Gigantes Islands – Complete Island Tour Guide
Islas de Gigantes or the Gigantes Islands is perhaps the most beautiful place in central Philippines. Fortunately for you, these islands are still overlooked by most tourist when compared to islands like Bohol or Boracay.
With only a few resorts on Gigantes Norte, the island is far from over-developed. You won’t find any 5-star resorts here. What you will find is a local community that is happy to share their “scallop” island with you.
Is the Gigantes Islands for you?
GO GO GO – This is the place to go if you want to experience a diverse set of beautiful islands that haven’t yet been overly developed. We’re talking sand bars, rock formations, lagoons, and caves! The main island (Gigantes Norte) is far from a tourist island, you’ll be staying with the (very friendly) locals in their environment. You must be comfortable with pump boats and traveling by boat as the trip to get here can be long.
DON’T GO – If you’re ideal vacation is being pampered at a 5-star resort. No one is going to bring you overpriced cocktails on the beach here darling. If you don’t like seafood, I would also stay away.
How to book a tour of the Gigantes islands?
We recommend booking a tour with one of the accommodation providers on the island. Packages are usually for 3 days and 2 nights which include room, food, and a day tour. We stayed with Gigantes Hideaway Resort which organized the amazing tour below.
1 – LIGHTHOUSE VISIT
After dropping our bags off, our guide gave us a few minutes to rest and have coffee before showing us to our first destination. We headed on his scooter to the northeast of the island where an old Spanish lighthouse awaited us. This was in incredible spot for photos and flying the drone.
2 – ANTONIA BEACH
This is also know as “bread loaf” island due to the same of the island’s main rock formation. This was the first stop on our official island tour, and it was perhaps my favorite island. We were the only tourists in site so we had the entire island to ourselves. Every angle of the island seemed to be the perfect photo site. Bonus, if you like snorkeling, this is the place to do it!
3 – BANTIQUE SAND BAR
The shape of this sandbar is so unique as it changes with the tide at the change of the seasons. Bonus, the sand and water here are super clear so it’s a great spot to take a quick dip on the water before continuing the rest of your island tour.
4 – GAMBAY ISLAND
This is probably the most photographed of all the Gigantes Islands. As a photographer, this is one of the reason Pierre wanted to come to the Gigantes. In fact, the locals have nicknamed the island “selfie island”.
5 – TANGKE LAGOON
This place blew my mind. The water, the rocks, the cliffs, the drops. This hidden gem is a real beauty to be witnessed (only during high tide of course). Just bare in mind that you may not be the only one wanting to bask in its glory. Caretakers limit the visit time to 10 min during times.
6 – BATIWAN CAVE
This cave is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to work during your 2hr adventure. If you’re interested in seeing what the adventure was like, check out our video below:
BACK TO GIGANTES HIDEAWAY RESORT
We stayed at the Gigantes Hideaway Resort which had accommodation ranging from fan huts to more modern air-conditioned rooms. We selected the a/c rooms which were fantastic.
The meals here were delicious!
WATCH OUR COMPLETE GIGANTES ISLAND TOUR ON YOUTUBE HERE.