Romblon - The Where and What.
Off the northern coast of Panay, between Mindoro and Bicol, the province of Romblon consists of three main islands – Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan, and a dozen or so more smaller islands. The province is largely overlooked by visitors because it’s difficult to reach, and once you’re here, to put it simply, there’s not that much to do.
There are few resorts and the most sophisticated Romblon’s nightlife gets is the occasional wooden shack with a karaoke machine. There are, however, some beautiful and rarely visited beaches and coral reefs, making it an excellent off-the-beaten-track destination for scuba diving, snorkelling or just exploring and getting a sense of provincial life in the archipelago.
Romblon Town itself is a pretty place, with Spanish forts, a cathedral built in 1726 and breathtaking views across the Romblon Strait from Sabang lighthouse. On Sibuyan you can explore Mount Guiting Guiting Natural Park and climb the mountain itself, an extinct volcano.
To the south of Tablas Island is beautiful little Carabao Island (usually visited via Boracay) where there’s some terrific diving.
How to Get to Romblon?
There’s a small airport at Tugdan on Tablas Island, which is served by regular flights from Manila by both Seair (Mon, Wed & Fri) and Zest Air (Tues, Thurs & Sat).
Coming from Manila the only ferry is the MBRS Lines (T02/426-1612 in Manila, 042/243-5886 in Romblon) M/V Mary the Queen which sails to Romblon Town (12hr), and on to Cajidiocan (Sibuyan). There are far more ferry services from Batangas to Odiongan, including:
Montenegro Shipping Lines which has a service at 5pm (8hr) every day except Tuesdays; and Supershuttle which has three services a week (Mon, Wed and Fri) at 3pm. Coming from Boracay, MBRS Lines has one weekly ferry (Sun) from Caticlan to Odiongan, and there are also daily big bangkas from Caticlan to Santa Fe and Looc on Tablas Island.
Alternatively you can also charter bangkas in Boracay itself for Carabao Island, the furthest south of the Romblon group. Finally, from Mindoro, there’s a Montenegro Shipping Lines ferry three times a week from Roxas to Odiongan, while Cajidiocan on Sibuyan’s east coast is linked by bangka with Mandaon on Masbate.
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