An Island Nearer And Better Than Boracay

[JJReyes]

Has anyone visited this area?

 

 

As I See It
An island nearer and better than Boracay
By Neal H. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
9:57 pm | Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

 

* * *

There is an island with white-sand beaches, surrounded by azure seas, and much easier to get to than Boracay that the Department of Tourism has overlooked. It already has a world-class airport big enough for and capable of handling international jetliners, and has several resorts as well as many historical and tourist spots.

 

This is Guiuan, Samar. One of its outlying islands is Homonhon, where Ferdinand Magellan first landed on March 16, 1521. It has one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the 16th-century Immaculate Conception Church. Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought near there.

 

Guiuan was a base of the US Allied Forces during the war. It was the Americans who built the airfield. And like the Clark airport, the Guiuan runway is first-class, better than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila. It has been spruced up and is ready for use any time by international and domestic airliners.
 

The trouble is that a member of the House of Representatives is blocking its opening. He wants another airport built in his district. But the Guiuan airport is already here, finished and ready for the jetliners, yet government agencies, particularly the DOT, either have forgotten it or are under the thumb of the lawmaker.

 

Boracay is difficult to get to. You have to take a plane to Caticlan, in Aklan, and a boat ride to Boracay, and, once you are there, find that it is as if you are back in Metro Manila. It is like a honky-tonk, very crowded, noisy with karaoke bars blaring raucous music, and drinks everywhere. What’s more, the people you hate to see in Manila are also there.

 

But Guiuan has its own airport. When you get off your plane, you are already there. The beaches are long, with shining white sand, lines of coconut palms dancing in the breeze, gentle waves, blue skies and blue seas.

 

Guiuan faces two bodies of water: the Pacific Ocean and the Leyte Gulf. It is inside a bay, which is why the Americans chose it as a base during the war. It has better anchorage for yachts and smaller boats than Boracay or Puerto Galera. It is exhilarating to watch the sunrise, sunset, and moonrise from its beaches.

 

Nearby is a long slender island, Calicoan, with 12 kilometers of untouched white sand in nine different beach areas. There are isolated coves and lagoons where you can be all alone with your loved one. There are caves to explore. There are tourist resorts in Guiuan that are first-class, serving the freshest seafoods anywhere: lobster, crab, grouper, blue marlin, tuna, abalone, sea cucumber, squid, octopus, etc. Take your sweetheart there this Valentine’s Day.

 

Calicoan Island is an ideal place not only for surfing but also for island-hopping, swimming, boating, diving, spelunking, jungle trekking, and rock and wall climbing. It is surrounded by virgin forests where you can watch wildlife.
 

Why is Calicoan better than Boracay? Besides having its own airport and therefore nearer, it is bigger than Boracay. It has 1,600 hectares to Boracay’s 1,024 hectares. Boracay has only one beach but Calicoan has two—one facing the Pacific Ocean and the other facing Leyte Gulf.

 

Guiuan has not escaped the attention of three previous Presidents. Ferdinand Marcos declared it a tourist zone and marine reserve, Fidel V. Ramos declared it a protected landscapes/seascapes zone, and Gloria Arroyo declared it a surfing tourism destination. President Aquino has yet to notice it.

 

http://opinion.inquirer.net/45889/an-island-nearer-and-better-than-boracay

[Old55]

Never heard of it! It sounds interesting thanks for posting this.

[bootleultras]

"Guiuanis nearer and better than Boracay"........ Nearer than where?

Maybe Bohol or Cebu but definitely not Manila, its right as far as eastern visayas gets, im sure those living on Samar(tacloban city, ormoc) can tell you more as its much closer to home for them than us in the metro......it does sound appealing though, especially the airport bit, might have to give it a try!!!

Thanks

[Dave Hounddriver]

This bit may be a problem when visiting:

 

Majority or 97.7% of the Guiuananons speak the Waray-Waray language. Less than 3.0% speak Cebuano, Tagalog and Boholano. A small percentage can converse in English, with varying degrees of proficiency

 

 

Here is another potential discouragement:

 

In 2004, Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO) was able to energize Guiuan, Calicoan Island up to Sulangan covering 37 out of 60 barangays. Island barangays are served with electricity through generator sets either privately-owned or operated by the barangay council. However, electricity shortages are frequent and subscribers experience weekly power failures, often lasting 24 hours.

 

This info is from Wiki.  What I was looking for was typhoon info.  Eastern Samar scares me as they seem to get the brunt of every major storm that hits the Philippines.  I did not find that info.