Setting foot in this place was undoubtedly the best birth year gift to myself. 📍Mayong Payong Rock Formation
🇵🇭MAPANAS ADVENTURE PRIMER🇵🇭
✈🛳🚌 How to get to Mapanas, Northern Samar:
⏺ OPTION 1:
📌Take a plane from Metro Manila to Tacloban City, Leyte (e.g. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia).
📌Hail a taxi/jeepney/tricyle to get to the terminal of vans bound for Palapag (vans en route to the town of Palapag will pass by Mapanas).
📌Transfer to a van to reach Mapanas (travel time: 7 – 8 hours depending on traffic condition and number/duration of stop-overs). If the van’s last stop is the transport terminal in the town of Gamay, just hire a tricycle/motorcycle to get to Mapanas.
⏺ OPTION 2:
📌Ride a bus from Metro Manila to Matnog Port, Sorsogon (e.g.i DLTB and Philtranco; travel time: 15 – 16 hours depending on traffic condition and number/duration of stop-overs).
📌Take the RORO ferry from Matnog Port en route to the port of Allen in Northern Samar (travel time: 1 – 2 hours depending on sea condition).
📌Ride a bus or van to reach Tacloban City (travel time: 5 – 7 hours depending on traffic condition and number/duration of stop-overs).
📌Transfer to a van to reach Mapanas. Alternatively, you may alight at Taft-Paranas Junction if coming from Allen then ride a van en route to Mapanas.
🏄🏝🚴 Sites to Explore/Activities:
⏺ Mayong Payong Rock Formation
⏺ Naputad Beach
⏺ Pinusilan Blue Lagoon
⏺ Magtaon/Ginpandayan View Deck
After aeons of planning and researching, I finally got the chance to check this part of Northern Samar off my bucket list. 📍Magtaon View DeckTo be honest, it was really hard to collect information about this part of Samar considering the lack of blogs about this place. Boy was I lucky to come across a blog posted by my Facebook friend from the travel community. I immediately messaged him to confirm the details I needed for my trip here. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationMy friend and I just finished our overnight trip in the province of Biliran and we headed back to Tacloban City where we would be spending the night. 📍Pinusilan Blue LagoonIt was already late in the afternoon when we reached the city proper. We proceeded first to the van terminal plying the Tacloban-Palapag route to book our tickets in advance. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationWe welcomed the next morning’s sunrise by doing a photowalk at San Juanico Bridge before resting at our hotel to condition our butts for the long ride en route to our destination. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationThe van terminal in Tacloban City was crowded when we arrived. The waiting game took forever before our assigned van finally departed for Mapanas. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationIt was nearing dusk when we left the terminal. I just couldn’t contain my excitement as we traversed the roads and exited the city proper en route to Samar. 📍Naputad BeachWe could have enjoyed the scenery as we were cruising along the coastal towns of Samar if it were daytime. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationIf my memory serves me correctly, our ride took about roughly seven hours before reaching the town of Mapanas. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationOur guide Narcie was already waiting for us when we arrived. I already contacted him in advance through the help of my Facebook friend who wrote a blog about Mapanas. 📍Mayong Payong Rock FormationWe walked for a few minutes before reaching the homestay where we would be spending the night. There were no available hotels in town during our visit. There was a huge party beside the house where we were staying. It thought it was a fiesta celebration. The streets were full of locals from Mapanas. The chaotic scene was similar to the setting of a night club but thrice the number of people dancing. The sounds from the speakers were deafening to be honest while my friend and I laid on the mattress at the second floor of the house. The partying finally ended at past midnight. 📍Mayong Payong Rock Formation
⏰⏳ Sample Itinerary (Gamay-Mapanas-Palapag):
DAY 1
8:00 AM ETA Tacloban Airport
9:00 AM ETD for Mapanas
4:00 PM Check-in
DAY 2
4:30 AM Wake-up call
5:00 AM Explore Mapanas
10:00 AM Explore Palapag
1:30 PM Lunch / travel to Araw Beach, Gamay
3:30 PM ETD for Tacloban City
10:30 PM Check-in
DAY 3
5:00 AM Wake-up call / travel to San Juanico Bridge for sunrise
6:00 AM San Juanico Bridge Photowalk
8:00 AM Check-out / ETD for Tacloban Airport
10:00 AM ETD for Manila
💰💶 Estimated Budget (for a solo traveler): Php 7,000 – Php 8,000 (exclusive of airfare)
***Expenses may vary depending on the type of accommodation you will avail and personal consumption of food and other necessities. If traveling alone, you will solely shoulder the tricycle/motorcycle transfer and tour rates.
Narcie and our hired motorcycle drivers picked us up early in the morning to get to this rock formation called Mayong Payong. We were planning to reach the place before sunrise.As we were walking through the tidal flats, the place immediately evoked a familiar feeling.Nostalgia seeped in. I felt a piece of Biri Island in this town. Biri is my most favorite place in the country but Mapanas is beautiful in its own right.The giant boulders here definitely reminded me of Biri. After all, Mapanas and Biri are both located in Northern Samar and they share the same coast facing the mighty Pacific.It was challenging to get these two rocks in one frame. Fortunately, my camera has a wide angle lens.The tide was still low that morning so it was easy walking through these tidal flats.Since the sun rises in the Pacific, most of the photos that we took were taken against the light. But they give off this beautiful aura nevertheless just like in this image.If there’s one thing I noticed among the coastal municipalities of Samar facing the Pacific, it’s that their rock formations are overwhelmingly huge and out of this world.Luckily, I didn’t forget to bring my GoPro with me so I was able to capture this picture of me with one of the boulders behind me. That’s how ginormous this rock is.We capped off our trip here in Mayong Payong then decided to go back to the town proper for breakfast before heading to our next stop.
📜✏ Tips/Reminders:
📌This trip to Mapanas is part of my Gamay-Mapanas-Palapag adventure leg. You may visit these links if you wanna check out my blog posts for Palapag and Araw Beach of Gamay.
📌 You may also fly to Catarman Airport then commute to get to these municipalities. If you’re taking the land route from Allen, please be reminded that vans plying the Taft-Paranas Road are usually full since they’re coming from Tacloban. It’s much advisable to book in advance if you’re departing from Tacloban.
📌There were still no fancy hotels during our visit. Coordinate with the guide or tourism office of the LGUs for available homestays.
📌Expect rain and rough sea condition during monsoon season (June-February).
📌Always observe the LNT principles.
☎ Contacts:
📌Guide: Narcie Longcop Laodenio (09974123876) – he can guide you to all the tourists spots in Gamay, Mapanas and Palapag. He will also arrange your motorycle tour.
📌Tricycle Drivers in Tacloban: Kuya Endaw (09463791975) and Kuya Robert (09362081686)
A short motorcycle ride from Mapanas town proper took us here at Naputad Beach Resort where you can also find Pinusilan Blue Lagoon. This place is much more developed compared to Mayong Payong.That rock formation over there looks small though in this photo but it actually is a huge one just like the ones in Mayong Payong.For scaling purposes, we walked closer to the boulder, hence, this photo.We walked towards Pinusilan Blue Lagoon. I didn’t take any pictures of it though because I was so disappointed because the lagoon’s color was dark. It seemed creepy to take a dip because I couldn’t see what’s underneath. There was no “blue lagoon” since the sunrays were still coming from the east. After all, we needed sunshine to hit the lagoon’s surface to get its bluish hue.We just sat by this tidal pool beside the lagoon facing Naputad Beach and took some photos.We walked back to the beach resort then hopped on our motorcycles to get to our next stop.We continued our journey and passed by this viewpoint known as Magtaon View Deck.The coastal road of Northern Samar overlooking the Pacific Ocean was really a magnificent sight to behold. You can see the huge boulder of Naputad Beach from afar in this image. This spot offers the perfect vantage point to see the rock formations of Mapanas. It is also called Ginpandayan View Deck.We headed to the next rock formations on our list located in the neighboring town of Palapag. As we were cruising along the coastal road while enjoying the view, it finally dawned on me that I’ve been missing this province for too long. It felt like a sorrowful longing for your favorite place and finally getting to see it again after so many years. After all, my last trip in Samar transpired in 2016.The rock formations of Mapanas and its neighboring town Palapag truly are amazing. Honestly, every step and photo I took here reminded me of all my trips to Biri Island (I’ve been to Biri four times). Nostalgic, indeed. 📍Mayong Payong
***For other destinations in Samar, you may visit this link.
