Destinations » Batan Island

DESTINATION BATANES
Increasing interest in the distinctive character of the islands is opening up a new source of income for the islanders: tour­ism. Adventurous travellers are drawn by the challenge of penetrating Batanes’ iso­lation. They find little infrastructure only basic accommodation and no restaurants but they are rewarded with a landscape rich in colourful detail, where there are nu­merous opportunities for hiking and for en­counters with the friendly, unpretentious local people.

BATAN ISLAND
If you fly in to Batan Island, landing on Basco’s tiny airstrip, one of your first sights will be of the imposing 1200m high volcano Mt Iraya. It can be climbed on a day’s walk from Basco, and hiring the services of a local guide is recommended. The uphill climb can take from four to five hours, and you will be rewarded with fine views of the island. Basco has a population of 5000 and there’s a Philippine National Bank which will cash travellers cheques.

The interior of Batan resembles a chessboard, with farms that are neatly divided by tall cane hedgerows, which also serve as windbreaks to protect the crops. Country lanes slope away down the hill­sides, their mud walls rubbed smooth by many generations of passing water buffalo and covered in a velvet sheen of emerald-green lichen.

A rarely travelled and only partly surfaced road runs around the coastline, from Basco to Riacoyde (via Mahatao, Ivana and Uyugan) and then straight across the island back to Mahatao. The road mean­ders through picturesque villages of stone houses and churches with grand, white­washed facades. Scores of small, sandy coves are tucked between the bends of the road. This is a good track for walking and the locals offer a friendly welcome to anyone passing through. Elsewhere you’ll find beaches strewn with house-sized black boulders washed smooth by the pow­erful surf.