FAQs
Arjee’s Homestay
Rates
Hi,
Thanks for your query.
Arjee’s homestay has two houses: a big house and a small house
The big house has two rooms.
Room 1 (small room) has 3 beds but can accommodate up to 5 people (1200/ night).
Room 2 (big room) has 5 beds but can accommodate up to 8 (1500/night ). We have extra mats and foam.
If you want complete privacy you can rent the whole house for 2700/night. It has a common bathroom, a kitchen with burner and complete utensils.
The small house only has 1 room that can accommodate 2-5 people. It has its own bathroom and kitchen. This is 1500/night.
We can only accept up to 5 persons in the small room, 8 persons in the big room and 15 persons for the big house (main).
We can accept up to 5 people in the 2nd house.
In rare cases, we can accept additional persons with a charge of PhP 100/head.
For more info pls txt us at Globe 09153083111/ Smart 0918 907 62 52/
Electricity
Please take note that the island only has electricity from 6PM to 10 PM.
The homestay has a generator. Should you want electricity for the fans and light from 10PM to 6AM we could have it turned on for additional PhP 900. (You pay this directly to our caretaker)
Another option will be to have the barangay generator turned on for the whole island but the barangay requires PhP 1500. (You pay this to the barangay) If other homestays during your stay agree to split the bill you can end up spending much less.
Water
There is no running water in the island. We have an artesian well pump beside the house to source the water. The water containers in the comfort rooms are filled by our caretaker. But if there are a lot of guests we would suggest that you help in replenishing its contents. Another option is to do your bathing in the pump area.
Reservations
In order to secure reservation for a specific date you need to deposit PhP 500 if you are booking for one room or PhP 1000 if you are booking for the big house. Reservation fee is per night. (e.g. If you are booking for the big room for 2 nights, the reservation fee is PhP 500 *2 = PhP 1000)
Reservation fee for the small house is PhP 500/night.
Deposits are non-refundable if reason for cancellation is not valid. (Example of a valid reason is bad weather). Deposits are rebookable up to 2 times. Rebooking is allowed until 2 days before the scheduled date.
Account details
BPI Savings Account No.: 2669 0216 26
Name: OLSON JODL IGNACIO GAYATIN
Please take note that queues in BPI banks can be long depending on the branch or the time of transaction. Please manage this in advance to avoid inconvenience.
Once deposit is made please indicate the confirmation number and we will confirm the booking. Just pay the balance upon check out.
IMPORTANT: Please take a screenshot of your deposit slip and send message to the Arjee’s Homestay fb page. Include the following info: date of stay, the contact number and contact person of your group. Alternatively you can also send confirmation number through phone.
Check in and Check out
Check in time is 1 PM and Check out time is 11 AM the following day.
We can accept early check in if there are no previous occupants. We can also accommodate late check out up to 2PM if there are no incoming occupants.
How to go there
1. If coming from Iloilo, take the van from Molo terminal to Culasi Antique. Travel time : 4 hrs. Fare PhP 200/pax. If coming from San Jose take the van to Culasi from Dalipe Market. Travel time is 2 hrs. Fare PhP 100/pax.
If coming from Kalibo or from Caticlan take the Ceres bus to Culasi. (We estimate travel to be 2hrs as well and fare not to be around PhP 100/pax)
2. From Culasi go to the Tourism Office which is just beside the Culasi port for Malalison . Tricycle: 8 pesos/pax.
3. From Mainland Culasi port take a banca to Malalison. PhP 750 good for 5. This is for round trip and includes a tour of the island. Or 150/pax. The banca ride is only 10-15 minutes.
Note : If there are more than 10 in your group it might be a good idea to contract a van for land travel. You can negotiate the price with the van operators based in Molo or in San Jose.
You can also bring your own vehicle and park it near the area where the Malalison bancas dock. . Some of our previous guests do that. There is no parking fee and it’s safe.
Given that the nearest airport to Culasi mainland is 4 hours our target market are normally people from Panay. But in case you are coming from Manila, there are RoRo buses that travel to San Jose Antique (Dimple star, Gasta, RM, Philtranco and Ceres) that pass by Culasi. Their terminals are in Cubao and Alabang. Travel time is around 24 hours (including the boat transfers in Batangas and Mindoro). Fare is estimated to be around PhP 1000/pax.
If travelling by plane, the nearest airports are Kalibo, Caticlan and Iloilo.
Banca
Usually a banca leaves if there are about 5 persons.
The charge is 150/pax (good for back and forth)
As of Feb 27, the process of getting a banca is to register at the Tourism office of Culasi on the mainland.
Here you pay for the Terminal Fee (PhP 20/pax) + Environmental fee (PhP 10/pax).
Because of the changes in the Tourism policy of Culasi, getting a banca to the island is by queueing system. However if you are booked at Arjee’s there is a special banca for you so no need to queue. Just contact our suki banca operator Razel Macuja for your banca schedule. Minimum fee is PhP 1000 for back and forth (good for 1 -5 persons. For excess of 5, fee per head is 200)
Globe 0905 240 3130
Smart 0907 32823 41
If you want a longer tour of the island, if you have a big group or if you need special arrangements you may also ask Razel for their rates.
If you want to have a day trip to Seco Island their current rate is PhP 1500/head , minimum of 5 passengers.
Food
We don’t serve food but you can cook at the house. We don’t have corkage. There are small stores in the island, however we suggest that guests buy necessities and food in the mainland. The market is just meters away from the where the passenger boats dock.
For fresh fish, we suggest guests to buy it from the mainland as fish caught by the islanders are brought to the mainland every morning. You can ask our caretaker to cook for you. (Just don’t forget to give her a good tip when you check out)
For those who don’t want to cook, there is one carinderia in the island but kindly take note that it has limited choices.
Environmental Impact
As part of our efforts to minimize our impact to the environment, we encourage our guests to bring their own trash bag. We also encourage our guests to bring back their non-biodegrable trash back when they leave.
Other info
You can hire a tour guide at PhP 200 for the whole day. A tour guide is good for max of 5 people.
On the island you can do swimming, snorkeling, trekking (you can take a good profile pic for fb from the hill, yeah it’s about time you make your friends envious), fishing, and boating.
There is also a floating cottage for rent (Php 500.00). This is managed by the barangay.
Please take note that the island is relatively raw. The homestay is in a fishing village. The island caters to travellers who want a more rustic setting and want to get away from the crowd and parties of Boracay.
There is weak signal on the island. While you can send SMS for both Globe and Smart, the Wifi signal is weak. Based on experience the Globe Wifi only works in the beach area. The Smart Wifi doesn’t work most of the times.
We don’t have package rates at the moment.
For other queries don’t hesitate to call us. (Globe 09153083111 Smart 0918 907 62 52)
Hope to have you stay with us on the island soon.. =)
