Brgy Caromangay Fiesta - Hamtic, Antique | Visit Antique Philippines!

Brgy. Caromangay in Hamtic, Antique celeberated the feast of their patron saint, St. Vincent Ferrer, last week (April 14-15). An officemate who lives there invited us to their place and we were there last week, my first time to visit Antique, Philippines.

Pink and Jean dancing like there's no tomorrow

I was pretty amazed how Brgy. Caromangay celebrated their fiesta. People there really loves to dance. There's a 2-night baile at the plaza. Guys need to pay entrance fee amounting P20 and P10 for girls. There was also a dance derby contest participated by diffirent dance group from Antique.

Hamtic Antique is just an hour drive from Iloilo airport. It's the town connecting Antique to Iloilo.  We arrived in Hamtic, Antique Thursday night, just in time for the baile. We stayed in Antique for 3 nights and 2 days.

View from Nogas Island Lighthouse

On our first day, we went to Sira-an Hot Spring early morning. The resort is not that good but seems to be famous for the locals. It's actually the entry point if you want to visit Nogas Island, which we also visited in the afternoon of the same day. With a little work, I think Nogas Island may attract more tourists and help improve tourism in Antique.

San Jose is the Capital of Antique, Philippines. On our second day, I asked some of my officemates to go to San Jose using a public transportation for some adventure. Our host was a bit worried as we may get lost but I assured them we can manage. And we did! :-)

It only took about 30 minutes bus ride from Hamtic to San Jose. Our first stop was at Gaisano Grand Mall. I was hoping to find a souveneigr shirt there, but without luck. And since there's no network signal in Brgy Caromangan, we spend some 30 minutes at an internet shop inside the mall to check emails and of course, facebook. We also searched for places to visit in Antique. But because we have limited time, we only target those located in San Jose. Most of the tourist destinations in Antique are outside San Jose.

From Gaisano Mall, we went to San Jose Cathedral via tricycle service. I asked the driver to just wait for us and tour us within San Jose. He's friendly and didn't even negotiate for the price. We gave him P350 for the service.

After short prayer at the Cathedral, we went to Binirayan Sports Complex, the site for the Binirayan Festival. Since there's no event there, we didn't stay there long.

I asked our driver to bring us to a place where we can buy souveneigr shirts and pasalubong. He brought us to Antique Masonic Center and there's indeed a souveneigr shop there! :-) I bought an Antique shirt for P200. We also had the chance to see the meeting place of Masons in Antique.

Our last stop before we went back to Hamtic was at Kammea Resort, still in San Jose, Antique. We paid P10 entrance fee to see the place, have some refreshments and took pictures. If you've been to Boracay, Panglao and Coron, you will of course not appreciate the beaches in San Jose.

The Gang with Alejandro Family

We enjoyed our short stay in Antique, specially the fiesta celebration in Brgy. Caromangay - nice people, baile and the food! Thanks to Alejandro Family for being such a wonderful host!

I hope to visit Antique again for the Binirayan Festival.