The Islands of Concepcion

After a good night's sleep at our room in HJB Pan de Azucar, we immediately got busy with our island hopping preps. Husband bought fresh catch from the market for our lunch while the rest of us waited for our boat.

When our boat arrived we went straight to our first island destination: Bulubadiangan Sand Bar. I wasn't in love with this sand bar island because it was quite dirty. From afar the sand didn't look white. It looked almost brownish. We initially thought it was mud. When we docked, we realized it was probably just because of the gloomy weather that made the sand look a little brownish in color.

See the stuff littered by the shore? That's what I was talking about. It looked like shredded pieces of sack but I think those were dried sea grass

Another thing that I didn't like is they collect P25 entrance fee but they were not able to clean up the island or at least pick up the trash along the shore. On the shore there are mixed trash and dried sea grass (which looked like decomposed sack). Also the water had mixed of floating natural litter (sea grass) and garbage (empty chip wrappers). Well I know they couldn't possibly prevent the trash floating in the sea as it could be coming from the other islands. However, I wished they could have cleaned whatever was already along the shore.

Pardon the white cast. I applied too much sunblock :)

I was disappointed and wondered if the other island would be the same. We just swam for a while at Bulubadiangan sand bar because we were pressed for time and we mostly spent our time there to eat lunch.

Agho Island

Our next island destination is the Agho Island. The sand was whiter and finer here and I was so relieved that it didn't look anywhere near the previous island. Among the two, Agho was the better choice. It was clean and the keepers did a good job maintaining the island.

We had so much fun swimming and taking pics and we just couldn't stop comparing the two islands. :) So if you plan to go island hopping at Concepcion, I highly suggest you visit Agho island.

If you are pressed for time and short on money, you can skip the Bulubadiangan Sand Bar and you won't miss that much anyway.


HOW TO GET TO CONCEPCION, ILOILO

We were coming from SM Iloilo. We rode a jeep going to Tagbak Terminal (just ask around because people are super friendly and they will help you with directions!) We were not sure if we really got off at Tagbak terminal but we did got off on a van terminal. The jeepney driver asked us if we were riding the Ceres bus but we told him that we were riding a van. So after the Ceres terminal was the van terminal and it was there that he dropped us off. Jeepney Fare to Tagbak Terminal - P15

We asked around for a van that was going to Sara. There wasn't really a van that was bound to Sara but we were told by the locals that the van going to Estancia will pass by Sara. So we hopped on to the next trip to Estancia and told the driver to drop us off at Sara. Fare to Sara terminal - P120

At Sara, there were habal-habal (motorcycle) that hound over us and thinking it was the fastest way we could get to our hotel in Concepcion, we said yes (there was also a Ceres bus bound to Sara but it was still waiting for other passengers). Fare to Concepcion - P50


Disclaimer: This opinion is based solely on my personal experience. I have no intentions of discouraging people to visit Bulubadiangan Sand Bar but I am merely expressing what we witnessed in that island to give others who are planning a trip there. I went there on June 16 so lots of things could possibly have happened before and after. :)