Overnight at Kenyama Beach Resort, Guimaras: Costs, Cliff Climb and Lighthouse

On June 18 and 19, 2022, my wife, our daughter, and my wife's family went to Guimaras for an overnight stay at Kenyama Beach Resort. We booked three rooms, cooked our own food, swam in clear water, and hiked up to the Guisi Lighthouse. The place is simple and cheap, but the rooms sit on top of a cliff. I'll explain what that means below.

Quick facts

• When we went: June 18 to 19, 2022
• Who came: me, my wife, our daughter, and my wife's extended family
• Where we stayed: Kenyama Beach Resort, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras
• Rooms: 3 rooms at around ₱2,000 to ₱2,500 per room per night

Getting there

The boat from Iloilo to Jordan Wharf was around ₱20 per person. From the wharf we rented a multicab jeep for ₱1,200 to take us to Kenyama Beach Resort. The ride took around 1 to 1.5 hours, depending on how fast the driver goes. And of course, traffic. Yes, there is traffic even on that island.

The same driver picked us up from the resort the next day and brought us back to Jordan Wharf for the same ₱1,200.

The rooms

We booked three rooms at around ₱2,000 to ₱2,500 each for the night. Each room is air-conditioned and has two double-deck beds. Depending on body size, it can fit around 6 to 8 people. The rooms were clean and well maintained, which surprised me a little, because another resort in the area wasn't kept as well when we stayed there a few years ago.

The rooms sit on top of a cliff. I'll come back to that below.

Our night

We brought our own food and cooked it: grilled pork, chicken, and fish. We also brought some wine so the family could sit together and talk through the night.

We cooked and grilled in the open area, where the resort provides tables and chairs for guests. They also have a small store selling basics like soap, tissues, shampoo, cooking oil, charcoal for grilling, and drinks, including alcohol. While we prepared the food, the kids ran around and played, and the adults chatted under the moon and stars. It was a quiet, peaceful night.

Family picture in the viewing deck

The beach and the snorkeling

The water was clear and blue, and we spent a lot of time swimming. The place is perfect for snorkeling. We saw different kinds of fish, including Nemo and Dory (clownfish and blue tang), along with some grey ones I couldn't name, to be honest. We also saw starfish and beautifully shaped corals. Look, but try not to touch or take them.

We also walked over to the neighboring Tahi Beach Resort, where we spent some time on the white sand. When we went, there was no fee if you strolled and swam along their shore, which was nice. Their shore is wide and sandy, while Kenyama's is mostly rocks. They have their own restaurant and store, and they'll deliver food and drinks to you while you sunbathe or swim.

Clear water along the shore

Our family swimming at Kenyama Beach, Guimaras

The hike to Guisi Lighthouse

We hiked up to the Guisi Lighthouse (also called Faro de Punta Luzaran). It was built in 1894, during Spanish colonial times, and it's now in ruins.

The hike only takes about 15 minutes, but we were a big family with small kids and older folks, so it took us at least 30 to 40 minutes. There was no fee to go up, and no need to hire a guide, since there's already a built pathway.

The view from the top was amazing. You can see the shore and skyline of Iloilo City and the coast stretching south. We had fun taking pictures and watching the sunset.

The honest part: the cliff

The resort and rooms are on top of the cliff, and the beach is below. Getting down is easy. Climbing back up takes real effort, and it isn't easy for small kids or seniors.

Since we had older folks and small kids with us, we made sure all our important things, like towels, food, floaters, and gadgets, came down with us before we swam. If you forget something, the young ones with the stronger knees have to climb back up to get it. Pity them.

Tip: bring everything you need before you go down to the beach, or you'll be climbing the cliff again for a towel.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Affordable
• Clear, clean water
• Simple and quiet
• Great for snorkeling
• Close to the Guisi Lighthouse and Tahi Beach

Cons

• Rooms are on top of the cliff, so there's a long climb from the beach
• Not easy for kids or seniors (we managed, but it takes planning)
• The phone signal is really bad (but hey, you came to unwind and enjoy nature, right?)

What it cost us

Item	Cost
Boat, Iloilo to Jordan Wharf	around ₱20 per person
Multicab, Jordan Wharf to Kenyama Beach Resort	₱1,200
Multicab back to Jordan Wharf the next day	₱1,200
3 rooms, 1 night	around ₱6,000 to ₱7,500 total
Food and drinks	brought and cooked our own
Total for our group (rough estimate)	around ₱12,000

These were 2022 prices, so check before you go. Splitting the cost among our group made it very affordable.

Would we go back?

Absolutely. It's a perfect place for a big family, considering the price of the rooms. The water is really clear, and you can see all kinds of fish, corals, and starfish. If you're lucky, you might even spot turtles, which locals call pawikan.

Family picture in the white sand 

We managed with small kids and older folks, as long as we carried everything down first so nobody had to climb back up for something we forgot.

Read also: Another Guimaras trip: our Manggahan Festival day trip.

The Best Advice My Father Ever Gave Me

Ask ten people for the best advice they've ever received and you'll get ten different answers. Mine is one sentence from my dad.

My father is a pastor, so our house was never quiet. People came at all hours: church members, neighbors, and sometimes strangers who had visited our church once and wanted counseling or advice. As a kid I didn't think much about it. Looking back, I was watching a man carry other people's troubles on top of his own and somehow stay steady. Almost every day, I could see or hear my dad praying early in the morning, crying to God for help and guidance, not only for our family but for other people too.

The night he told me this, I was 21 and alone in Bangkok, Thailand. I had gone there to take my dad's place at the company where he had been working. He had decided to go back home to Iloilo to become the senior pastor of our church. I felt lonely and homesick, and I had no idea what my future would look like. I wasn't hiding it very well. He didn't give me a long sermon. He said something close to this:

"Biskan ano pa ang matubang mo nga problema sa kabuhi, basta ara ka kay God, ang pagtuo mo hugot, malagpasan mo gid ina tanan."

"Whatever problems you face in life, as long as you stay with God
and your faith is firm, you will get through all of it."

Honestly, my first reaction was: that's it? I wanted a plan. Steps. Something I could do with my hands. It sounded too simple.

It took me years to understand that it wasn't simple at all.

What I thought it meant, and what I think now

I used to hear "faith" as a kind of insurance, as if believing hard enough would keep the bad things away. It doesn't work like that. Jesus tells a short story in Matthew 7 about two men building houses, one on rock and one on sand. The same storm hits both. The only difference is what each house was standing on.

That changed how I read my father's advice. He never said the storm wouldn't come. He said I would get through it.

The things I used to lean on were the sand: my job, my savings, my health, what people thought of me. All of those can disappear fast. Just recently I was feeling very confident at work. I had been doing well, celebrated my third year with the company, and been promoted to a senior position. Then, in the blink of an eye, I was told my position was being removed because they no longer needed it. Just like that, poof.

When my own strength ran out

For a long time I believed that if I worked hard enough and planned carefully enough, I could avoid trouble. Then I hit a wall that no amount of planning fixed. Being told I was redundant hit me hard. I kept asking myself why this was happening. I thought I was already settled, that everything was already in place. But I prayed to God for just one thing: peace. A few weeks after my last day, one of the companies I had applied to, one of the ones I really wanted, told me I had passed the interviews and I was hired.

Philippians 4:13 is the verse everyone puts on posters, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I used to read it as a promise of winning. Then I learned Paul wrote it from a prison cell. He wasn't saying he could do anything he wanted. He was saying he could get through hunger and plenty, hard days and good ones, because his strength wasn't coming from himself. That is the version I needed.

Peace, and hope

Peace is different from comfort. Comfort is money in the bank and no problems today. Peace is what you can still have when the money and the comfort are gone. In John 14, hours before the cross, Jesus tells his friends He gives a peace the world can't, so their hearts don't have to be troubled. I didn't understand that until I needed it. Even with the pressure of job hunting, I had peace, a calm in my heart that I can't explain. God gave me peace through the whole process, and His provision never failed me or my family.

Hope came slowly. There were stretches of grief so heavy I couldn't see the next step. But I'm still here, raising my family and still moving forward, and not because I'm especially strong. I believe in a God who is bigger than what I'm facing.

How it shows up in my life now

Most of my big decisions come back to this foundation my father gave me. The biggest test was during the pandemic, when I also lost a job to redundancy and could no longer pay my credit cards and loans. With interest, the debt piled up to about a million pesos. And on ordinary days, when my marriage and family are at stake, I go back to my faith in God.

I'm not always good at it. During the pandemic I struggled badly. I took on extra work just to pay off debts, even putting my health at risk. I was leaning on my own strength instead of remembering how big my God is. But when I'm lost, it's still the place I return to.

If you're in a storm right now

I won't give you a ten-step plan. My dad never gave me one either. If you need a place to start, here's what helped me: read a little Scripture each day, be honest with God about how you really feel, and keep a few people close who will pray for you. When things got dark, I also wrote down times God had come through for me, so I could read them back on bad days.

If you want to share the best advice you ever received, I'd love to hear it in the comments. And if you need someone to pray with you, you're welcome to reach out through the Contact page.