Batanes South Batan — Lighthouse Trek & Valugan Bay

The south of Batan Island offers a different face of Batanes — quieter, more rugged, and rich with the remnants of an older Ivatan way of life. Songsong, the village abandoned after a catastrophic typhoon in 1954, is the most atmospheric site in the archipelago: stone walls of former homes still standing in varying states of collapse, engulfed by grass and flowering shrubs, while the Pacific Ocean roars below the cliffs. Nothing has been restored or commercialised — it is pure, melancholy, beautiful ruin.

The Mahatao Boat Shelter is an architectural gem: a row of Spanish colonial stone arches built into the hillside that serve as dry dock for the Ivatan's traditional tatala fishing boats during typhoon season. The shelter is still actively used — you may see fishermen inside repairing nets or painting hulls. The stone arch design is unique to Batanes and appears on no other island in the Philippines.

The afternoon traces the southern coastline to Diura Fishing Village, where the catch of the day is laid out on the pier and residents go about their business with minimal interest in tourists — making this a refreshingly authentic encounter. The return loop passes through sweet potato and garlic farms maintained by Ivatan families in the traditional muyong (terraced field) system before arriving back in Basco for cold drinks and sunset.