The Visayas – World Travel

The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Several threshold events in the history of the nation occurred in the Visayas. Magellan landed off the Cebu coast in 1521, marking the Philippines’ first contact with Europeans, and MacArthur fulfilled his vow to return to the country during WWII, landing near Tacloban on Leyte.

This is the part of the country that fits the clichés of the sun-soaked, gin-stained Edenic paradise. The beaches are white and palm fringed, the locals fish in the turquoise waters, and the heat is so enervating that all exertion is called into question.

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Tacloban The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:01:02 +0000

While it’s the political capital of Leyte, this bustling city is the geographic and commercial centre of both Leyte and Samar. Smack in the middle of this pair of islands separated only by the San Juanico Strait, Tacloban is a relatively cosmopolitan outpost in a large underdeveloped and poor territory.

Activity centres on the bustling wharf area and market in the middle of town. Tacloban’s most famous daughter is Imelda Romualdez Marcos, whose family home is at Tolosa, a little way south; the family’s influence in the town is evident in street names and various public buildings.

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Southern Leyte The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:01:03 +0000

Leyte’s bowlegged rump straddles Sogod Bay, where whale sharks frolic from about mid-October to late April. The sharks here are fewer and more elusive than their more famous cousins in Donsol, but for many this just makes the thrill of spotting one that much greater. For now the village of Pintuyan, where the whale sharks congregate, is a far cry from the butanding-chasing frenzy of Donsol. That’s largely because whale sharks only recently started coming to Pintuyan. They were once further north, near Lilo-an, but have gradually moved south – some say because of increased boat traffic around Lilo-an. The hope is that Pintuyan is too remote to draw Donsol’s hordes. If you go, tread softly around these beasts and go only with sanctioned operators, who are collectively working to control the number of visitors.

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Siquijor The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:01:05 +0000

The Spaniards called it Isla del Fuego (Island of Fire) because of the soft glow generated by the island’s abundant firefly population. To Filipinos, Siquior (see-kee-hor) has an aura of mystery and magic; its mountainous interior is home to a number of mangkukulam (healers) who practise not with spooky incantations but with smelly herbs and soothing oils. This little island, the smallest of the four Central Visayas provinces, is dotted with laid-back beach resorts. A sealed 72km coastal road circumnavigates the island, affording unobstructed ocean vistas and an opportunity to pause and take in truly low-key village life.

Once a part of Bohol and then Negros Oriental, Siquior didn’t become an independent province until 1971, although economically and politically it still seems like a little sister to its larger neighbours. This seems unlikely to change as long as Siquijorenos continue to migrate to Cebu, Manila or abroad seeking work. Larena is Siquijor’s main port and Siquijor town its capital.

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Sipalay The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:01:06 +0000

About 200km from both Bacolod and Dumaguete, the remote seaside town of Sipalay (si-pah-lie) is surrounded by spectacular white-sand beaches, secluded coves, scattered islets, dive reefs and waters teeming with marlin, trevally and tuna.

The premier attraction here has to be the slice of paradise called Sugar Beach (Langub to the locals) – though keen divers may prefer the dedicated dive resorts of Punta Ballo.

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Samar And Leyte The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:01:08 +0000

‘Rugged’ is usually the word you hear associated with these two eastern Visayan provinces, separated from each other by the narrowest of straits near Leyte’s capital, Tacloban. It’s an apt tag. The interior of both islands is consumed by virtually impenetrable forest. This naturally creates opportunities for adventure, although you either have to learn advanced backcountry navigation or scrounge up one of the region’s few qualified guides to take advantage of it.

The coastlines of both islands serve up a few gems of their own, most notably tourist-free whale shark viewing in southern Leyte. For fanatical surfers, the eastern seashore of Samar offers a coastline of unexplored breaks facing the onslaught of Pacific currents – getting there is the only problem. There’s history here too – in 1521 Magellan first stepped ashore on what would become Philippine soil on the island of Homonhon, off Samar. In October 1944, General MacArthur fulfilled his pledge to return to the Philippines on Red Beach south of Tacloban. And who can forget the notorious Balangiga Massacre?

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Panglao Island The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 07:01:14 +0000

Panglao Island is generally associated with Alona Beach, a congested strip of resorts and dive centres on the far west side. While Alona doesn’t necessarily afford much sunbathing privacy, it’s a logical choice for those who demand tropical drinks at beachside bars after diving.

There are several other pricey resorts scattered along the coastal strip surrounding this mostly flat island, which is separated from Bohol by a narrow channel.

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Panay The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:01:15 +0000

Even though Panay is a microcosm of everything the Visayas has to offer, the long white-sand beach at Boracay is all that many visitors to the region, or for that matter the country, ever see. The rest of the region keeps a low tourism profile, which helps explain the appeal of tropical Guimaras – just a short commute from the pleasant and lively regional capital of Iloilo City. Panay’s little-explored interior is ringed by a rugged coastline to the south and west and a more domesticated one, dotted with impressive Spanish churches, to the north and east. Adventure sports (particularly mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and rock climbing) can be arranged out of Iloilo City.

The amazing Ati-Atihan Festival, held in Kalibo in January, is the most famous fiesta of its kind in the Philippines. Much of Panay’s festive tradition can be traced back to its indigenous tribal groups, namely the Ati and Ata. There are communities of both groups on the mainland.

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Padre Burgos The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:01:17 +0000

This is considered by many to be one of the premier dive spots in the Philippines, with pristine coral reefs, deep wall dives and an abundance and variety of big fish. Padre Burgos also has some good beaches with offshore snorkelling, including Tangkaan Point, to the south of town. A few local leaders have take the initiative with the help of the internationally run Coral Cay Conservation programme to stop dynamite and cyanide fishing and are in the process of setting up a marine reserve.

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Negros The Visayas

WorldTravelDB.com — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:01:19 +0000

The diverse, ruggedly beautiful island of Negros is a place we’d unhesitatingly recommend to any traveller. Wedged between Panay and Cebu, it’s treated by too many as a mere stepping stone. Surprisingly few stop to refuel in the charming (yes, you heard right) campus town of Dumaguete, or to enjoy its surrounding dive resorts. Word is only now spreading about the stunning beach havens around Sipalay, on the remote southwest coast. And very few foreigners make it as far as the forested hill stations of Mt Kanlaon, or the ‘living museums’ of Silay. Which is all rather strange because, wherever you look, you’ll find plenty on Negros to make you want to linger.

For more than a century, Negros was famed as the ‘sugar bowl’ of the Philippines. From the 1850s, the majority of arable land was turned over to sugarcane plantations. In both the cities and the smaller towns, many historic buildings still stand testament to the fortunes made by the sugar barons. The ‘Sugarlandia’ phenomenon is still very evident in the north of the country, where convoys of trucks loaded with cane rumble endlessly down the highway, through a sea of silver-green cane fields.

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