The following morning after we arrived in Guiuan, I called our tour operator to confirm our pick-up time. He was just doing last-minute shopping for the food supplies we'd be needing in Homonhon. Take note that Homonhon Island is a few kilometers west of Guiuan Proper. It's only accessible via a 1 to a 1.5-hour boat ride. The exact travel duration depends on sea conditions.
Pro-tip: There's no supermarket/grocery store in Handig Beach, Homonhon Island. Bring the necessary supplies before heading to the island.
Our pick-up point was Guiuan Port right at the back of the Public Market and Public Terminal of Guiuan. There were hints of the gloomy day ahead of us but nonetheless, we pushed for the trip. It's not like there's a low-pressure area or worse, a typhoon.
In places near the Pacific Ocean such as Guiua in Eastern Samar, they're used to the weather changing its mood all throughout the day. "There's no point worrying this early," I convinced myself.
About seven (7) minutes before nine (9) in the morning, we sailed towards our ultimate destination that day: Handig Beach, Homonhon Island.
The Portal
Samar is known for folk tales; well, generally we have a bunch of folklore in the Philippines. But there's one that the island of Samar is known for The Lost City of Biringan. Biringan is dumbed as the mystical City in the northern part of Samar Island but it's nowhere to be found on the map. Many believe in its existence but for me, it's just a story passed on generation after generation.
I couldn't contain my excitement. I'll finally be visiting the first island that Magellan and his expedition landed in March 1521. Although there were various versions of this historical event, let's leave it like that.
Little did we know that it'd become one of the scariest boat rides of our lives. For one, my photos will show you how small the boat we got in was. The four passengers could barely fit in the makeshift tent, plus the two boatmen at the back. What else? Hmmmm... as you can see the sea was soo calm, barely any movement. It's like the calm before the storm!
I didn't want to think intrusive thoughts while our boat kept moving through the misty Leyte Gulf but it honestly felt like entering another dimension that I haven't even heard of. A massive dark cloud was above us that seemed ready to devour all of us. "Is this one of the portals that'll lead us to the Lost City of Biringan?" my mind played countless what-ifs.
Despite the drizzle that started by the time we were in the middle of the gulf, we were positive we could reach the island safely. The boatmen were calm and there were no signs they were scared an inch of what was currently happening.
You know there were damn good at what they do because they don't even have any equipment or device to tell them which direction to take; they just know by heart.
After a few minutes, I couldn't take any pictures; the rain poured down on us and we were soaking wet already. I know getting wet while traveling to the island wasn't part of the itinerary but we were left with no choice; we had to endure the cold and wet boat ride.
The Sunny Side
After minutes of enduring the dark and seemingly endless journey, the skies cleared out and just like that, we finally saw a glimpse of Homonhon Island. Homonhon Island is a 20-km stretch of land; there's no way we could explore all of it since barangay roads aren't paved and aren't connected all throughout the island.
I was relieved to see the island despite the waves getting bigger as we reach the shore. Really, I don't care, at least in case something happens, I can see where the safe place is. I can swim towards it!
Start of the adventure
As if what we just went through wasn't adventurous enough, our energies were back and we couldn't wait to explore the island which we had all to ourselves for a couple of hours (before other tourists arrived)
Here's a preview of Handig Beach's beauty...
We've traveled for a little over 1 hour and the weather's insanely crazy because look at the view. The photo below was taken right after we disembarked from the boat. Are you seeing signs that we went through what we went through? No, right? It was sunny all of a sudden and the skies were perfectly gorgeous!
Well, Jelo and the rest of us were just happy to arrive safely! The dogs in Handig even welcomed us.
Where we stayed on the island
As I mentioned earlier, Homonhon Island is a huge island and since we were spending 2 out of the 5 days here in our Eastern Samar backpacking, we had to strategically choose which part we'll be staying in. When I found Handig Beach on Facebook, I stopped searching.
"This is it! This is the perfect place to unwind!" I told myself.
In Handig Beach, there are various nipa huts that you could stay in. If my memory serves me well, there are three different owners/tour operators in Handig Beach. We got our tour from Kim of Handig Beach. I suggest you travel in groups; it's definitely costlier to travel alone in this part of the Philippines.
Since we were the only guests of Kim that day, we were given the chance to choose which hut we'll use. Jelo chose the hut nearest the ocean, while GB and I slept in the hut adjacent to the kitchen.
There's no electric fan or air conditioning unit in the nipa huts; expect it'll become too hot in the summer! Gladly, we went here in mid-July. This is our room; it's too big for GB and me.
But first, pictorial! 📷
We were definitely exhausted from the worrisome ride earlier that day, but all it took to vanish all the stress was a quick pictorial that we did right after we dropped our things in our chosen hut.
Here are our photos telling you to visit Handig Beach this summer...
There's a huge unfinished hut beside Kim's property but there was no one there so we sneaked in and took these photos. We hung out here for a few moments while waiting for Kim to prepare our lunch.
It has been a long day so far as I relive my travel to Homonhon Island but tell you what? We're not even halfway through this trip so hope you'll watch out for the next post about Handig Beach! 😁
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