The Rico Beach is just one of the several beach front resorts in Brgy. Alubihod of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. My grandfather (my mother’s side) owns it and it’s now being managed by my uncle who’s the youngest of my mom’s 7 siblings.



The whole area used to be called just Alubihod. However, when residents of the area who are all relatives to the first and second degree made good fortune in making a living out of it, partitions were constructed and names were attached on patches of land fronting the beach — the Raymen Beach and the Rico Beach, among others.

Although the Rico beach resort is the smallest in terms of land area and the least developed, it had a huge boulder (or a mountain) bordering it on the east side and it has been developed on a certain degree to host 3 cottages on its slope.

I have long been wanting to construct a small hut on one of the inner slopes to serve as my vacation house whenever I visit Guimaras but it has been pushed back many times due to other more urgent priorities.

Alubihod is among the most popular destination place by the locals, including visitors from neighboring province of Iloilo and Bacolod. They call it “the poor man’s Boracay”, as the place is easy to reach, cheap food and accomodations. You can get a multi-purpose hut for Php350 or an overnight cottage for Php700.

I grew up in a small town of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Every Sunday, our family would go to Alubihod beach that my grandfather inherited from his parents. Alubihod is just 4 kilometers away from town, so all five of us would take our family motorbike and spent the entire Sunday swimming or taking boats rides and having lunch under a giant gemilina tree fronting the beach.

Haven’t been back there for years now though. I frequently invite my high school classmates to take a vacation there whenever I’m home. This is usally during summer vacation when we also have our town fiesta (April 24-25).

Guimaras is just a few kilometers from Iloilo City by boat. It usually costs Php5.00 but I think it could already be Php10.00 – Php15.00 per head. Once you dock at the Jordan pier, you take a Nueva Valencia jeep to town about 30 kilometers south. Another tricycle ride from Poblacion town to Alubihod would cost about Php 25 – Php 50 depending on the number of passengers.

Alubihod is now sub-divided into several resorts, the bigger one would be Raymen Beach resort which is owned by my mom’s cousins and Rico Beach Resort, owned by my uncle, the youngest of my mom’s siblings.

I will definitely take a lot of pictures once I get to visit back home.

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