History

The Hundred Islands National Park, actually 123 islands, is believed to be at least about 2 million years old – the islands were part of an ancient coral area that extended inland, a large area that used to be part of an ancient sea. When the sea levels lowered, the islands were exposed, whilst hundreds of thousands of years slowly eroded the base of these islands invariably forming the mushroom shaped limestone islands filled with lush vegetation and strips of white sandy beaches in the middle of stunning emerald waters.

Out of the many islands, 3 are primarily developed for tourism. Quezon Island (named after former president Manuel L. Quezon whose statue can be seen among the islets) is probably the most visited due to the various establishments it houses. Another well-developed island is Governor’s Island in which the Big Brother house is located; this is most likely the first island your guide will take you to. Last but not least of the 3 main islands is Children’s Island where the water is shallow enough for little kids to swim.(Governor's, Children, Quezon and Cuenca. L-R)

Sometime ago, fishermen used to fish with dynamite and trash was all over but with some swift action from the local government and with help from the University of the Philippines rehabilitation strategies were formed and the islands are regularly patrolled so it would return to its rich marine grounds.

Now the trash has been greatly reduced and care of the islands now seems to seep into the consciousness of the locals whose main livelihood also happens to depend on tourism. Dynamite fishing also disappeared and fishermen started to fish at night time, if you ever happen to see a light in the water it’s probably the friendly local fisherman.