Kinatarkan Island

Philippines , Philippines

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Kinatarkan Island (also spelled Kinatarcan and known as Guintarcan or Guintacan) is a little-known paradise located in the province of Cebu, Philippines, about 25 kilometers off the west coast of Cebu and 12 kilometers northeast from Bantayan Island.

The island belongs to the municipality of Santa Fe in Bantayan and comprises three barangays: Hagdan, Kinatarkan, and Langub, with a population of about 8,613 residents as of the 2020 census. The island has an elongated elliptical shape, approximately 6.8 kilometers long and 2.5 kilometers wide, covering about 10.8 square kilometers.

Kinatarkan features diverse natural beauty including long white beaches along most of its edges, towering rock cliffs, coral cliff coves, caves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and a large saltwater lagoon called La-aw Lagoon on the eastern coastline. The topography is hilly with dense tropical vegetation and large intensive agricultural areas in the interior, and the island has several sinkholes that have formed at various locations.

One of the main attractions is Bitoon Beach, a beautiful white sand beach, and the La-aw Lagoon, which requires about a 20-minute walk from the beach to reach. The island is accessible by ferry from Daanbantayan or by pump boat from Santa Fe port, which is about a 50-minute to hour-long ride from Hagnaya port on mainland Cebu.