Guimaras Island Travel Guide: The Mango Island Done Right

Jordan, Guimaras · 10.6569° N, 122.5919° E

Guimaras is fifteen minutes and one cheap boat ride from Iloilo City, and a full gear-change from everything on the other side of the strait. The island grows what many call the sweetest mangoes in the world, guards them with an actual quarantine law, and fills the space between orchards with lighthouses, quiet coves, and the country’s only Trappist monastery.

The verdict: Guimaras is the easiest island escape in Western Visayas and still one of the least crowded. Give it an overnight, not a day trip, and do not pack mangoes on the way in; they will be confiscated at the wharf, and rightly so.

Coastline of Guimaras Island seen from above — Guimaras, Western Visayas · Fifteen minutes off Iloilo City

How to get to Guimaras

From Iloilo City, pump boats run from Ortiz and Parola to Jordan Wharf in about 15 to 20 minutes. The fare is ₱40, or ₱32 for students, senior citizens, persons with disability and pregnant passengers, set by MARINA with the provincial government and the operators on 24 March 2026. At Jordan Wharf, the tourism assistance desk registers visitors and books accredited guides and tricycle tours on the spot. One rule to respect: Guimaras strictly prohibits bringing outside mangoes, seeds, or seedlings onto the island to protect its mango industry.

The other crossing: the RoRo at Lapuz

The pump boats are not the only way over, and the vehicle route is the one nobody writes up properly. If you are bringing a car, a motorbike, or anything on wheels, you do not go to Ortiz. You go to the RoRo terminal on the Iloilo River at Lapuz, about a kilometre north, and you land at the Jordan RoRo port in Barangay Hoskyn. F.F. Cruz and Montenegro run it.

Here is the problem with that route. F.F. Cruz publishes a trip schedule page on its own website carrying the route names, a departure column, an arrival column, and no times in any of them. Montenegro’s site sits behind a security wall. The schedules circulating on travel sites contradict each other, one saying a sailing every two hours, and the provincial government still describes four round trips a day. None of those match what is actually posted at the gate.

The board bolted to the fence at Lapuz lists 24 departures each way, first one out of Iloilo at 03:30. I photographed it in March 2023 and the times have not moved since.

Iloilo to Guimaras. 03:30, 04:30, 05:00, 05:30, 06:30, 07:00, 07:30, 08:30, 09:00, 09:30, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:30, 13:00, 13:30, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:30, 17:00, 17:30, 18:30, 19:30.

Guimaras to Iloilo. 04:30, 05:30, 06:00, 06:30, 07:30, 08:00, 08:30, 09:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:30, 18:00, 18:30, 19:30, 20:30.

Two things the same board is blunt about. Boarding runs first come first served off a customer log sheet, so the queue is the queue and there is no talking your way up it. And you must present documents or permits for plants, animals, lumber and anything hazardous before you load, or you will be the one holding up the ramp.

Fares are the soft spot. No official source publishes the RoRo passenger fare. A dated listing from May 2026 puts it at ₱90 regular, with rolling cargo from ₱225 for a bicycle with sidecar up to ₱9,120 for a 40-footer with a prime mover, and drivers asked for the RVT, the OR/CR and a licence. Treat those as indicative, not gospel. F.F. Cruz answers on (033) 501-2120.

A painted signboard reading RORO TO GUIMARAS above a fare board at the terminal gate, with vehicles queueing alongside — The RoRo gate at Lapuz, 28 March 2023. The board bolted to that fence is the only published schedule this crossing has.

What to see on Guimaras Island

Tatlong Pulo Beach: three islets off Jordan with a natural lagoon between the rocks, made for kayaking and cliff jumps, with nipa huts on the rocks and a white lighthouse above the cove.
Guisi Lighthouse: Faro de Punta Luzaran in Nueva Valencia, the second-oldest lighthouse in the Philippines, built in the 1890s. The rusted iron skeleton of the original still stands beside the modern tower.
San Lorenzo wind farm: turbines over countryside, best by bike or slow drive at sunset.
The Trappist Monastery: Our Lady of the Philippines, the country’s only Trappist monastery, with a gift shop of monk-made mango jam, mango bars, and pasalubong that actually means something.

Tatlong Pulo islets and lagoon in Guimaras — Tatlong Pulo: three islets, one hidden lagoon

Time it with a festival

Every May, the Manggahan Festival celebrates the harvest with mango eat-all-you-can booths and the island at its proudest. In February, the Paraw Regatta paints the strait between Guimaras and Iloilo with hand-painted sails, and the island’s shores make a fine grandstand.

Build the bigger Iloilo trip

Guimaras slots neatly into a Western Visayas run: Miagao Church down the Iloilo coast, and Huni Sicogon up north when the trip earns a resort finish.

Quick answers

How do I get to Guimaras from Iloilo?
Pump boat or ferry from Ortiz Wharf to Jordan Wharf, about 15 minutes, ₱40 or so per passenger.

Can I bring mangoes to Guimaras?
No. The island enforces a strict quarantine on outside mangoes, seeds, and seedlings to protect its world-famous crop.

When is the Manggahan Festival?
Every May, celebrating the mango harvest with eat-all-you-can booths and island-wide festivities.

Guimaras Practicalities (checked July 2026)

Getting there: pump boat from Ortiz Wharf or Parola in Iloilo City to Jordan Wharf. About 15 to 20 minutes. Fare is around ₱40. Boats go every 15 to 30 minutes from roughly 5:30am to early evening
From Iloilo airport: taxi to Parola runs about ₱600 to ₱800
Getting around: hire a tricycle or habal-habal for a half or full day. There is no meaningful public transport to the beaches
Mango season: the Manggahan Festival lands around April and May, right after harvest. That is when the island is at its best and its busiest
Island hopping: boat tours take in Ave Maria Islet, Baras Cave, SEAFDEC and Turtle Island
Cash: bring it. ATMs are thin on the ground once you leave Jordan

Guimaras FAQ

How do you get to Guimaras from Iloilo?

Pump boat from Ortiz or Parola to Jordan Wharf, roughly 15 to 20 minutes, ₱40 since March 2026. With a vehicle you take the RoRo from Lapuz instead. There is no airport on Guimaras, so the boat is the only way in. Departures run every 15 to 30 minutes through the day, which means you can decide to go over breakfast and be there before lunch.

Can you bring a car to Guimaras?

Yes, on the RoRo, not on the pump boat. It leaves from the RoRo terminal at Lapuz on the Iloilo River, about a kilometre north of Ortiz, and lands at the Jordan RoRo port in Barangay Hoskyn. F.F. Cruz and Montenegro run it and the board at the gate lists 24 departures each way, the first out of Iloilo at 03:30 and the last back from Jordan at 20:30. Neither operator publishes the schedule online, so call F.F. Cruz on (033) 501-2120 before you drive out there.

Is Guimaras a day trip or do you stay over?

You can do it in a day and most people do. You should not. The island empties out in the late afternoon and that is when it is worth being there. Stay a night at Alubihod or Nueva Valencia and you get the beach without the boatloads.

When is mango season in Guimaras?

Harvest runs into April and May, and the Manggahan Festival is built around it. Guimaras mangoes are genuinely the reason the island is famous, and the ones sold at the pier are not a tourist trap. They are just the mangoes.

How many days do you need in Guimaras?

Two is right. One for the island hopping and the beaches, one for the inland run at the mango plantations, Trappist Monastery and the lighthouse. Three if you want to do nothing on purpose, which is the correct use of Guimaras.

Wear the Story

Iloilo does not shout. It keeps its heritage standing, feeds you well, and lets you work out why you liked it on the drive home. The Iloilo City of Love Tee from our Island Series.