo Water Park
Dioso Farm
The South spans the towns San Remigio, Patnongon, San Jose de Buenavista, Hamtic, Tobias Fornier (formerly Dao), and Anini-y. If you want to explore both Iloilo and Antique, these attractions are workable especially if your gateway is either Iloilo international airport or Antique Airport.
Aningalan Highland Strawberry Garden
Igbaclag Cave and stone Castle
Antique Heritage Tour
Alpas (Tobias Fornier)
Nogas Island
Sira-an hot Spring
Kawa hot Bath
You might have come across a post on Instagram showing a person “being cooked” in a large wok (vat or cauldron) complete with all those appealing “ingredients” such as flowers and leaves to make it a lot more colorful and interesting. This is Antique’s signature Kawa hot Bath. It’s Pinoy-style hot tub.
Antique is one of the largest producers of muscovado sugar in the Philippines. After extracting the juice from the sugarcane, it is then boiled in a kawa until it reaches a certain level of thickness to produce the sugar. The kawa eventually found another purpose that benefits the tourism industry of Antique. At present, you will find a lot of places and resorts using kawa baths. We tried ours at Calawag mountain resort in Tibiao where you get to choose the flavor for your bath — coffee, salt, milk, beer, and wine!
Location: Calawag mountain Resort, Barangay Tuno, Tibiao, Antique
Calawag mountain resort Kawa bath Rates:
Kawa Salt bath – P299+/person
Kawa Milk bath – P399+/person
Kawa Coffee bath – P399+/person
Kawa Beer bath – P399+/person
Kawa white wine bath – P599+/person
Altre tasse:
Calawag entrance fee – P50+/person
Lumpiga – P399+/table
Picnic Table – P399+/table
Native Gazebo – P499+/gazebo
Tibiao Eco-Adventures Tour
While in Tibiao, there are other things to do aside from the kawa bath. Water adventure activities are fun, especially during the ideal season when the cascades and rapids are strong, normally from June to October. You can do basic or extreme water tubing and extreme kayaking down Tibiao River. After the thrilling yet fun water experience, you can kick back by pampering yourself with any of these — coffee body scrub, body massage, and fish spa. You can also combine water tubing with a body scrub, and capping it off with kawa bath.
Calawag mountain resort Rates:
Basic Water Tubing – P199+/person
Extreme Water Tubing – P499+/person
Extreme Kayaking – P899+/person
Tibiao Fish day spa – P119+ (30 minutes)
Foot massage – P249+ (30 minutes)
Coffee Body Scrub – P399+/person
Half-Body massage – P249+ (30 minutes)
Full-Body massage – P499+ (1 hour)
Katahum Tours’ Tibiao Eco-Adventure Day excursion Package: P2,249+/person
(Minimum of two pax)
Inclusions: nature trekking, Bugtong Bato Falls, Kawa Salt Bath, Hanging Bridges, swimming and boulder jumping at Tibiao River, natural jacuzzi, bird’s nest, check out Museo de Tibiao and original branch of Tibiao Bakery, motorbike ride around Tibiao, unrestricted Tibiao fish spa, Antiqueño lunch at Calawag mountain Resort, DOT-trained eco-guide, waterfalls guide, and entrance fees
Note: This is just one of the several excursion packages that Katahum excursions uses for Tibiao Eco-Adventure experience.
Bugtong Bato Falls
First tier (left); second and third tiers (right)
Bugtong Bato is normally included in package excursions organized by travel agencies, excursion operators, and hotels. The multi-layered falls, nestled at the mountainside community of Barangay Tuno in Tibiao, is one of the popular attractions in Antique. The waterfall system has seven tiers, but only three are frequented by tourists because they are the most accessible. You will pass by communities and rice paddies on the way to the waterfalls.
The first cascade can be reached after trekking for about 30 minutes from the jump-off point, which is also the registration area (landmark: barangay hall/covered court). After that, you will have to climb several steep steps to reach the second cascade. For those who want to challenge themselves, you can rappel your way up the third cascade where you can reward yourself with a cold dip in the pool. The third tier has the deepest pool and the most confined area. the best time to go is during the rainy season when the cascades are roaring, but be extra careful as trails will be muddy and slippery.
Location: Barangay Tuno