Sambawan island: Biliran’s emerging gem

By: lottie salarda

Maripipi, Biliran Province – In my 8 years in college, I never had a chance of having a vacation to breathe somehow in my studies. I just dreamed swimming into the blue waters of the Pacific coast and feel the peace of mind that it offers. Most of those dreams were inspired by those pictures uploaded on-line by some young travelers inside and outside the region.

Until this dream came true one day. It was my first island experience so I packed my things a day ahead the schedule. All my companions have gone to so many tourist destinations in the Region as this activity by the DOT-8 was done every summer.

We took a ride from Tacloban to Kawayan port in the small province of Biliran. It took 3 hours before we reach the port and traveled to the island town of Maripipi where locals showcased their native products and delicacies.

The locals of the island town speak “bisaya”, that I shamelessly admit that speaking that dialect is my weakness. People living in Biliran speak two languages; its “bisaya” and “waray-waray”. Those towns facing the province of Leyte speak “waray-waray” while those towns facing Cebu speaks “bisaya”.

It took around 2 hours touring around the island town using a single motorcycle. From afar, I saw a beautiful islet wrapped with golden bushes. I never knew at first that it was the island of Sambawan which is the best tourist attraction of the small municipality.

The island of Sambawan had just recently been discovered to be perfect tourist destination because of its unique feature that entices local and foreign tourists to visit this summer.

This unpopular islet has smooth rock formations in some part of the hill; millions of white corals spread all over the shore; golden rolling cliffs; turquoise waters; hill top view deck for the sunset and full moon; beautiful underwater scenes and creatures are just some of the reasons why Sambawan is one of the most visited islands in the Eastern Visayas.

When we reached the island from Maripipi, I’ve readied myself and stretch my legs to climb the hill for me to experience viewing the sunset on top where their view deck was constructed. When I reach the top, I saw the majestic view that the island has offered. I couldn’t resist stopping and closing my eyes and feeling the warmth of the air.

I spent the 30 minutes of my life witnessing the beautiful sunset that God created. It was my first time appreciating a meaningful sunset in my life. I grabbed the chance of finding myself while on top of the hill surrounded by golden bushes and blue waters.

I took my camera on top as the deck offers an unlimited view of natural beauty. Aside from climbing the hill, diving gears can also be rented for you to experience the beauty of the underwater world. But if you have your own diving gears you can join diving with some local and foreign divers who traveled and stayed in the island just to explore the underwater scenes.

You can also enjoy kayaking around the island which you will be guided by local stewards and trained fishermen. Since the resort was still new, limited boats for kayaking are available for those who want to tour the waters around the island.

Tourists can cook and bring their own food as there was no restaurant available yet in the area. There is a small sari-sari store built by the resort owner to attend the basic needs of the visitors.

There were guest houses available that can accommodate a maximum of 10 people each with comfort room and shower room. And for a short stay, one can rent a cottage for 100 pesos.

If you’ll rent the guest house for a night you’ll have free 20 liters of waters and if you extend for how many more hours you’ll pay 1 peso per liter per hour.

There was no permanent source of water and the electricity was limited from 6 pm to 6 am as the island was not yet connected to the grid because of its location.

A backpacker/traveler can put up a tent beside the vacant space and pay 100 pesos each. The place is safe as the Local government unit had deployed a permanent police officer to secure the safety of the tourists.

The waters around the islet have been declared as a marine sanctuary. It has 11 diving sites where foreign freelance master diver Martin Bailey from Scotland loves to dive. He lives in Lanao del Norte for three years now and traveled to the island just to explore the beauty of Sambawan.

Foreign tourist like Bailey who has been in the island for how many weeks now, enjoys diving in the different parts of the waters of the islet where he saw lots of marine animals which he didn’t saw in other diving sites in the Philippines.

Bailey, together with other local divers expresses their joy after capturing the greatest scenes underwater.

The newly developed beach resort became available to accommodate tourists was just in the year 2012. As of last year, the island gained more than 5,000 visitors.

According to Department of Tourism Regional Director Karen Tiopes Sambawan is an icon attraction of Biliran province.

“Isa sa mga pwedeng gawin dito ay ang umakyat sa hill at doon makikita ang buong isla,” she said.

Last year Eastern Visayas rose to no. 12 as the most visited Region in the Philippines that generates income to the community which is now recovering from the devastation brought by typhoon Yolanda last 2013.

Last year about 938,000 local and foreign tourists visited the Region with the inclusion of the international non-governmental organizations and other local volunteers.

Nestor Macorol, the first developer of the island admitted that he feared for their place to be famous like on what happened to Boracay which now became populated.

With this, the local government unit implemented the waste segregation policy in the island. They give containers for the non-biodegradable and biodegradable wastes for their visitors to teach them the waste segregation practice.

The policy is intended to protect the island from depreciation and thus preserved its beauty for a long lasting enjoyment of the tourists.

Since the island was small only guest houses were ready to accommodate visitors. But since there were vacant spaces, backpackers can bring their tents for their overnight stay.

From Tacloban City, you can go to Tacloban new bus terminal and ride a van for hire that would take you three hours to Naval for 250 pesos.

There are pump boats waiting that would take the visitors to Maripipi from Naval port. With the big boats, each can accommodate about a hundred of passengers and will leave at noontime.

It will take two hours riding a boat to Maripipi and will cost 80 pesos per person.

Rebuilding the tourism industry of Eastern Visayas a year after Haiyan has been the focus this summer as the Department of Tourism through its Regional Director Karen Tiopes launched an activity that promotes the tourism destinations of each province.

The activity has series of launching which has been conducted in the 6 provinces of Eastern Visayas namely, Southern Leyte, Leyte, Biliran, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar and Western Samar.

Each province showcased their tourism destinations that could bring more income to their constituents who were survivors of typhoon Yolanda.

“It’s time to rebuild back the image of Eastern Visayas a year after Typhoon Haiyan,” says Tiopes. ###