I heard a lot about Guiuan, Eastern Samar being famous for surfing. I am no surfer but I’ve always remember the first time I stood on a long board riding the waves in Siargao and to me, that was a happy, proud moment. When I learned I will be visiting a surf camp in Samar, I hyperventilated with excitement!
From Calbayog City, Western Samar we prepared for the long drive to the east. Our road trip food and road trip playlist of Jack Johnson are in place. The first 4hrs of the trip was covered with good old stories of college days that were occasionally interrupted by our annoyance over rushing, speeding big truck drivers. We reached Basey, Samar at 11am and went to the tourism office to book for the tour at Sohoton Natural Park. As we were only intending to make the cave tour as a quick stopover before heading to Guiuan, we just decided we will book the adventure the next day since the tour takes 4hours to finish.
12nn and we were hungry. Main go-to place when in Marabut, Samar is the Calawayan Palm Island Resort and Restaurant. You will know once you are in the area when you see landmarks of mini pointed hills. If Bohol has Chocolate Hills, Marabut has peanut-kisses hills that have land-based hills and sea- based hills. The ones at the sea are Thailand pretty!
We stayed for about two hours, about an hour waiting for the food since there were a lot of guests taking their lunch as well. It is an ideal place for family outings with small children since the resort also has a swimming pool. I noticed there were caution signs about jellyfish sightings but there were guests swimming so I figured maybe the jellyfish only swarm the area on a specific season.
After lunch, off we go to our main destination, Guiuan, Eastern Samar!
Guiuan, Eastern Samar is a sleepy town located at the tip of the island. It can be reached from Tacloban City approximately 3-4 hrs travel through a passenger bus. From Guiuan proper, rent a tricycle to Calicoan, where the surf camp/ beach is. The road from Guiuan to Calicoan Island is a long straight pavement; you can almost say it never ends but apparently, it does and this will greet you!
We stayed at the first inn we sighted, the Calicoan Villas. I got excited when the attendant showed us our room. It was just the ideal vacay by the beach accommodation I have always had in mind except it didn’t hang white curtains! And since it was a Sunday night, we were the only guests at the resort.
After checking in we headed to the beach to catch surfer dudes on their boards. I’ve decided to try surfing in the morning if we got time since it was almost 6 pm dark when we got there. So we continued exploring every nook until we reached Andok’s and took our early dinner there.
It was 7 pm when we got back to the villa. We ordered a cold beer and decided to lounge at the swimming pool until 10 pm. The night was so surreal, we can hear the fierce Pacific Ocean nearby, the moon was full and there was no cellphone signal! 🙂
Then morning came and we started our morning early at 6 am to catch the sunrise. It was picture- perfect! We noticed we were the only people strolling the beach—no surfers in sight! We just strolled and took pictures, no need for filters the sunlight was at its best lighting at that time of the day!
We checked out at 8:30 AM after we’ve had breakfast by the pool. Then we headed to another adventure waiting before I go back to Cebu!
Here is the detailed itinerary and the costs
| Day 2: Guiuan! | |||
| April 24, Sunday | |||
| 7:45 am to 12 pm | road trip from Calbayog City to Marabut, Samar | ||
| gas (P1,000/2 pax) | 500.00 | ||
| 12nn to 2 pm | lunch at Marabut resort (P595/2 pax) | 297.50 | |
| 2 pm to 4:30 pm | road trip from Marabut to Calicoan, Guiuan, Eastern Samar | ||
| 4:30 pm | check-in at Calicoan villas (P1,000/2 pax) | 500.00 | |
| 7 pm | dinner at Andok’s (P180/2 pax) | 90.00 | |
| cold beers; night swimming at the resort pool | 80.00 | ||
| 10 pm | lights out | ||
| April 25, Monday | |||
| 6 am | catch the sunrise at ABCD beach | – | |
| 7:30 am | breakfast at the resort | 120.00 | |
| 1,587.50 |