Cycle Romblon and Masbate

Our ride descriptions give an account of the ride that we completed. As part of the description we also provide links to Wikiloc or Google maps and elevation profiles based on mapping data available through the internet. The ride profiles are smoothed to give what in our opinion is a more beneficial view of the profile. We use paper maps, GPS and on line data to plan and conduct our rides. We are happy for you to use our descriptions, but be aware that we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided as situations surrounding any ride change over time.

• Distance         43km sea; 26km land (profile)
  
• Max Elevation  117m
  

Romblon and Masbate - Caticlan to Odiongan, Tablas Ride Profile

It took three hours to reach Looc, sailing in the shelter of  the islands of Boracay and Carabao. These crew members stood on the outriggers the whole way. Heading north there was a choice of three roads to get to Odiongan and the plan was to follow the one that hugged the coast which looked less hilly than the other two. But somehow we missed a turning and rode up the middle one instead. Up is the right word as this one went up and over many steep, first gear hills.

• Distance             56km
  
• Max Elevation      206m
  

Romblon and Masbate - Odiongan to San Augustin Ride Profile

Calatran is the northernmost town on the island. It is a poor, little visited place and didn't appear to have a single eatery. On a  side street we found a little stall offering 'burgers': a small bun with a slice of ham smothered in a generous quantity of (very sweet)  tomato sauce.

Accommodation options were similarly limited with just one small beach resort on the outskirts of town. It appeared to be closed, with the bar shuttered and the chairs and tables stacked up. The idea of paying 1200 peso for a room with little chance of finding anything decent to eat was not tempting so we decided to continue to San Agustin.

From here the road climbs over the highlands to the east coast. Peter at Mouse's Morsels had warned us that  the road was very steep and unsurfaced, but worth the effort of a long climb for the beautiful views from the top. In fact, since he last drove up here a lot of the road has been concreted and the gradient was quite easy. From the summit we had views over the eastern coast and islands of Tablas and a lovely descent and ride along the east coast into San Agustin.

• Distance             15km sea  13km land (profile)
  
• Max Elevation       47m
  

Romblon and Masbate - San Augustin to San Pedro Ride Profile

It took about an hour to get to Romblon. As we arrived there was a class of children from the school having a swimming lesson in the harbour.

At the quay side we met an English man who advised us that the best place to stay on the island was a resort at San Pedro beach, about 10km south.

This lovely, peaceful resort right on the  beach was one of our favourite places of the whole trip. We shared it with a trio of French backpackers, (Vincent, Frank and Julie)  Richard, an American, and his Philippine partner Gloria.

Today was spent relaxing on the peaceful beach, snorkeling around the small coral reef in the bay and enjoying the homemade local food in the restaurant.

• Distance             35km
  
• Max Elevation      194m
  

Romblon and Masbate - San Pedro to Romblon Ride Profile

Today we completed the circuit of this little island, in total only 45kms. The road alternates between rough surface and cement with only a few vehicles. It is never far away from the sea, with frequent views over the ocean and lots of shady palms. On the east side of the island the regional road takes a more inland route, through the hills,  but we continued along the coast on an unsurfaced track.

Climbing back up to the national road was a pretty steep, first gear, job at first  but then an easy gradient up to about 250m over the hills at the north. This area is renowned for its marble, with numerous quarries and workshops producing statues. Most eye-catching of the offerings was of two dogs in a compromising position but we couldn't imagine who would want to buy it.

A long downhill took us into Romblon town which is a pretty little place, surrounded on three sides by tree covered hills and centred around the busy harbour. The town has a small community of European expats, with a couple of cafe bars serving pizzas and western style foods. There is an old Spanish fort perched on the hill above the town which we climbed to up steep stone steps. At the top were good views of the town but the fort was in desperate need of renovation and looked in imminent danger of falling down the hill.

• Distance         30km sea  5km land
  
• Max Elevation    flat
  

Today's ferry was a ro-ro, a much easier boat to get loaded bikes onto. During the three hour journey to Sibuyan we were entertained by a young man travelling with his guitar and sound system who used the time to practise his songs.

The ferry arrived at Magdiwang and there was a minibus from Sanctuary Resort, where we planned to stay, waiting to pick up passengers. Edgar, one of the owners, gave us directions to get there and we arrived before the bus. The resort is about 1km from the national road, set in the foothills of Mount Guiting Guiting, the 2060 m high volcano in the centre of the island. The peak of the volcano was shrouded in cloud for the whole of our stay.

We found that Julie, Vincent, Frank, Richard and Gloria from San Pedro were also staying there as well as Hannah, a Polish backpacker. The resort had large attractive gardens and a clear, deep river to swim in.

Around the restaurant area were a couple of aviaries with birds and a large cage to house a pair of orphaned young adult monkeys, David and DJ who had been had been hand reared.

• Distance             54km Magdiwan to Cajidiocan
  
• Max Elevation       74m

We didn't actually complete this part of our Romblon and Masbate ride by bike, but we have included the profile info for those that are interested.

Romblon and Masbate - Around Sibuyan Ride Profile

The resort had its own jeepney and today a trip had been arranged to circumnavigate the island, stopping at a couple of waterfalls on the way and taking a pic-nic lunch. Richard, Gloria, Hannah and the french trio were all going so we decided that rather than cycle we would go with them.

The road to the west of the island had been badly affected by flooding several years ago. All of the river bridges had been washed away and had been replaced by temporary metal ones. A couple of the wider valleys had no proper road surface, just a track over smooth small rocks which would have been difficult with loaded bikes.

Swimming in the river at the base of the waterfall was refreshing, and Steve and Richard joined the youngsters jumping into the pool  from the top of the cliff. Edgar's aunt, a retired teacher, joined us for the picnic and entertained us with stories of her teaching career and love life.

• Distance           33km
  
• Max Elevation     34m
  

Romblon and Masbate - Magdiwan to Cajidiocan Ride Profile

The road on the east of the island had escaped the worst of the flood damage and is in a better state of repair. It is mostly unsurfaced and there is very little traffic. About 10km down the road is another small waterfall, reached by a footpath from the road. We left the bikes and walked up to swim in the cool river.

There was nowhere to eat until Cajidican and even there it was difficult to find food. We were directed to a small cafe with a long menu of western food in the window but the only thing available at 2pm was a meagre burger. Although there were two small pension houses in Cajidiocan  they were both full so we had to ride another 3km to a small German owned guesthouse called 'Reiners Place'.

Having lived here fro many years, Reiner knew Romblon and Masbate well and advised on the ferry for our trip to Masbate tomorrow.

• Distance           63km
  
• Max Elevation    160m
  

Romblon and Masbate - Cajidiocan to Masbate City Ride Profile

The boat crew said they had never carried bicycles from Romblon to Masbate before. There were a lot of locals waiting at the beach side while the crew loaded the various cargoes, our bikes and a motorbike. At last the jeepney from Magdiwan arrived with the five french travellers from Sanctuary resort and all the passengers climbed aboard.

As the 'senior westerners' we got to sit on the big shelf in the wheelhouse which was much more comfortable than the narrow planks that served as seats in the main cabin. The journey from Romblon to Masbate took four hours as the boat was quite slow and had to be steered around the bigger waves. This was the first time we had been on a bangka completely out of sight of land. The only navigation aid was a portable compass and the engine was controlled by a length of fishing line wound around a wooden block.  We had a really good view out of the front of the boat but the only thing that we saw in that time were groups of flying fish.

The boat arrived a t Mandaon at 1.00pm and after a quick lunch at the harbourside market we set off to try to get to Masbate City, as the only place on the island where we were certain there was accommodation. It was 63km and we had about three hours of daylight. The road was quite smooth and quiet, slowly climbing up into the hills. The terrain was unlike anything we had seen so far in the Philippines with no trees and grassy hillsides which reminded us of Scotland. This is important cattle rearing country and riding their horse down the road towards us was a group of Filipino cowboys with lasoos and spurs.

• Distance         76km
  
• Max Elevation   97m
  

Romblon and Masbate - Masbate City to Cataingan Ride Profile

By now it was 10.30am so we packed up our stuff quickly and got the bikes. Karen's rear tyre was flat so, with an audience of about twenty people, Steve patched it using the last patch in the box.  The road down the east coast of the island wasn't quite as smooth and well surfaced as the one yesterday and was a mixture of concrete, tarmac and unsurfaced sections. The scenery here was more like the rest

Arriving in the town we went straight down to the small port to check the ferry details. With possible worsening of the weather there was no certainty that the boat would arrive from Bogo the next day. We just had to hope that it would. As we rode back up the hill to get to the resort it started to pour with rain and we were quickly soaked. Just at the top of the hill was a newly built hotel so we decided to stay there instead of continuing a further 3km in the rain.

• Distance       114km sea  7km land
  
• Max Elevation   flat
  

At the port office we paid our terminal fee and set off for the ferry but were turned back as we hadn't paid a terminal fee for the bikes! New one. The ferry was a big old ro-ro. Unlike the ferries in the west there were no cars on this one, just lorries, a bus, two bicycles and a pig.

The weather was beautiful and the sea very calm so the five hour journey was enjoyable, passing many islands, some of them just bare rocks.

The ride around Romblon and Masbate had been very different and more challenging than the other islands.  Now for the next stage, the Central Visayas.