Here I log our trip to this beautiful island of Mararison in Culasi Antique Philippines so that others can be served with information.
We travelled from a town in Aklan last May 1, 2015. We took the bus from Kalibo , Aklan to Culasi, Antique and it took me around 3 hours. Mararison Island is a part of Culasi Town. There are two entryways to Culasi. North is from Boracay/ Caticlan or Kalibo or even Capiz. South is from Iloilo city.
From Iloilo City to Mararison Island I think takes around 3-4 hours also depending on the vehicle. Ceres buses are available in Molo, Iloilo City.
From Kalibo, one can take Ceres bus from the terminal itself, near Chowking. From Caticlan, I seldom see buses from Caticlan to Iloilo city. If there is, one can take a ceres bus Caticlan-Iloilo and dropby in Culasi, Antique. The duration from Caticlan to Culasi Antique is also around 3 hours. There are no restroom stopovers so better not to drink plenty of water.
My team went ahead early and stayed in an accommodating local church pastor in Culasi. The town is awesome- it has cool salty breeze, overlooking the majestic Madia-as Mountain blowing cool breeze. I also saw convenience stores and modern food shops like Chooks to go and others. Tricycle and single motorcycle is the most common mode of transportation.
I arrived in Culasi, Antique around 5:00 in the afternoon. Their terminal got some make-shift restroom. My friend fetched me via motorcycle and from the rendezvous, we walked to the town’s boulevard and mini pier.
It was an 8-minuted walk. It was twilight when we arrived at the boulevard of Culasi. The sunset view is awesome. The island can be seen at a distance. I saw little boats carrying some water containers. I see occasional boats carrying some people.
The boar fare is around P40 per person. We have friends from a local Antique Bible School and they around 8. We are around 8 too. My mates brought locally-bought foods such as marinated fish, chips from Gaisano Kalibo and local meat.
I think the boat ride was around 15 minutes. It was dark when we arrived at the island. The boat swamped over the white sandy beach.
When we arrived, we settled in a local cottage near the beach. We then prepared the coals for cooking/ broiling the fishes, hotdog and marshmallow. There was a local group who is having their church camp. They are having a circle talk/ session.
The island is operated by a generator. They turn it off around 10PM. When charging celphones, we paid P10. The water is also P10 per black container from the house of the Brgy. Captain.
The island is beautiful in the night. We had a talk, camp dinner, bonfire and rest. I slept on one of the cottages. No mosquitoes. Cold air. It’s better to bring blanket or thick jacket.
It was a silent, breezy night with sticky air. The fast-paced work life becomes one of a solemn pace.
The next day we woke up early and ate breakfast, had a picture at the beach of Mararison and prepared for around 30-minute hike to the backside.
We went through a community of residents. Went through mountain rails of Mararison Island, an elementary school and a series of mountain ranges. It was a hot trip. It was around 9AM. We did not expect that to be tiring. In my rough estimate, Mararison Island is around 10 square kilometers in area.
In the hike, we saw Carnivorous plants. There are scenic views of beaches and nature along the way.
We arrived at the back beach. It was filled with stones and sand. We had a rest. We ate our snacks. There was a small cave nearby where we had our picture taking.
After enjoying the see, we went back to our cottage at the front beach. It would be better if we hiked a bit earlier in the morning so the sun will not scorch that much. Some tourists rented a boat to shortcut the trail towards the back part of Mararison Island.
We went home tired that day, but it’s worthit.