The ride from Guimaras’ Jordan Wharf to Alubihod Beach in Nueva Valencia took quite a while since we detoured for a bit at the Trappist Monastery to buy some stuff to bring back to Manila later that afternoon.

We arrived at Raymen Resort at almost noontime and the sun was already having a feast at the few tourists walking and taking a dip along the shore. There were not too many people though and we mostly have the beach to ourselves.

Alubihod cove is really not that large and can be walked end to end in under ten minutes. The sand is cream-colored and very fine; but not as fine as the sand found on Boracay, well as I’ve been told. I have never been to Boracay so it was quite fine by my standards.

The water is sparklingly clear and was really just too tempting to pass up on, hot as the sun was.

As a testament, my aunt who didn’t bring any swimming clothes with her was unable to resist and took a dip, no change of clothes and all (good thing one of our companions had an extra with her.)

Some small fishes can be found near the shore, so those afraid of swimming in deep waters would definitely have a good time snorkeling even in just waist-deep waters. I was unable to bring my snorkeling gear with me as I wasn’t really expecting to visit Guimaras. Fortunately, there were goggles being rented out near one of the resorts at a Php100.00 for a whole day use.

I also saw some adverts about island hopping, but due to lack of time, we didn’t get to try them out.

The best part for me about Alubihod Beach was the bouldery part on the right side of the cove where some nipa huts are situated. These are part of Rico Beach Resort, one of the three resorts fronting the beach (the other two being Raymen and Freelance if I’m not mistaken).

Since we really were not going to stay the whole day, we didn’t bother getting a hut. We just plunked down our bags on one of the shaded parts of Rico Beach Resort, ordered three plates of pancit canton from Raymen (a bit expensive but serving size was quite large, and more importantly, it was really delicious), hurriedly applied some sunblock, donned our swimwear and dived down the emerald waters of Guimaras. Heaven.