KALANGGAMAN ISLAND

Kalanggaman

It is no doubt – the best way to start a brand new year! Yep - I kicked off 2018 beaching! Another “must go place” ticked off my list (hoorah). I will keep this blog short, but sweet. There are several entry points to get to this astonishing island, but I will discuss about our itinerary. We have a pre-arranged tour with a travel and tour company that took us on a two-day excursion to both Kalanggam & Malapascua Island. We spent our 1st day traveling northbound of Cebu and the driver dropped us at Maya Port where our boatmen were waiting for us to take us to Kalanggaman Island.

The travel took about roughly 3-4 hours. I must warn the faint-hearted though that it was one bumpy ride, but hey – that’s actually normal as per the boatmen. I don’t know for what scientific reason, but according to them it is normal even on a beautiful sunny day (so what more during rainy seasons?). Anyway, so much for that folks! This revelation shouldn’t stop you from exploring the Island, okay?

We were greeted by this!

This is THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE…

While we were enjoying the immaculate seawaters, our “kuyas” (the boatmen - we call each one of them KUYA in our language) were preparing our lunch. They were already through with the preparation just in time when our stomachs were already starting to grumble. After lunch, we plunged back into the cool and calm waters to indulge ourselves one more time before we bid adieu to the magnificent island of Kalanggaman.

Kalanggaman, by the way, is part of Leyte province and is closest to the town of Palompon. The island got its name because it is home to migratory birds (“langgam” is what we call birds in our native language) from season to season.

In that short span of time, we were so smitten by the island that it was almost hard to say goodbye. Off we set sail on another bumpy ride, but this time going to MALAPASCUA ISLAND which is only almost 2 hours away from Kalanggaman. Malapascua, by the way, is an island part of Cebu province, and this is where the hotel we will be staying at overnight is located (this is still part of our package).

In order for you to visit Kalanggaman Island, you may book with a travel and tour agency that will arrange everything for you or if not, you will have to coordinate with Palompon’s tourism office because they are quite strict with crowd control in order to maintain the island’s cleanliness. I really do think this is a good move as this will not only attract more tourists but at the same, this will help in taking good care of the island. If you wish to stay overnight, you may bring your own tent as there no for rent rooms for you to stay at. The island also doesn’t have electricity so do not forget to bring power banks for your electronic gadgets. Lastly, bring plenty of drinking water as there are only a handful of vendors selling there and it can be quite costly.

To GOD be the GLORY!