Article by Aimee Julia Pua
Last Christmas, (I gave you my heart) my dad thought it would be a good idea to celebrate the Christmas season in the gorgeous island of Basco, Batanes—and yes, the landscapes and atmosphere were absolutely to die for, but the vacation as a whole? The adults were fine, but we millennials found it slightly tougher, since we’re used to the city life. Also, we’re not a big fan of surprises.
Because of that, I’m going to share some tips and footnotes for your potential future Christmas trip to Batanes.
3 Things You Should Know Before Spending the Holidays at Basco, Batanes
It’ll be cold. And wet.
Like I said, our vacation was set around mid-December, so it was cold. Yes, I wore sweaters, jackets, long pants and rubber shoes to the beach. The beach! It might still be tolerable to wear regular shirts or even sando-like tops on flat ground, but if you’re going sightseeing on the hills? Bring a jacket (the waterproof kind is definitely preferred) unless you plan to stay in the car while your adventure buddies take gorgeous IG-worthy photos outside.
Batanes is also basically just a group of small islands in the north—keyword: islands. It’s pretty much a given that rain (and possibly even storms) is inevitable during the season. Be prepared and check the weather reports in advance!
Expect almost non-existent signal and WiFi.
We were in Batanes for four nights, and for the first two, we stayed at my grandma’s friend’s house. He was a local priest, in case you’re curious. Anyway, it was pretty far from the main town square, which meant I had zero bars on my phone’s signal indicator. I had to walk out to the streets at night just to get a quick text out. A friend actually called me on Christmas Eve to make sure I was alive since my friends are unused to me being offline for so long.
Side tip #1: You’ll probably get decent signal around the city, but don’t expect to be able to use your 3G/cellular data/pocket WiFis. There’s really good signal for texts and calls at their local church. If you need to use the Internet, ask the manager at your hotel and they might just let you use one of their computers.
For the next two nights, we stayed at the very gorgeous Fundacion Pacita. Despite it being the most popular hotel in the area, signal is poor and there is no WiFi.
Side tip #2: If you do choose to stay there, you’ll probably find some signal at the roundabout-thing near their office. Walk around for a bit and you might be able to send and receive a couple of texts. Probably not good for calls. You might get some magical signal if your room’s in their main building.
Be prepared for a prolonged stay!
Remember how I said we stayed at a priest’s house? Well, we were supposed to only stay there, but our flight back to Manila was postponed due to bad weather.
We had to look for hotels to stay in the following nights, and they were all fully booked. Luckily, Fundacion Pacita had a few available rooms (although still not enough for our huge family), but that particular resort’s pretty pricey.
Side tip #3: Bring extra sets of clothes and underwear! Re-wearing clothes can be incredibly uncomfortable.
And that’s it! Want more Batanes goodness?
WATCH: On Earth and in Heaven, an Aerial Clip Showing the Beauty of Batanes
LOOK:Â 13 Photos that Prove Batanes Really is Heaven on Earth
