Funtastic Island
It was the holiday season of 2012 and we were itching for some getaway adventure so we decided to go to the famous Funtastic Island in Medellin. None of us in our group have been to this island before, making this trip more adventurous.We scheduled our meet-up at Cebu North Bus Terminal at 5:00am but as expected, everybody arrived 30 minutes later. We took the 6:00am scheduled air-conditioned Ceres bus to Daan-Bantayan through Kawit, our drop-off point. The trip from Cebu City to Kawit, Medellin is around three and a half hours, good thing we took the AC bus (P150/person) for us to have a comfortable sleep on the road. Since none of us is familiar with Medellin, I asked the conductor to drop us off at a bus stop in Kawit. The bus stop was in front of the church. It is already past 9:00am when we arrived at Kawit and we haven't had our breakfast yet. We decided to go the market which is a few meters away from the bus stop. We had breakfast at a carenderia and while we're at the market, bought our lunch of lechon manok, puso and some softdrinks. We asked some locals for directions on how to get to Funtastic Island and found out that we needed to go to the port which is far from the market. We took a pedicab to the port (P10/head).
On our way to Gibitngil Island
As soon as we arrived at the port, we were greeted by a woman that offered us to get to Gibitngil Island. The standard rate for the rent of motorized outrigger boat to and from Funtastic Island is P1,500 good for 20 persons. Since there were seven of us in our group and no other outrigger boat on sight, we tried to haggle with the woman. We managed to negotiate for P1,400 for the trip.
Rock formations and clear waters
Gibitngil Island is just across Kawit, Medellin around 2 kilometers away but Funtastic Island is located on the other side of Gibitngil Island so we needed to go around the island for a 30 minute trip. There are cottages available for rent at P50-P250. There is no electricity in the island but solar powered lights are charged during the day to be used at night. We occupied the largest and the topmost cottage since we planned to stay for the night and it is also near the highest diving board.
Wellcome to Funtastic Island
What to do in Funtastic Island:- Swimming
- Cliff diving
- Kayaking - P150/hr
- Zipline - P50
Funtastic Island
Zipline
The diving platform is around 20-30 feet above sea level. I was hesitant at first since I am not sure if the water is deep enough for a safe landing. A foreigner jumped from nowhere, definitely not from the platform, and amazingly survived the dive. If he can do it, I can do it too. So I conquered my fear.
Diving Platform
Preparing for the jump
We survived!
Here is a video of me jumping off the platform:After jumping and swimming our hearts' out, we also tried kayaking around the island.
Kayaking
Kayaking around the island
At sun down, although we were planning to stay for the night, we decided to head back to Kawit, Medillin since we did not have much food left and there were not much available on the island either. We asked the boatman if there is a resort near and he promptly told us that there is a nice resort nearby with a green roof though he did not took us there. We decided to walk by the beach searching for the green roofed resort. After about 10 minutes walk by the beach, we reached the Seahorse Tourist Inn Resort.
The Beach
The room we rented
Dining Area
Seahorse Tourist Inn is not the place if you're in a tight budget. We were able to haggle the Family room, P2,200 good for 4 persons, without paying for the extra persons (there were seven of us). You can see their room rates and other amenities at their facebook page. Although the room was too pricey, it was clean and cozy. The bathroom is also big. Actually half the size of the room itself and have a heater for the water.
DOtA game for the night
Before getting to sleep, we had some rounds of DOtA and watched a movie to lighten up our sore muscles. We woke up late in the morning the next day and immediately prepared for leaving. When we reached the highway, there were no signs of buses around so we decided to take a tricycle to Bogo Town (P20/head) and have brunch there. It is also much easier to take a bus at the Bogo terminal than to wait at the highway. After taking our brunch at a busy Gaisano Bogo, we were on board an airconditioned Ceres Bus (P150/person) heading back home to the bustling Cebu City.
