Admittedly, the regions of Eastern Visayas are some of the areas I haven’t visited as much. Joining the #SailEast fam tour with Tourism Promotions Board was a great opportunity to familiarize with the area. To experience, even partially, what these places have to offer. In our four-day tour we ventured to Southern Leyte’s idyllic shores and islets, Leyte’s island gem and Samar’s Eco-adventure spots.
Sail East starts in Tacloban
Often first in line and battered by passing storms in the country, Eastern Visayas has a landscaped endured by the elements. For this tour, we flew in Tacloban and had our first stop in Baybay, Leyte for the Lintaon Peak and its 16,000 blossoms park. After a visit to a number of the diving resorts in the area, we settled in for the night at Kuting Reef Resort and Spa.
Southern Leyte From Malitbog to Liloan
Day two Going by the inner leg of Southern Leyte, we drove by the coastal highway passing by some of the heritage sites of Malitbog up until the other side of Sogod Bay for Liloan. A wonderful snorkeling at Tagbak Marine Par and beach bum at Molopolo Beach. Making our way back up to Ormoc passing by one of the country’s highest bridge on Agas-agas.
Ormoc to Kalanggaman Island
Our third day begins in Ormoc where we visited one of the many Queen Pineapple plantations in the city. Then we drove off to Palompon to Leyte’s gem on an island, Kalanggaman.
Crossing San Juanico for Ulot River
Fourth day found me going back to Samar for Ulot River. This time, I finally had time to linger longer on San Juanico Bridge. Then it was take 2 at the splashy river adventure in Paranas, Samar.
Basey and Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge
Last day of #SailEast, I finally got to visit one of the places I had been interested for a long time, the Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge Park. It was more than I imagined it to be.
I’m grateful to Tourism Promotions Board for the opportunity explore more of Eastern Visayas. While we only had a taste of what some of these places offer, it was enough to whet my appetite to explore more.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
