SEAIR now flies daily to Batanes to serve tourists to this beautiful northern paradise. Visitors now have full flexibility on their itinerary and have more options on what day they want to go to Batanes and return to Manila.

The flights utilize SEAIR’s Dornier 328 planes which take vacationers comfortably to Batanes in just 1 hour and 20 minutes.

For bookings please call SEAIR reservations at (632)8490100 or book online at www.flyseair.com. For packages please call SEAIR Leisure Escape Packages at (632)8437308

Sabtang is one of the islands in Batanes known for its unique cultural heritage. If you are a true adventure lover, then a tour of the Sabtang island is a must for you. In 1994, the Philippine Department of Tourism chose Sabtang as one of the 12 best destinations in the entire archipelago.

Our adventure began when we left the port of Ivana, the 45 minute faluwa ride was quite rough but we were mersmerized by the island’s beauty, it’s rugged but majestic terrain and the steep cliffs made us feel like we were in a foreign land.

Nakanmuan Arc

Sabtang Island compare to Batan is less modern, in fact, It is the only town in Batanes that has preserved the traditional Ivatan house made of lime and stone. The heritage houses can withstand the strongest of winds during trying typhoons. If you find a windowless stone house, that means that it faces down wind of the strongest blowing wind. Sabtang is a municipality in the province of Batanes that is politically subdivided into 6 barangays which includes Chavayan, Malakdang (Pob.), Nakanmuan, Savidug, Sinakan (Pob.), and Sumnanga. Read the full story

Honesty Coffee Shop is a one of a kind store located in Ivana, Batanes. What makes this Ivatan store interesting? No one looks after the merchandise so each customer is pretty much free to move inside the store. Everyone is expected to be honest, the store owners trust the people enough to allow them to list the products they bought along with its corresponding price and then leave the payment in a drop box. You can find an interesting sign on the wall that says “This store is too small for dishonest people,”.

Are you Honest enough?

It is a typical Pinoy Sari-Sari store and Coffee Shop combined. Once you enter the shop, you can sit, relax and have some coffee. Each item has a price tag while some item prices are listed on the wall. The Majority of tourists intentionally drops excessive payment to show their support the owner. Read the full story

The town of Ivana is not only known for the most talked about “Honesty Coffee Shop”, it also has a Unesco heritage building that is popularly known as House of Dakay.

Lola Ida January 2005

The house of Dakay is probably the most visited house in Batanes. It is also the oldest house in Batanes which is being maintained by Lola Ida – one of the oldest women on the island. So many things have changed since the first time I visited her house (2004), I noticed that the wooden floor is dusty and the house is no longer well kept. I also noticed that Lola Ida has gotten really weak and nurses painful joints much more now since its “winter” season in Batanes. Read the full story

Among more than a hundred of islands and destinations I have visited, I can say that Batanes is the best destination I have ever been to in the entire archipelago.

It’s my third visit to Batanes but I still feel that there are still a lot of places that i need to explore and discover. Batanes is composed of ten islands which are situated between the vast expanse of the waters of Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean, merges with the China Sea.

Batanes Lighthouse

The island is rich with marine resources, including the rarest sea corals in the world which makes the island an unexplored and unexploited dive destination in the world. Read the full story