Little Pinay Explorer: San Pablo Island, Hinunangan Southern Leyte

blue sea, trees, islan, forest, ocean san pablo island hinunangan southern leyte

Did you notice that here in the Philippines we have so many beautiful places that people know nothing about? One good example is San Pablo Island located in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte which is approximately 2-3 hours away from Tacloban City.

Compared to the other islands in Leyte, San Pablo is cheaper and less crowded. It's simple, beautiful and worth your time however, I recommend you visit this place on weekdays as it tends to get crowded with locals during the weekends.

Things you should know when planning to go to San Pablo Island:

1. Cottage fee ranges from Php200 to Php650.
2. It's better to bring your own food or buy food in Hinunangan market. They don't have restaurants or karenderyas but they have a sari-sari store.
3. You can grill meat as long as you bring your own utensils.
4. Activities include swimming, ramp diving, rope swinging (from a tree) and just relaxing.
5. I suggest you bring your own tent as they have limited cottages suitable for overnight stay in the public beach but if you explore the island a little more, you'll see resorts with concrete rooms.
6. You can also visit the fish sanctuary in the neighboring island known as San Pedro. (Warning: some of the fishes here looked scary. They were like villains in the ocean. We thought they were going to eat us.😅 But the smaller fishes were fine and cute. 😄)

I would like to call this island 'The Dead Sea of Southern Leyte' -- not because it is dead or something but because of its salinity. The famous Dead Sea in Jordan is known for its high salt content which makes it so easy to swim or float. That's the same feeling when we were swimming in San Pablo Island and that's actually my favorite part! Although I really know how to swim, I don't usually do it in an open water because of my fear of losing control, muscle strain or simply having a panic attack. But here, I was able to swim in the ocean without a floater (after a few hours of encouragement from my friends and forgetting about my trust issues). It's a pretty big accomplishment for me, yay!

HOW TO GO TO SAN PABLO ISLAND FROM TACLOBAN

1. From Tacloban New Bus Terminal, look for public vehicles en route to St. Bernard or Hinundayan Southern Leyte. Make sure that it will pass by Hinunangan because some would pass by Sogod instead of Hinunangan.

2. Ask the driver to drop you off in Brgy. Canipaan. Just beside the New Life Church, there's a road going to the port (check the pictures below to see the exact location and you can also show this to the driver).

3. Walk or ride a habal2 (if you see one) going to the port. I think it's a 5-minute walk away from the main road.

4. Approach the boatmen. The minimum fee to charter a boat is Php1000 depending on the capacity and the boat trip only takes 15-20 minutes. Check the photo below for the rates. If you are traveling alone, you can opt for the public boat which operates once a day only at around 12NN (if you choose this, you will have to stay in the island overnight as the boat will go back to Hinunangan the next day early morning.