Romblon lately?

[Johncn]

Hey,

Just putting out there for others planning trips to Romblon. Three P recommended Starlite, and we saw sailings in their schedule with the four-person cabin on M, W, F, Sat. Some are 12 hour trips tha dock at roughly 4 AM. One or two are nine-hour trips arriving at 1 AM. Three P has a place you can sleep / rest til check in at no charge. If you ask nicely. ;-)

Three P Travel page is very good. Note that there there are cheaper Tablas transfer options using trikes, jeepneys and inter-island ferries if that is in one’s comfort level. If you look hard, those are also described on the page.

Travel

TRAVELING TO ROMBLON ISLAND There are various travel options available to reach Romblon Island, and we're delighted to assist you in choosing the most suitable one. Some options involve flights and land transportation, while others involve sea travel. Please note that not all options are...

the-three-p.com

Random date selection below in screenshots from Starlite Ferries website:

Starlite Ferries – Adventure Starts When You Step Into Starlite Ferries

www.starliteferries.com

Note: I contacted the Philippine Coast Guard Romblon station by FB Messenger and they said no oil there as of yesterday.

 

[makar0n]

Hey,

Just putting out there for others planning trips to Romblon. Three P recommended Starlite, and we saw sailings in their schedule with the four-person cabin on M, W, F, Sat. Some are 12 hour trips tha dock at roughly 4 AM. One or two are nine-hour trips arriving at 1 AM. Three P has a place you can sleep / rest til check in at no charge. If you ask nicely. ;-)

Three P Travel page is very good. Note that there there are cheaper Tablas transfer options using trikes, jeepneys and inter-island ferries if that is in one’s comfort level. If you look hard, those are also described on the page.

Travel

TRAVELING TO ROMBLON ISLAND There are various travel options available to reach Romblon Island, and we're delighted to assist you in choosing the most suitable one. Some options involve flights and land transportation, while others involve sea travel. Please note that not all options are...

the-three-p.com

Random date selection below in screenshots from Starlite Ferries website:

Starlite Ferries – Adventure Starts When You Step Into Starlite Ferries

www.starliteferries.com

Note: I contacted the Philippine Coast Guard Romblon station by FB Messenger and they said no oil there as of yesterday.

You gotta laugh but all this talk made me wanna go back...was looking at Anilao in May but either booked full or prices outta this world, so might be back in Romblon in May
Do report how the Starlite ferry journey was and if you see any signs of that darn oil thingie.

 

[Johncn]

We were in Romblon towards the end of April. Fantastic macro diving. Highly recommend it. We flew Dumaguete to Manila to Tablas Island (closest airport to Romblon Island) on AirSwift after ten days in Dauin. Don't get me wrong...we had a great time there, too, but Romblon blew our socks off.

We stayed at Sunset Cove, and will post a full trip report. TL;DNR Version: Great small resort (five rooms and a duplex villa), friendly and flexible staff, and we had an awesome dive master (Steven) assigned to us for the duration. Great spotter, and worked his butt off for us. Our longer Philippines trip got shortened by events back home, so we were not able to make it to 3P this time. We did see 3P divers and guides underwater on a few dives, but did not notice any of the negative behaviors mentioned in this thread. Most of the time it was just us at a dive site. The speed boat is currently in need of some engine work, and all diving was from bangka (outrigger) boats, but worked out fine.

I would say at least for us, Dauin had more different kinds of dives (with Apo included) and higher numbers of larger macro targets, but Romblon had the oddest, most exotic creatures we have seen anywhere, including Anilao (but we were in Anilao for a shorter period). Romblon is also the cleanest and most beautiful province I think we've been to in the Philippines! Very few tourists. Very little development. Green and clean. Incredible turquoise waters and nearly empty white sand beaches. Plan on returning next year. It's worth the extra effort to get to Romblon if you are a diver who loves macro.

Because this thread has some logistics discussion, here are a few clarifications. Romblon is southeast of Anilao across the strait that had the recent oil tanker spill. There was no evidence of oil in the province that we saw or heard of. Romblon Island is separated from Mindoro (where the spill happened) by a long, narrow island called Tablas.

The province of Romblon has Tablas Island, Romblon Island, Sibuyan Island, and a bunch of smaller ones. Romblon Island is where 3P is, and Alad Island (much smaller and no roads) is where Sunset Cove is located. Most of the diving for us took place off of Logbon Island, Bang-Og Island, near Bon Bon beach (Romblon), and Cobrador Island to the north. All of these are easily reached from both 3P and Sunset Cove. Boat rides are no more than 20 minutes to any except Cobrador.

There are both overnight ferry (less expensive) routes on several lines (Montenegro, Starlite, etc.) from Batangas and other ports, and an (almost) daily flight from Manila that is significantly more expensive, but saves a day, roughly. The ferry takes you to Romblon Island itself, but they don't have an airport. The 55-minute propeller AirSwift flight lands in the south part of Tablas (part of Romblon Province), and then you have to travel the length of the eastern coast of that island to the north (about an hour) to just north of San Augustin. From there, you take an hour-long bangka (outrigger boat) from to Romblon. So, it's about a 3.5-hour trip from NAIA Terminal 4 to either 3P or Sunset Cove - including baggage claim & moving bags and people - if you have them arrange transfer. I don't know much about finding local transport after landing. I'm sure it's doable, but I did not see the usual trike / taxi / van touts offering services at the airport. I've included a map that was painted on the wall of the Tablas airport, and a map from the Romblon Fun Divers (Sunset Cove) website here

Scuba Dive Sites Romblon – Romblon Fun Divers

Hope this helps. Will post trip report soon-ish.

 

[miniwid]

We were in Romblon towards the end of April. Fantastic macro diving. Highly recommend it. We flew Dumaguete to Manila to Tablas Island (closest airport to Romblon Island) on AirSwift after ten days in Dauin. Don't get me wrong...we had a great time there, too, but Romblon blew our socks off.

We stayed at Sunset Cove, and will post a full trip report. TL;DNR Version: Great small resort (five rooms and a duplex villa), friendly and flexible staff, and we had an awesome dive master (Steven) assigned to us for the duration. Great spotter, and worked his butt off for us. Our longer Philippines trip got shortened by events back home, so we were not able to make it to 3P this time. We did see 3P divers and guides underwater on a few dives, but did not notice any of the negative behaviors mentioned in this thread. Most of the time it was just us at a dive site. The speed boat is currently in need of some engine work, and all diving was from bangka (outrigger) boats, but worked out fine.

I would say at least for us, Dauin had more different kinds of dives (with Apo included) and higher numbers of larger macro targets, but Romblon had the oddest, most exotic creatures we have seen anywhere, including Anilao (but we were in Anilao for a shorter period). Romblon is also the cleanest and most beautiful province I think we've been to in the Philippines! Very few tourists. Very little development. Green and clean. Incredible turquoise waters and nearly empty white sand beaches. Plan on returning next year. It's worth the extra effort to get to Romblon if you are a diver who loves macro.

Because this thread has some logistics discussion, here are a few clarifications. Romblon is southeast of Anilao across the strait that had the recent oil tanker spill. There was no evidence of oil in the province that we saw or heard of. Romblon Island is separated from Mindoro (where the spill happened) by a long, narrow island called Tablas.

The province of Romblon has Tablas Island, Romblon Island, Sibuyan Island, and a bunch of smaller ones. Romblon Island is where 3P is, and Alad Island (much smaller and no roads) is where Sunset Cove is located. Most of the diving for us took place off of Logbon Island, Bang-Og Island, near Bon Bon beach (Romblon), and Cobrador Island to the north. All of these are easily reached from both 3P and Sunset Cove. Boat rides are no more than 20 minutes to any except Cobrador.

There are both overnight ferry (less expensive) routes on several lines (Montenegro, Starlite, etc.) from Batangas and other ports, and an (almost) daily flight from Manila that is significantly more expensive, but saves a day, roughly. The ferry takes you to Romblon Island itself, but they don't have an airport. The 55-minute propeller AirSwift flight lands in the south part of Tablas (part of Romblon Province), and then you have to travel the length of the eastern coast of that island to the north (about an hour) to just north of San Augustin. From there, you take an hour-long bangka (outrigger boat) from to Romblon. So, it's about a 3.5-hour trip from NAIA Terminal 4 to either 3P or Sunset Cove - including baggage claim & moving bags and people - if you have them arrange transfer. I don't know much about finding local transport after landing. I'm sure it's doable, but I did not see the usual trike / taxi / van touts offering services at the airport. I've included a map that was painted on the wall of the Tablas airport, and a map from the Romblon Fun Divers (Sunset Cove) website here

Scuba Dive Sites Romblon – Romblon Fun Divers

Hope this helps. Will post trip report soon-ish.

Hi John. Thanks for the detailed report. I'm keen to visit Romblon but see no mention of the Manila to Tablas flight on Airswifts website. Do you happen to know if the route has ceased? Thanks.

*Ignore the above, found it listed on the booking page

 

[Johncn]

Hi John. Thanks for the detailed report. I'm keen to visit Romblon but see no mention of the Manila to Tablas flight on Airswifts website. Do you happen to know if the route has ceased? Thanks.

The AirSwift site is not particularly user friendly, and does not have a “splash” page or paragraph for Romblon. However, if you click on the “Find Flights” button, it takes you to the menu system that lists Romblon as a destination. We have flown them them to Cebu, El Nido and Palawan. Good regional airline. Nice twin turboprop planes. Clumsy website.

Note: Flights are currently only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The dates and times are probably adjusted periodically.

The Three-P website has a very handy explanation about travel to and from Romblon that looks like it has been updated since our trip.

Travel

TRAVELING TO ROMBLON ISLAND There are various travel options available to reach Romblon Island, and we're delighted to assist you in choosing the most suitable one. Some options involve flights and land transportation, while others involve sea travel. Please note that not all options are...

the-three-p.com

Good luck, and let us know how it is if you go!

 

[makar0n]

Hi John. Thanks for the detailed report. I'm keen to visit Romblon but see no mention of the Manila to Tablas flight on Airswifts website. Do you happen to know if the route has ceased? Thanks.

*Ignore the above, found it listed on the booking page

And what I will add to the excellent write up above by @Johncn , ferries are a good option too. They do take longer but (at least Starlite), run overnight, so one does not lose a day. And there is no need to worry about no fly time, so you can even dive on the day ferry departs. So you might save some time by flying but actually do more diving with the ferry option
And the ever important - no weight limit on baggage. Carry whatever you want without any extra charges. Heck there is even no need to carry, for a few hundred pesos you can just hire a porter, to carry it for you ;]

 

[miniwid]

And what I will add to the excellent write up above by @Johncn , ferries are a good option too. They do take longer but (at least Starlite), run overnight, so one does not lose a day. And there is no need to worry about no fly time, so you can even dive on the day ferry departs. So you might save some time by flying but actually do more diving with the ferry option
And the ever important - no weight limit on baggage. Carry whatever you want without any extra charges. Heck there is even no need to carry, for a few hundred pesos you can just hire a porter, to carry it for you ;]

Thanks, that is good to know about the ferry option. I'll need to check out the times. I live in HK which is very close to Manila (1hr 40 mins) so recently I've been flying late afternoon and spending one night in a hotel by the airport and then flying down to the islands early the next morning and diving the same day. For Romblon seems I could get the overnight ferry and skip the Manila hotel.

 

[miniwid]

The AirSwift site is not particularly user friendly, and does not have a “splash” page or paragraph for Romblon. However, if you click on the “Find Flights” button, it takes you to the menu system that lists Romblon as a destination. We have flown them them to Cebu, El Nido and Palawan. Good regional airline. Nice twin turboprop planes. Clumsy website.

Note: Flights are currently only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The dates and times are probably adjusted periodically.

View attachment 786032

View attachment 786033

View attachment 786035

The Three-P website has a very handy explanation about travel to and from Romblon that looks like it has been updated since our trip.


View attachment 786036

Travel

TRAVELING TO ROMBLON ISLAND There are various travel options available to reach Romblon Island, and we're delighted to assist you in choosing the most suitable one. Some options involve flights and land transportation, while others involve sea travel. Please note that not all options are...

the-three-p.com

Good luck, and let us know how it is if you go!

Thank you John for the info. I found the experience as you described, couldn't see Tablas listed on their route map but was there as a drop down on the booking page. I remember I flew with Airswift back in 2015 to El Nido and on those days you have to book via the El Nido Boutique and Art cafe, which was odd.

I'm hoping to go later in the year most likely in November. I live in Hong Kong so may leave it til very last minute to see what the weather is doing and just book a couple of days in advance. Flights from HK to Manila are very cheap as there are multiple airlines (at least 4) who fly there and it's less than 1hr 45 mins.

Need to tick Romblon off before it gets too popular!

 

[makar0n]

Thanks, that is good to know about the ferry option. I'll need to check out the times. I live in HK which is very close to Manila (1hr 40 mins) so recently I've been flying late afternoon and spending one night in a hotel by the airport and then flying down to the islands early the next morning and diving the same day. For Romblon seems I could get the overnight ferry and skip the Manila hotel.

Starlite normally departs Batangas at 16:00 and gets to Romblon (Romblon island, not Tablas, so basically right on the spot), not sure about Montenegro times. Drive Manila-Batangas is about 1.5-2.5h, depending on the traffic. We took ferry both ways, with the 4-cabin, so could sleep without any issues. Ferry tickets were all arranged by the Sunset Cove, w/o any extra charges, other that the ticket price itself. Transfer was also arranged and rather reasonably priced (4500 PHP one way, so about half of what Anilao (next door to Batangas really) charges you!)
Way in got there around 02:00, got picked up and was in Sunset Cove in 20 mins. Next day had a lazy wake up (after 10) and still did 3 dives starting at 12.00.
Way back looked at the flight for a moment, as storm warning came in, but at the end took ferry as well. Choice was - flight, travel at 05:00 to make 9 something flight, no diving that day or the previous one vs dive the day before AND dive the day ferry departs (22:00), still had time to dry gear, lounge around the pool etc, got to Batangas next day around 8-9 in the morning, was in Manila airport around 10 ish next day.

Price wise return ferry is less than one way flight...and can carry all the crap I want and not worry if check in attendant picks on my overweight hand luggage or spend half n hour explaining what that metal cylinder or the boxes of white granules are doing in my baggage. Way less hassle in my opinion.

 

[Johncn]

The overnight ferry option for Luzon to Romblon really makes sense for divers due to comparable cost (even with a cabin), ability to carry more gear without hassle, and no loss of dive days. We had family obligations that required us to fly to give us an extra day in Manila. Initially, the ferry was our first choice to gain an extra two days (in practical terms) of diving. Hope to hear from Makar0n how the diving was around Alad, Logbon and Bang-og Islands! ;-)