Lakawon Island: Travel Guide and Review

Lakawon Island is one of the tourist spots near Bacolod located off the coast of Cadiz City. It is a small elongated paradise filled with tall trees and powdery white sand. With its hype and craze on Instagram, we decided to visit this place a day after the Masskara Festival. Here’s our complete travel guide, review, and experience in Lakawon Island!

This post is updated on November 8, 2020: We added important updates from the island resort, it’s new operating hours, and safety guidelines.

Lakawon Island: How to Get There

As of November 8, 2020, the island is open for local residents of Negros Occidental only. Please use the following information for future reference once regulations are lifted.

How to go to Lakawon from Bacolod?

There are two ways to get to Lakawon Island. The first one is through a private vehicle. If you have a car, you can use navigational apps going to Lakawon. We recommend Google Maps for directions.

Via Car or Private Vehicle. From Bacolod City, drive up north going to Cadiz City. Once you reached Barangay Burgos Public Market, make a left turn and drive going to Cadiz Viejo. You’ll find the Lakawon Ticketing Office in Purok Mainuswagon in Cadiz Viejo and there are parking lots available in the area. Parking costs PHP 75 for Day Tours and PHP 100 for Overnight.

Via Public Transportation. From Bacolod City, catch a Ceres Bus going to Cebu City in Ceres Bus North Terminal. Ride the bus taking the Escalante Route. Travel time is around 1 – 2 hours depending on the traffic. Inform the driver that you will alight in Martesan Bus Terminal. Once you arrived in Martesan Bus Terminal, take a tricycle or motorcycle going to the Lakawon Ticketing Office.

How to go to Lakawon Island from Bacolod Airport?

If you’re coming from Bacolod-Silay International Airport, take a van going to the national highway (Rizal Street in Silay City) and catch a Ceres Bus going to Cebu City via Escalante. You can also go to the Ceres Bus North Terminal in Bacolod City and take a bus going to Cebu City via Escalante Route. Inform the driver that you will alight in Martesan Bus Terminal in Cadiz City. Once at Martesan Bus Terminal, take a tricycle or motorcycle going to Lakawon Ticketing Office.

How to go to Lakawon Island from Cebu?

From Cebu City, go to Cebu North Bus Terminal and catch a Ceres Bus going to Bacolod City. Inform the driver that you will alight in Martesan Bus Terminal in Cadiz City. Once at Martesan Bus Terminal, take a tricycle or motorcycle going to Lakawon Ticketing Office.

How to go to Lakawon Island from Dumaguete?

From Dumaguete City, catch a Ceres Bus going to Bacolod South Terminal. Once you arrived in Bacolod City, take another Ceres Bus going to Cebu City via the Escalante Route.  Inform the driver that you will alight in Martesan Bus Terminal in Cadiz City. Once at Martesan Bus Terminal, take a tricycle or motorcycle going to Lakawon Ticketing Office.

At the Lakawon Ticketing Office

We brought our private vehicle going to Lakawon Island. When we arrived at the ticketing office in Cadiz Viejo, we parked our car in their available lot and paid the necessary fees. (PHP 75 for Day Tour, PHP 100 for Overnight).

Registering for Day Tour

Lakawon Island Resorts and Spa utilizes the latest technology in promoting seamless transactions and flow of people entering the island. It was my first time to encounter such technology on an island resort. Here are the steps that you should follow in registering for a day tour in Lakawon.

1. Get priority number from the Security Guard
2. Proceed to Reservation Room
3. Actual System Reservation and Print Queuing Number – In this step, we input our names and contact number, accommodation type, length of stay, attractions to try (we included TawHai Floating Bar on our package), and the amount of money to top-up in our reloadable cash card.
4. Wait at the Waiting Area for your number flash on screen
5. Proceed to the Cashier to check for modifications in your Reservation
6. Wait for your boat assignment to be displayed on the screen.
7. Present your receipt to the security guard for the scanning and stamp
8. Proceed to your respective boat assignment

It’s also my first time to experience cashless transactions in an island resort. Lakawon Island has a cashless policy wherein all transactions must be made through their re-loadable cash card. Our group was also identified through a QR code printed in our receipt. When our assigned boat arrived, a resort personnel checked and scanned our receipt with their smartphone. After verification, we embarked on the boat and went to Lakawon Island.

Lakawon Island Resort Review

The boat ride going to Lakawon from Cadiz Viejo took only 15 minutes. The first thing that you will encounter is their iconic walkway bridge going to the island’s shore and it’s a great place to take pictures too. Here are some points showing our review and overall experience in Lakawon Island.

Lakawon Island Rates

There are 3 accommodation options for day tour travelers; Family Cottage, Canopy Tent, and Umbrella Huts. Take note that the entrance fee to Lakawon is not yet included in the prices below. Accommodation options for Day Tour are available in first-come first-serve basis.

Lakawon Island resort is not allowing visitors to bring their own food and drinks for environmental compliance. Value meals are served in the resort from 11AM to 2PM. Update: November 8, 2020, the bar and restaurant in Lakawon Island is temporarily closed. Management advised tourists to bring their own food and beverages.

We availed their Umbrella Hut for PHP 600 and the huts are positioned near the shore. The huts are also equipped with electricity outlets which is useful for charging our devices. I observed that our umbrella hut do not have any curtains. We asked the staffs for it but it wasn’t available that day. The only concern with these umbrella huts is the safety of our personal items. Your bags are exposed in the open and it might get wet if it rains (well it did rain at noon time when we visited Lakawon Island).

If you’re on a Day Tour in this island resort and if you have an extra budget, I suggest that you avail their Family Cottage. The cottage is sturdier and offers more privacy than the other accommodation options. For overnight stays, Lakawon Island also has available rooms for rent ranging from PHP 2,500 to PHP 11,580 a night.

Lakawon Island Entrance Fee

The Entrance Fee going to the island costs PHP 350 and this includes the round trip boat transfers and terminal fee. If you want to visit the famous TawHai Floating Bar, you need to pay another PHP 285. That’s two entrance fees in one resort! Even though it’s expensive, I still recommend that you should visit the floating bar. Your experience in Lakawon will never be complete without it.

Lunch in the Sunset Bar of Lakawon Island

We topped-up PHP 3,000 in our cash card earlier during the registration process and this card is used for all transactions in Lakawon because of its cashless policy. At noon, we decided to order lunch in their own Sunset Bar and the prices also cost an arm and a leg.

For example, a plate of 1 Large Sarciadong Maya-Maya costs a whopping PHP 500! In our experience, we ordered their baked scallops, liempo, and sinigang na Blue Marlin. The baked scallops is made to order and it costs PHP 1,000 per kilogram! The total expenses of our lunch costs more than PHP 1,000.

Walking around the Island

Another way to enjoy your stay in Lakawon is to stroll around the island. Lakawon is a banana-shaped island and it’s only 13 hectares. You can explore the whole place in an hour and we also noticed the inhabitants living in the island; most of them are fishermen.

We also observed some ongoing developments in the island. Examples are the construction of a wake-boarding site, hotel rooms, and nipa huts at the west side of the island which will attract more travelers in the future. There’s also a long sandbar at the western tip of the island. It was such an amazing sight to see with flock of seabirds flying around the area.

Lakawon Island Tour Packages

Aside from casual beach bumming, Lakawon Island Resorts and Spa also offers Kite Camps and Kite Surfing Classes. You can avail their Kite Camp package for PHP 5,200 per student. It includes a beginner course for Kite Discovery, overnight stay (AC room) in the island, meals, equipment needed, and a free entrance at TawHai Floating Bar.  It’s a great adventure for a weekend activity too.

The Kite Surfing Class on the other hand costs PHP 20,000 per student. It includes a classroom session and application, equipment needed, 1 night stay for 2-4 pax in the island, ID certification and breakfast for 2 pax.

Trying out the Lakawon Floating Bar

Our vacation in Lakawon Island will never be complete without visiting TawHai Floating Bar. It is claimed as the largest floating bar in Asia and this is the highlight of our day tour in Lakawon.

The entrance fee to TawHai Floating Bar costs PHP 285 per head which includes the unlimited boat ride and access to the floating bar. TawHai means “to relax” in local dialect which truly lives its name and purpose. TawHai offers adequate number of recliner beds positioned at the sides of the board which provides an amazing view of the sea. Hammocks are also displayed at the second level of the bar.

Aside from chilling out in TawHai Floating Bar, you can also do water activities in the place like jumping overboard to the sea or flying through the inflatable water catapult. We truly enjoyed the lively and relaxed atmosphere of TawHai Floating Bar. During our stay, we did some photo shoots, had a drink, and chilled out until sunset. If you will visit Lakawon, make sure to include TawHai Floating Bar in your list for a full experience.

In Conclusion

Our short stay in Lakawon Island is fine. The queuing and reservation system is impressive, the food is okay yet expensive, and their floating bar is excellent. Although the fees are costly, it’s a nice experience to try. I will visit Lakawon Island again if I have a chance but it’s something that I will not look up to. If there’s one thing that makes me want to visit Lakawon again, that will be their TawHai Floating Bar; it’s a great stress reliever for everyone.

Lakawon Island Itinerary

Here’s our sample itinerary for a day tour in Lakawon Island.

Our Expenses in Lakawon Island

We are a group of 4 when we visited Lakawon Island. Here’s our sample breakdown of expenses for a Day Tour in Lakawon Island.

Travel Tips and What to Do in Lakawon Island

• To save money, bring your own food and drinks! Corkage fee only costs PHP 50/pax.
• The best accommodation option for day tour is the Family Cottage. It’s costly but it’s safer and more secure than the Umbrella Hut or Canopy Tent.
• Top up your cash card with adequate amount of cash. Run out of cash in the card? Just visit the main office in the island and top it up.
• Don’t forget to bring your camera. Lakawon is Instagrammable in most spots!
• Stroll around the island and visit the sandbar at the west side of Lakawon.
• Avail their Kite Camp or Kite Surfing Class for an added adrenalin rush.
• You must visit the TawHai Floating Bar! Your visit in Lakawon will never be complete without it.
• Have fun water activities in TawHai Floating Bar! But always remember that safety is a priority!
• Make sure to wash up and prep at least an hour and a half before 5:00 PM. The last boat ride going back to Cadiz Viejo is at 5:00 PM and the queue in shower areas are long.

Lakawon Island Location

Lakawon Island Resorts and Spa is located in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. Their main office is located in V-building, Villa Angela Gate 1, Burgos Extension, Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City.

Contact Numbers:

• +63-9175022625 (Bookings & Reservations)
• +63-9491132202 (Bookings & Reservations)
• +63-9323964453 (Bookings & Reservations)
• +63-9175556979 (Island Reception)

For Special Events and Occasions, you can send them at email at sales@lakawon.com.ph. For further details of their accommodations and rates, you can visit their website here.

Website of Lakawon Island is currently down, please visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lakawonislandresort

We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Jireh Forester (@jirehforester) for capturing our amazing portraits on this post. Follow him on Instagram to see more of his works.

This blog post is originally published on December 1, 2018 and updated on November 8, 2020.

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