Visiting One Of The Oldest Lighthouses In The Philippines - Guisi Lighthouse

The ruins make for a beautiful background for an OOTD. Had I known it would be this beautiful, I wouldn’t have listened to my friend, Cai, who told us to pack light. Though I do not bring my entire home with me, I don’t identify with light packers. But in Guimaras — I’m not sure how I did it — I stuffed everything inside my small backpack. Needless to say, I wasn’t ootd-ready when we visited the oldest lighthouse in the Philippines,Faro de Punta Luzaran, better known as Guisi Lighthouse.

Getting to Guisi Lighthouse

From Nature’s Eye Beach Resort, we traveled the 6.3-km road that goes to Guisi via tricycle. The road conditions are one of the worst that I’ve seen; it was filled with potholes, wheel ruts, and mud made the journey quite troublesome. Even so, a visit to Guisi is high on my recommendations, whether you want to do it for the gram or not.

Read my Nature’s Eye Beach Resort review here

To get there, here’s what you should do. First, you need to go to Iloilo and from the airport, do the following:

Take a shuttle to SM Iloilo (alternatively, you may hire a cab to get you to Parola).
From SM Iloilo, take a cab that goes to Parola.
Ride a ferry that goes to Jordan Wharf.
Take a jeep to Nueva Valencia and stop at Dolores Crossing.
Hire a motorbike (called locally as habal-habal) and ask the driver to take you to Guisi.
From Guisi, it’s just a few minutes’ walk to the lighthouse.

Guisi Lighthouse

The first lighting up of Faro de Punta Luzaran was in 1894. Its materials were exported from different countries; France, Portugal, and England. It used to provide navigational aid to mariners passing through the Guimaras Strait. The lighthouse may just be the shortest I have ever seen. It is no longer operational, it’s metal frame eaten away by rust. But somehow, it’s dilapidated state makes it all the more alluring especially to tourists.

It is surrounded by the ruins of an old building, which reminded me of the Diplomat Hotel in Baguio and the ruins of Intramuros. Plants and trees grow from the cracks, the vines wrapped around the walls. The place looks hauntingly beautiful.

Read: Musings of a Part Introvert on a Group Tour in Baguio

While we were there, I kept blaming Cai for advising me to pack light. The ruins are so beautiful, I was quite disappointed that I missed the chance to do an OOTD shoot. Yes, I know, I’m being melodramatic, but it’s not like I get to visit Guimaras everyday you know.

But Cai was camera-ready, with his elephant pants and willingness to climb on the walls, he got the Instagram shots that I wanted for myself.

Guisi Beach

Just a short walk from the lighthouse is Guisi Beach. We didn’t plan on taking a swim, but looking back, I think we should have taken the opportunity. The beach is clean, not crowded and it looks beautiful. So if you ever visit the lighthouse, you might want to bring in your bathing suit and enjoy a swim here.