Guiting-Guiting Mountain with its famous saw-tooth shaped hills is situated at the heart of Sibuyan Island in Guiting Guiting National Park, in Romblon Province.
Guiting-Guiting means ‘jagged’ in Tagalog, which is the best description of the pointy mountain that is well known as the toughest peak to climb in the Philippines due to its technically challenging formation. Arriving at the peak before midday means hikers will beat the eerie fog that descends on the mountain by the afternoon.
The vast and demanding terrain is made up from tall hills and landmarks like Bulod’s Spring and Mayo’s Peak, which were named after the mountain’s first explorers in 1982, who only succeeded in their challenging ascent on their second attempt.
The knife-edged ridges give the mountain its level III rating, with an estimated climb duration of a week to successfully reach the summit, a whopping 2,058 meters above sea level.
The rocky landscape makes exploring the park area best at the end of the summer and out of the wet season when it becomes far too slippery and treacherous. From the start of the trek to the top, there are two major peaks to assault before getting to the summit, with the first being Mayo’s Peak and the next Deception Peak.
Mayo’s Peak is an eight-hour hike from the starting point and a pleasant trek through impressive landscape. Deception Peak certainly lives up to its name and is a four-hour trek from Mayo’s Peak, but the terrain is rougher and climbers are left open to the harsh elements with no trees for shade.
Getting There & Away
Batangas to Romblon on a bus and boat combination will take about 18 hours. Manila is where the nearest international airport is and there are regular buses going from Manila to Batangas on a journey that takes 1 hour, 30 minutes. Lucena to Batangas on a bus and boat combination takes 14 hours but boats are often limited to slow-going wooden vessels.