Samar Island: Weekend Trip From East to North Coast
Eastern Visayas region is very vast and virtually untouched in most parts. What you mostly recognize in this part of Visayas is Tacloban City, its regional center. This city serves as the main transportation hub for Leyte and Samar provinces. Because I only have weekends to spare, I visited the two provinces on my list: Eastern Samar and Northern Samar. I’ll save Biliran province for another day. See my Leyte and Samar posts here.
Eastern Visayas (Waray: Sinirangan Kabisay-an; Cebuano: Sidlakang Kabisay-an; Tagalog: Silangang Kabisayaan or Silangang Visayas) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, Leyte and Biliran. The region has six provinces, one independent city and one highly urbanized city, namely, Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, Ormoc and Tacloban. The highly urbanized city of Tacloban is the sole regional center. These provinces and cities occupy the easternmost islands of the Visayas group of islands.
In this post, I’ll show some tourist destinations I visited in Eastern Samar and Northern Samar thru infographics per municipality/city. I’ll post here in my #project81 the articles related to each province.
East to North of Samar Island: Tacloban City (transit only)-Borongan City-Catbalogan City (transit only)-Calbayog City-Catarman-Allen (rode bus to Manila)
HIGHLIGHTS PER PROVINCE:
EASTERN SAMAR Borongan City 📍Eastern Samar Provincial Capitol 📍Borongan City Hall 📍Cathedral Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady 📍Plaza de Santiago 📍Baybay Boulevard (Borongan Bay) 📍Hamorawon Park and Pool 📍Lo-om River 📍Borongan City Public Market for buying danggit (dried fish) and other products
SAMAR Calbayog City 📍Calbayog City Hall 📍Calbayog City Plaza 📍Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul 📍Calbayog Tourism & Information Office (Old Municipal Hall) 📍Tarangban Falls 📍Lulugayan Falls
NORTHERN SAMAR Catarman 📍Northern Samar Provincial Capitol 📍Catarman Municipal Hall 📍Our Lady of the Annunciation Cathedral Parish 📍Sacred Heart Plaza 📍Freedom Park 📍Catarman National Airport 📍Dalakit Beach
Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (Waray: Luparan han Daniel Z. Romualdez, Filipino: Paliparan ng Daniel Z. Romualdez; IATA: TAC, ICAO: RPVA), also known as Tacloban City Airport, is an airport serving the general area of Tacloban, a highly urbanized city in Leyte island in the Philippines. It is the main gateway from Manila and Cebu to Eastern Visayas. It is classified as a Class 1 principal (major domestic) airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the agency responsible for the operations of all the airports in the Philippines excluding the major international airports. As of 2023, Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport is ranked as the seventh-busiest and among the fastest growing airports by passenger volume out of the 45 commercial airports in the Philippines. The airport is named after Daniel Z. Romualdez, a former speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is one of two airports in the Philippines named after a member of the Romualdez family, the other being Imelda R. Marcos Airport in Mati after Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, the wife of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.
Leyte(also Northern Leyte; Waray: Norte san/Amihanan nga Leyte; Cebuano: Amihanang Leyte; Tagalog: Hilagang Leyte), officially the Province of Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region, occupying the northern three-quarters of Leyte Island. Its capital is the city of Tacloban, administered independently from the province. Leyte is situated west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran. To the west across the Camotes Sea is the province of Cebu. There are several versions as to how the place got its name. One of these relates that according to tradition, toward the west of the present town of Carigara, was a village ruled by Datu Ete. When the Augustinian Fathers heard of the region, they went to the place in order to Christianize the natives. They sailed by boat towards a small bay that swelled into a big river. Disembarking at a small village near the bank of the river, the friars asked the natives for direction. The natives, not knowing the language, answered, “Hira Ete” – which means, “the place belonged to Ete.” The friars thought the natives meant that the name of the place was called Hiraete, hence their communications with their superiors referred to the place as Hiraite.
Tacloban, officially the City of Tacloban (Waray: Syudad han Tacloban; Filipino: Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, although it serves as its provincial capital. It the most populous city in the Eastern Visayas. The place got its name from the word taklub, a bamboo tray used to catch crabs or shrimp.
Eastern Samar (Waray-Waray: Sinirangan Samar; Tagalog: Silangang Samar), officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is the province of Northern Samar and to the west is Samar province. To the east lies the Philippine Sea, part of the vast Pacific Ocean, while to the south lies Leyte Gulf. Samar is said to derive from the word Samad, a Visayan word for “wound” or “cut“, describing the rough physical features of the land which is rugged and deeply dissected by streams.
Borongan, officially the City of Borongan (Waray: Siyudad han Borongan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Borongan), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It is also nicknamed as the “City of the Golden Sunrise/Sunshine” and aspiring to be the “King City of the East”. Pronounced bo-róng-gan, the name Borongan was taken from the local word “borong“, which in the Waray-Waray language means “fog“. The mountainous terrains surrounding Borongan is covered by a heavy veil of fog which can usually be seen during the cold and raining seasons and in the early hours of the morning. Because of this characteristic, the pre-Hispanic natives attributed the name borongan to the place, which was then a fragmented commune of households.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Borongan (Lat: Dioecesis Boronganensis) is a Roman Rite diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Created on October 22, 1960 by Pope John XXIII, divided from territory in the Diocese of Calbayog, the diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palo.
Borongan Cathedral (Waray: Katedral han Borongan), or the Cathedral Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady (Waray: Parokya-Katedral han Matawo han Birhen Maria), is a Roman Catholic cathedral church located near the mouth of the Loom River, in the city of Borongan, Eastern Samar, Philippines. It is the seat of the Diocese of Borongan.
Samar, officially the Province of Samar (Waray: Probinsya han Samar; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Samar), formerly named Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Catbalogan. It is bordered by Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Leyte Gulf, and includes several islands in the Samar Sea. Samar is connected to the island of Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge.
Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan (Waray: Siyudad han Catbalogan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Catbalogan), is a 5th class component city and capital of the province of Samar, Philippines. It is Samar’s main commercial, trading, educational, financial and political center. The city is the gateway to the region’s three Samar provinces. Catbalogan’s patron saint is St. Bartholomew the Apostle whose feast day is August 24.The origin name of the place was katbalaugan or kabalaugan. The two syllables of the name are compound of the prefix kat or ka and the substantive noun BALAUG of the Samar Visayas dialect. “Katbalaugan” or “Kabalaugan” means “a place where seafarers, fisherman or sailors take shelter or cover and are detained”. The old fishing village of Katbalaugan or Kabalaugan was the refuge of people riding in small boats and sailboats when the northwest and southwest moonsoons blow during the month of July, August and September.
The Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division (Stormtroopers) is based at Camp General Vicente Lukban, Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan City. The camp is named in honor of Gen. Vicente Lukbán, a Filipino officer in Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine–American War.
Calbayog, officially the City of Calbayog (Waray: Siyudad san Calbayog; Filipino: Lungsod ng Calbayog), is a 1st class component city in the province of Samar, Philippines. It lies along the coastal region of the province. It is the sixth largest city in terms of land and water areas in the Philippines. It is the nineteenth city of the Philippines. Calbayog is one of the commercial trade centers in Eastern Visayas. Calbayog is subdivided into three major districts: Calbayog, Tinambacan and Oquendo. Taboc is the place where the name Calbayog began. Taboc, so legend says, once abounded with “Bayog” trees. They were cut down and burned for fuel in making “Cal” (lime) out of sea shells and corals. From these two things, the Spaniards called the place “Calbayog”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calbayog is an ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church named after its episcopal see, Calbayog, a city on the western side of the province of Samar in the Philippines. The Diocese of Calbayog is the local church comprising the civil territorial jurisdiction of western Samar Island, a suffragan of the Palo Archdiocese. The island, the third largest in the Philippines, is composed of three provinces: Northern Samar with Catarman as capital, Eastern Samar with Borongan as capital and the Samar Province with Catbalogan as the capital. The City of Calbayog is where the Cathedral of the diocese is located since its ecclesiastical foundation on April 10, 1910, by Pope Pius X. The new Diocese was before made of the whole Samar and Leyte islands.
The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Waray: Katedral nira San Pedro ngan San Pablo) and Parish of Our Lady’s Nativity, commonly known as Calbayog Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Calbayog, Samar province, Philippines. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calbayog, a suffragan of the Palo Archdiocese. Being the first cathedral designated in Eastern Visayas in 1913, it is considered as the mother church of the region.
Northern Samar (Waray: Amihanan Samar/Norte san Samar; Tagalog: Hilagang Samar), officially the Province of Northern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar. To the northwest, across the San Bernardino Strait is Sorsogon; to the east is the Philippine Sea and to the west is Samar Sea.
Catarman, officially the Municipality of Catarman (Waray: Bungto han Catarman; Tagalog: Bayan ng Catarman), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. It is the largest municipality in terms of land area and population in the province. It is the commercial, educational, financial, political and government center of the province.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Catarman (Lat: Dioecesis Catarmaniensis) is a Roman Rite diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Erected in 1974, the diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palo and has experienced no jurisdictional changes since its establishment.Catarman Cathedral, also known as the Our Lady of the Annunciation Cathedral Parish, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Philippine municipality of Catarman, Northern Samar, in the country’s Eastern Visayas region. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of the Annunciation, and has been the cathedral of the Diocese of Catarman since the diocese’s establishment in 1974.
For detailed post about visita iglesia in Eastern Visayas, click on below link:
Ben Goes Where 
Biri Island in Northern Samar and Biliran hold special places in my heart 💗
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