How to visit Caubian Island?
It’s overwhelming to hear such great and wonderful comments and how eager you are to visit our island and we are happy to hear how you’ve responded to the viral post of Ms. MJ Uy Bolongon. We are very welcoming to our visitors however we have a very slight problem for the misinformation on how to get into our island of Caubian.
Let me give you a brief information about our island. Caubian comes from the “Kao-ni-Bian”. Caubian is composed of 2 islands namely Caubian Gamay which residents live and Caubian Dako which is knownly called Po. During low tide, you can walk from one island to the other barefoot. We also have underwater well and underwater cave. Sand bars can be seen during low tides. We have a 300-hectare marine protected area at the center of the sea which is part from one of the six double barrier reefs in the world. A shark den which is a protected area too. It is a 45-minute to an hour travel time from the mainland Lapu-Lapu City.
First, for the fare rate. Currently, we do not have any official direct fare rate and there are NO DIRECT MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION in going to the island. Yes, there is a 50-peso fare for Caubian residences but it is only very limited and it does not operate daily. The only means of transportation is through leasing a pumpboat ranging 3000 to 5000 pesos depending on how big the pumpboat is. You can go to MovenPick Hotel/Hilton Port for the available pumpboat operators. Take note: pumpboat operators only operates a day used only. The good thing is that our barangay officials are still in talks on opening a direct transportation to our islands.
Second, is there an entrance fee on the island? Currently,
there are no entrance fee since this is a private island. It is currently still being discussed if they would be getting an entrance fee from the visitors. However, there is a resort in Caubian operated by the Koreans which operates day time only. NO OVERNIGHT STAY. The reason behind this is because the island has mythical stories about the Agtas living there. Currently, no overnight have been allowed for the safety of the visitors, even the residences there do not do overnight stay.
Third, is there any seafoods we can buy as we arrived in the island? Is there any water? Yes, there are seafoods but it is not sold in the island unless you have a friend living in the island, you can ask them to order it ahead of time. The reason behind this is that, the seafoods are being imported to the mainland every morning. And for water, there is no source of water there. People got their waters from the neighboring barangay which is part of Bohol. We would suggest that you bring your own food before going to the island.
Fourth, can we visit the Minantaw Marine Park and Sanctuary? Yes, you can. Currently, there are no entrance fee however since this a marine protected area, you still need to ask permission to the barangay if you can visit it. Note: No fishing, no littering.
Fifth, is there a store that we can go to?
No, there are no stores selling any goods in the island.
Sixth, can we use any tents and is there a designated place that we can do that? Currently, you can check HanaTours on how to get a package tour in Caubian but it is only limited to their resort facilities. For the private part of the island where there is no entrance fee, you can install your tents by the beach.
Lastly, is there any electricity in the island? No there are no electricity in the island.
Our island is somehow we can call our last frontier. It is an island full of beauty. Once called a virgin island. We will take care of it as it is our last treasure. What we would hope for our visitors is to be responsible. Keep it clean and green. Please bring your trashes back to the mainland as we do not have any location to dump our garbage there. We apologize for the misinformation but for sure, we will be working on it and we will blast the information as soon as there is an official statement from the owners of the island and the barangay councils of Caubian island. Thank you and God bless.
