Canigao is an island located in Matalom, Leyte, Philippines. This small island takes pride with its pristine white sand beach, clear blue water and the abundant sea providing tourists a unique and delectable seafood experience.
I had been to this island for a few times but every visit to the island, is another oppurtunity to witness the island's captivating beauty revealed before our eyes to marvel and our feet to wander. It filled our hearts with the desire to come back, wondering what kind of beauty would it show us the next time.
Throwback in 2012 when we witnessed its most breathtaking beauty we did not expect out of a small island we visited for a few times already. What we did not realize is that, its most incredible beauty stayed hidden behind the tick of time and the push and pull of the tides.
With my closest buddies, we travelled to the island. When we reunite during the christmas break we take on travels within our province and pur trip to Canigao was one of those.
When going to a local islands like this, you have to bring your own provisions like food, water and even tents. The island doesn't have restaurants and hotels. There are only small cottages, tables or tents for rent.
The island is very accessible with bancas or boats. It only takes a short time to get there, at least 15 to 20 minutes of boat ride. The distance from the mainland is one of the reason it became a popular island destination among groups of friends and families who wanted to enjoy the beach.
We arrived around noon and rented table and chairs so we could place our food, water and things. We made use of the shade of the tree. No need to rent a cottage or tent.
The wide beach area in the front side of the island is where most of the beach goers are concentrated, including us. If you wanted a more private space, you can stay at the back part of the island but it's rocky in that area. We enjoyed basking on the sand and and under the sun, enjoyed the soft white sand, bonded over food with a fresh sea breeze and swam in the clear water.
My friends enjoyed the crystal clear water while I did the phtographying. Who could resist the charm of the sea. Even my friend who just got her hair rebonded couldn't help it and took a dip. 😀
After a few minutes under the sun, my friend labanez complained she got more tanned. Haha! 😎 But sun-tanned skin will wear off but not the fun and happy memories created. Just don't forget to apply sunblock when you are out to the beach.
Let's skip to the best part...
An hour before we left the island, we decided to take a walk around it. It is small island so going around it will take only a few minutes. We expected nothing new of the island. The island is beautiful but we have seen its beauty already during out past visits. But walking by the beach is more therapeutic than walking on solid roads, so we grab the opportunity.
The beach at the other side of the island has narrower white sand. The reef appeared as it was very low tide. The reef rocks are solid as if someone paved the beach. One should be careful walking on this rock not to slip.
A few more meters, the white sand beach part became wider again. We got pump up at the scenery and went running farther in anticipation of something more wonderful to see. Our wander cells activated at the sight of this marvelous creation of nature. And the best thing was that, we had this area for ourselves to wander.
As we continued our walk, we were in awe to what laid before our eyes. Our eyes widened, our mouth opened in utterance of the word, WOW! Our heart pounding in excitement at this awe-inspiring, marvelous sight! It was a very long stretch of white sand bar, stretching as far as your eyes can see. I even thought to myself, " what if we continue to walk towards the end of this sandbar? could we come back to the mainland without having to ride the banca. Hahaha! Silly thought though.
We ran,
we jumped,
We felt the sand on our feet,
We laid down grounding ourselves to this pristine nature,
And we were simply overjoyed by this surprisingly wonderful beauty we did not expect to see in this small island.
We were lucky we were at the perfect time and perfect tide to witness the island at its most wondrous form. And for that we were thankful that we were able to witness such wonder.
Have a wonderful day!