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Dalutan island’s main draw?
There aren’t a lot of people
around - so you can mostly
have the place to yourselves
On Biliran Island, Agta Beach served
as my home base for exploring the
mainland attractions. The brown sandy
beach, colored by fiery sunsets, was
named after the mythical
agta
— a
cigar-smoking, tree-dwelling giant
akin to the Tagalog
kapre
, which locals
believe inhabit these shores. Like most
beaches on mainland Biliran, Agta
Beach is lackluster; but it serves as the
jump-off point to Dalutan Island, which
has a lovely pocket of white-coral
beach with crystal waters. More than its
sparkling shoreline, Dalutan provides
a fantastic vista of the entire mainland,
best enjoyed in the early morning when
Biliran’s mountain range is veiled by a
ghostly mist. Offshore from the capital
of Naval, Higatangan Island also offers
another beach escape, with its long
white sand bar that shifts in shape and
size as the seasons change.
O F F T H E B E A T E N T R A C K
THE GRACEFUL
slopes of Maripipi
island rose over the Visayan Sea as our
ferry approached it from the mainland,
its apex capped by a column of clouds
that resemble a volcanic eruption. The
ferry ride to the island municipality
from the provincial capital of Naval was
the last leg of my four-day backpacking
trip around Biliran province, a hidden
gem in Eastern Visayas that’s bound to
make a name in tourism circles for its
little-known bounty of natural wonders.
Lodged between the islands of
Leyte and Samar, Biliran declared its
independence as a separate province
from Leyte in 1992. Brimming with
natural attractions ripe for exploration,
this obscure destination could rival
popular island provinces like Bohol,
Camiguin and Siquijor.