Fish spa in Tibiao

Want to experience something unusual? Why not drive to the municipality of Tibiao in Antique and savor the experience of a fish spa – when locally endemic fishes peck and nibble your feet triggering an orgasmic sensation that will make you forget your woes including your name?


The Tibiao Fish Spa was put up by three enterprising University of the Philippines graduates, one of them Flord Calawag, 8th placer in the October 2008 Fisheries Technologist Licensure Examination. (To note, the 7th placer in the same board exams was Joshua Militar Regalado, the son of Bambi M, an elementary classmate and two-time Miss Cabatuan.)

Being Fisheries graduates, the triumvirate conceived of a project using, what else but their most favorite creatures – fishes. They worked out a technology, which they have submitted for patenting, to convert any wild fishes that scamper to safety at the site of homo sapiens, into amiable pets which looked forward to caressing, tickling, and pampering whatever part of the human body that is submerged in the water.


As soon as we arrived, the quite neighborhood was turned into a giggling, screaming riot as tiny fishes tickled the soles of everybody.

The spa is in the residence of the Calawags beside the main highway. It is composed of two sections. Inside the house is a sitting area covered with loose black shiny pebbles where patrons can sit on woven palm-leaf mats beside an L-shaped wading pool filled with small fishes which the owners called 'small Therafish'. (The original Doctor Fish used in fish spas abroad is Garra Rufa, a native of Middle Eastern countries.)

The other section is outside the house. It is a covered long pool about 2-feet wide with bamboo benches on the side. The pool is filled with fishes which are comparatively larger, with larger mouths and bigger teeth, which could be just right for those with soles as hard and as thick as the soles of rubber shoes and/or for those whose leg skin is as rough as the surface of sandpaper. White small towels are available to the patrons. But first aid kit and in-house doctors are not available as the owners are confident the fishes will just nibble on dead skin and not gorge on whole human legs.

The size of some fish is big enough to become a fitting viand after the spa session.

My personal experience in the Tibiao Fish Spa was comforting and could be a lesson to those wanting to avoid embarrassment in the place. When I dipped my feet in the cold waters, all the fishes swam to my direction and fought for choice positions over my skin. I imagined that I could have the dirtiest and smelliest pair of feet in the whole of Tibiao that minute. I was delighted by the sight of schools – no, universities - of fishes fighting for the dermal morsels, and the ticklish sensation when the fishes came in contact with my skin. But my nieces cried in protest as only the skinny and lazy fishes serviced them while all the agile ones attacked my feet like swarms of flies and vultures to a decaying carcass. As a caveat, when you don’t know the other patrons, wash your feet well in the washing area before you dip them in the pool. Else, when your feet become a magnet to all the hungry fishes, you’ll be incensed when informed by a stranger nearby, that fishes are attracted by smelly objects like ginamos or earthworms wriggling in spit. Or you’ll be thrown out by the management and banned for life for knowingly feeding the fishes with unknown, and possibly deadly objects, residing on your feet. On my part, I was greatly relieved that none of the fishes floated belly side up, when I dipped my feet in the pool for 10 minutes.

The Tibiao River, site of an international whitewater kayaking competition (top left). Centuries old balete tree crowning the site of a cave (top right). Spelunking (below left). Hanging bridge (below right). During the typhoon Frank flood, the waters rose until chest high of those crossing the bridge.

Jungle fever and wild flowers galore.

The ambiance in the fish spa is homey and not commercial. There is no restaurant but the caretakers will cook whatever supply you bring at no extra cost. Excursions and activities to nearby areas can be arranged through the Tibiao Tourism Office or the Department of Tourism Regional Office in Iloilo City. Some activities that can be arranged are mountain climbing to Bugtong Bato waterfalls and whitewater kayaking in the Tibiao River. Tibiao hosted the International Whitewater Kayaking Competition in 1999. Flord volunteered to tour us around but because of the bad weather our tour was limited to viewing over a hanging bridge the rampaging currents of the Tibiao River. He brought us to a cave which was used as a hiding place during World War II and to their family farm which he envisioned to become a fish spa complex where people can play tong-its under the grafted mango trees as indigenous puyo or turagsoy massage their feet.

So, for those who have time to spare, try the Tibiao Fish Spa. You don’t just experience the unusual but you also boost the local economy and help our new graduates discover their entrepreneurial capabilities. Astig.

Sights: Mode of transportation, land mine, and the place we stayed overnight in Culasi.
In our family outings, only the terminally old is exempted. We bring ample food supply so we can eat anywhere we please. This time, breakfast beside the highway in Hamtik.

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