Batanes: Travel Tips and Final Thoughts

Summary of my Batanes blog posts:

• Overview
• Day 1: Basco (Rolling Hills, Boulder Beach, Basco Lighthouse)
• Day 2: Trip to Sabtang Island
• Day 3: More Basco (Marlboro Country, San Carlos Church, Dakays House and the Old Spanish Bridge)
• Travel Tips and Final Thoughts

I love the Basco airport terminal. There are different photos of Batanes displayed all over the terminal and some Batanes videos are shown on the TV. The thatched roof and the ceiling fans also give a very local, island feel to it.

There are souvenir shops at the airport. A couple of them are outside the terminal (they were open when we got there at around 730am) and another one is inside the waiting area.

I would say the perfect time to visit Batanes is early in the year, from around January to April, or May even. There are daily Seair flights from Manila to Basco and back. If you plan to visit during the rainy months, make sure you are ready to spend extra days in Batanes since flights can be very quickly cancelled when the rains or winds are strong.

Obviously, if time permits, staying an extra day or so would be great coz it would allow you to see other places like the Torongan Cave, Diura Fishing Village, and Itbayat island. I would have also loved to just walk around Basco, which I didn't get to do due to the fact that our schedule was full.

Also, when heading to the tops of the different hills, be ready for sudden gusts of winds that will require you to plant both feet firmly on the ground quickly. A couple of times, I felt like I would be blown off the hill LOL.

I'm not sure what the dining options in Batanes are since all our meals were included in the tour. If you are a coffee drinker, be ready to go instant since I don't think a lot of places have brewed coffee. Fundacion Pacita served brewed coffee but our hotel didn't. If you can't do without brewed coffee, you may want to bring your own coffee and press so you can make your own.

One really cool experience I had here that brought back memories of childhood was drinking soda with a straw from a plastic bag. While waiting for our mass to start, I headed over to one of the sari-sari stores to get a snack and a Coke, and since the drink was in a bottle and not a can, they poured the contents into a bag and handed it to me (bottles have a deposit here). I honestly can't recall the last time I had soda that way. :)

If you plan to visit Batanes, and I really think you should, please make sure you don't litter (Batanes is really clean and it would be a shame if tourists start leaving trash on the streets) and that you don't abuse the honesty and friendliness of the Ivatans. This is truly one of the best places I have visited in the Philippines and I definitely recommend a trip here.