Hats Off to Sombrero Island

The heat is on. It’s summertime and everyone’s wishing to get to a colder place. But the destination that really top off the list every summer is the beach. Why not? A beach is a right venue to play, to have fun and to bond with your friends, loved ones and family. Yet aside from those, it’s also a great place to have new friends and build memories as they say.

When I joined a climb to Mt. Gulugod Baboy few weeks ago I was thrilled that a side trip to an island named as Sombrero Island is included in our day trip. Although my main reason in joining the tour is to experience climbing, getting to an island for a quick beach getaway really made me excited.

 So after we spent half of our day climbing Mt. Gulugod Baboy, we are bound to binge ourselves with a quick escape to a beach. Being in the area wherein there’s a lot of beach activities to choose from, it’s a perfect treat to pass off the weariness we had experienced during the climb.

Sombrero Island in Batangas

Sombrero Island is located at Mabini, Batangas. It can be reached by boat from the shore of Anilao for about 30 minutes. The island has been named as such because it resembles a hat underwater.  A small stretch of beach can be found on this island. It has a pearly white sand with clean and clear water.

 Hence, this island becomes a favorite side trip among those who climb  the nearby mountains.

Boat rental getting to the island costs around PHP 2,500.00 which can fit for about 10 persons. Entrance fee to the island also needs to be paid upon arrival which costs PHP 150.00 per person.

It was already 1:00 PM when we finally boarded our boat going to the island. Everyone’s excited to kick off the summer; feel the sun and get into the beach.

The sun was on its peak when we arrived at the island. We settled in one of the shaded area; had a quick rest first before getting out and get sun-kissed.

There are also cottages available for rent if you wish to either have your lunch here or have a comfortable rest area. There’s a restroom too.

The island is just really a small one. The small stretch of the beach can be walked for 2 to 3 minutes or maybe less. The sand is white but not that fine. It has some small rocks that might hurt a bare foot when you walk through the shore.

It is said that Gorgonians, black coral shells, turtles, rays, grunts, jacks, snappers, and a great variety of soft corals are abundant on this island. From the boulder where I positioned myself, I can see the clear abundance of corals without even diving into the water or go for a snorkel. This only shows that Anilao is really rich in underwater which is perfect for a diving activity.

Some took a nap, some started to shoot and some went for a stroll, that’s the beach life.


Since we were just staying here for a couple of hours, I then took out my camera and started to explore the small island. I was joined by the photoholics CM, Dolor and Leah.

Both sides of the island are rocky, perfect for photo shoots and for these ladies that couldn’t help but had their poses in every step they had as we went for an island exploration.

Certainly, what really makes a beach getaway more fun is capturing the moments with your buddies through pictures. Unli pose?

These people are really camera addicts. But obviously, this made us all closer – through picture taking. Goofing around and making fun with all those pictures.

When most of the group were in the water already when we went back to our are having a swim; obviously having fun, we got envy and hurriedly joined them. I brought my underwater camera which made the photoholics more excited.

Since I had my contact lens on; I was not that eager to have a photo of myself underwater so I’ve decided to leave my camera to them while I followed some of my travel buddies in exploring the rest of the island.
And so when I went back you already know what happened to my camera. Yes, photos of them in my camera. After I witnessed how enthusiastic they are in terms of photos, I wasn’t shocked at all seeing a lot of pictures of them in my camera. Inyo? Just kidding. 🙂
The photoholics was joined by Dawn and Myra.
A beach getaway with photo enthusiasts and comic buddies like them wouldn’t be complete without taking the infamous ‘jump shots’. Well, I couldn’t agree more aside from the crazy wacky shot, jump shot is one of the shots that will not be missing if you see an album of beach photos with group.
It was 4:00 PM when our tour lead, Ivan, announced our departure from the island. We then fixed our things; had a quick group shot and boarded our boat afterwards.
We bade our goodbye to this island which has been a witness on how crazy we are. May pahabol pa sa boat. 😀
Our side trip to Sombrero Island isn’t just about a visit to apprise us about how arresting this little island is, but to appear that we can have fun even in simple things. This became a setting for our group to have fun with the before-strangers that now become my friends. It’s really great being with these people. Truly, our visit to this island is so admiring as we did not only discover one of the wonders of Batangas but had also meet new people as well as experience fun and memorable escape with our photo craziness.
To know how to get to Sombrero Island, please read my post about Mt. Gulugod Baboy.

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22 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    FYI lang po..actually Sombrero Island is at (belongs to) Tingloy Island.but for some reasons, Mabini municipality is always claiming that it's theirs (for tourism purpose i think).may mga individual people na nagke-claim ng island but i don't know what happened na.and before walang entrance fee.

  2. Anonymous says:

    FYI lang po..actually Sombrero Island is at (belongs to) Tingloy Island.but for some reasons, Mabini municipality is always claiming that it's theirs (for tourism purpose i think).may mga individual people na nagke-claim ng island but i don't know what happened na.and before walang entrance fee.

  3. Wow, i wanna visit this Island. Im still waiting some Airline Promo this summer. I love visiting new places specially Islands..

  4. Wow, i wanna visit this Island. Im still waiting some Airline Promo this summer. I love visiting new places specially Islands..

  5. Naalala ko tuloy yung masayang trip namin to Anilao, Mabini din last November because of this posts… Maganda din pala ang Sombrero Island pero buti na din pala hindi kami tumuloy ng trip dyan kasi mas maganda yung Puting Buhangin Cove na dinaanan namin though nag-snorkel din kami sa island na yan.

    I agree ang mahal ng entrance fee dyan compared to Puting Buhok Cove at island boat rental. Kelangan at least 10 in a group kayo kasi mahal.

  6. Naalala ko tuloy yung masayang trip namin to Anilao, Mabini din last November because of this posts… Maganda din pala ang Sombrero Island pero buti na din pala hindi kami tumuloy ng trip dyan kasi mas maganda yung Puting Buhangin Cove na dinaanan namin though nag-snorkel din kami sa island na yan.

    I agree ang mahal ng entrance fee dyan compared to Puting Buhok Cove at island boat rental. Kelangan at least 10 in a group kayo kasi mahal.

  7. mic-mic2819 says:

    hello po. meron po ba ditong accomodation and bathrooms? thank you po

  8. mic-mic2819 says:

    hello po ulit. uhhm yung restroom po okay na po meron pala. but i would like to ask dun sa accomodation and how can we get there from manila. yung accomodation po paano kung overnight? is it camping tyle? do we have to bring tents? and ang nabasa ko lang po kasi is yung boat ride and the entrace fee

  9. mic-mic2819 says:

    hello po ulit. uhhm yung restroom po okay na po meron pala. but i would like to ask dun sa accomodation and how can we get there from manila. yung accomodation po paano kung overnight? is it camping tyle? do we have to bring tents? and ang nabasa ko lang po kasi is yung boat ride and the entrace fee

  10. marxtermind says:

    Hi Mic-mic, there are no accommodations basically just cottages. For directions to go there, you may check on this link: https://www.marxtermind.com/2013/04/climbing-mt-gulugod-baboy.html

  11. marxtermind says:

    Hi Mic-mic, there are no accommodations basically just cottages. For directions to go there, you may check on this link: https://www.marxtermind.com/2013/04/climbing-mt-gulugod-baboy.html

  12. mic-mic2819 says:

    uhhmm yung about po kasi dun sa accomodation for overnight di po kasi para sakin malinaw. and kung paano mapupunta diyan. ang nakita ko lang po kasi is the boat ride 🙂 salamat po

  13. mic-mic2819 says:

    uhhmm yung about po kasi dun sa accomodation for overnight di po kasi para sakin malinaw. and kung paano mapupunta diyan. ang nakita ko lang po kasi is the boat ride 🙂 salamat po

  14. marxtermind says:

    Hi mic-mic2819, Good Day! Try to read my post so to get the answer to your questions. Thank you. 🙂

  15. marxtermind says:

    Hi mic-mic2819, Good Day! Try to read my post so to get the answer to your questions. Thank you. 🙂

  16. mic-mic2819 says:

    hello po, meron po ba ditong accomodation kung mag oovernight stay and also bathrooms. tska if were from manila how can we get there?

  17. mic-mic2819 says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  18. marxtermind says:

    Not sure. Pero mahal nga ng entrance fee pati boat mahal. 🙁

  19. marxtermind says:

    Not sure. Pero mahal nga ng entrance fee pati boat mahal. 🙁

  20. JeffZ says:

    Mahal ng entrance for a small island… private ba to?

  1. December 26, 2016

    […] Sombrero Island by John Marx Velasco of Maxtermind.com […]

  2. May 30, 2018

    […] IMAGE SOURCE: MAXTERMIND […]

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