The most memorable experiences isn’t when everything goes smoothly. Too be honest, most of the trips I have spent money on staying in luxurious hotels and perfectly catered tours, are usually quickly forgotten. But this trip! It was a bit of an adventure, cost us $50 each for the weekend and we ended up truly rewarded in the end. I just had to share it.

Isla de Gigantes is that place you see in travel advertising that makes you wonder if it is a real place. Well let me tell you, it is!

About 2 hours via pump boat from Estancia port, lies a group of beautiful islands that upon first look, makes you wonder why the heck you traveled all this way. But then the adventure starts. The pump boat doesn’t dock on the beach, or at a jetty. You have to stand on a bamboo raft along with 20 other people who are all trying to balance while the boat boys push you along. Like a gondola in Venice – though not as romantic.

There are no vehicles on the island, just motorbikes, horses and bicycles. This is not the place for giant roller suitcases! The motorbikes were a stand-out mode of transport; taking us to a lighthouse, century-old caves and back to the boats for our island-hopping trip.

We had the boat all to ourselves for our day of island-hopping, which was great when my husband spotted some deserted beaches that we ended up directing the boat to. We visited four different islands, all with varying levels of amazing-ness. But Cabugao was definitely the icing on the cake. Despite the bright, strong sun, we climbed up the rocks (while basically having the whole island to ourselves) and took the iconic photos of the beach below and the hill in the background. I’m happy to have added to the hundreds of photos on Instagram and the internet of this beautiful place.

I hope it doesn’t get too busy and overcrowded for a long time. Hopefully, only the truly adventurous will make the trek there so we can continue to appreciate it’s beauty for many, many more years.