Cabugao Gamay Island- The Most Photographed Uninhabited Island that make up the Islas de Gigantes

 “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” - Helen Keller

As the sun gleams on my face, and the crisp fresh air of the ocean embraced me, a sense of excitement caught me off guard. Few meters from our sea vessel, I could see the most photographed island that make up the Islas de Gigantes.

The most photographed uninhabited island that make up the Isla de Gigantes

The sense of enthusiasm increases as we finally reached the docking point of this popular island. We landed on the island’s western shores at 10:33 in daylight coming over from Isla Pulupandan in roughly 25 minutes.

Cabugao Gamay as what the locals call it, is one of the fourteen islands that make up the Gigantes Group of Islands. It is located in the Northeastern coast of Panay. Located about two kilometers from the Island of Gigantes Sur, the Cabugay Gamay is the most photographed uninhabited island in Northeastern Iloilo and politically administered by the Municipality of Carles. The iconic island of Cabugao Gamay was ranked 14^th in the list of 20 from the ranking made by Beautiful Destinations- the largest lifestyle and travel community on social media.

THE LEGEND AND ITS MEANING:

The name of the Island can be traced by the legend that lies within the Islas de Gigantes (Islands of the Giants). Accordingly, Cabugao Gamay means “small pomelo”, which symbolizes one of the offerings that became the island during the giant’s supposed wedding as the folklore speaks.

The iconic Cabugao Gamay Island

Seen from far distance, Cabugao Gamay’s peculiar shaped- two hills on both ends of the island linked by a coral white sandbar with several tropical trees such as Coconut, and Indian Almond trees also known as Talisay, is guaranteed to entice everyone's attention. The entire island is enclosed by tiny bleached-pebble sands surrounded by the inviting turquoise waters.

Upon reaching the shoreline, we couldn’t contain our excitement and was about to begin our journey on climbing our way up to the viewing deck, however we let other joiners to do it first. The trek uphill was used to be a bit challenging as one of our colleagues stated because of the natural rocky formation but wooden railings and several floorboards have been set up for tourists for an easy ascend. An interesting formation of Karst rocks of limestones and dolomites with sharp edges is somehow eye-catching of this island facing north of the open seas. At the other edge of the Cabugao Gamay is the larger chunk of the island, a rocky hill roofed with dense flora. At the peak of the viewing deck lies the defining feature of the Island, the iconic view that made the Islas de Gigantes a renowned destination. The observatory offers a great perspective of the entire Cabugao Gamay making it as part of a traveler’s journey.

Wooden railings and several floorboards have been set up for tourists for an easy ascend.

A few minutes, we found ourselves at the peak of the Karst rocks unable to separate the warmness of the upcoming noon time to that of our own excitement, then we acknowledged our solo photo opt, and had our group shot taken by the accommodating guide. Afterwards, I decided myself to descend to catch up the remaining period to do an aerial documentation while my CDO BLOGGERS colleagues continue their photo documentation.

CDO Bloggers' group photo

Then, after taking an aerial video clips, I noticed these attention-grabbing landmarks made up of smooth and uneven coral stones. A number of these cairns can be seen throughout the shoreline. According to the locals, these cairns are used to give their offerings, in return, to give them blessings during sea expeditions.

The attention-grabbing landmarks made up of smooth and uneven coral stones.

Inasmuch as we wanted to stay longer, a moment later, our guide called us to continue our journey to the next island- The Bantique Sandbar.

And I thought for a moment, “Seeing the vastness and remoteness of the Cabugao Gamay Island with my own eyes inheriting its splendid charm to the legend of the Islands of the Giants, is a remarkable experience- a truly tropical paradise.”

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NOTE:

Our Iloilo Trip was made possible by AirAsia Philippines, and part of its Iloilo Inaugural Flight from Cagayan de Oro City.

Cabugao Gamay Island's view deck as seen from afar.

The iconic view that made the Islas de Gigantes a renowned destination

CDO Bloggers' group photo