In my last post about my Eastern Samar trip with my friends, I've walked you through our stressful sea travel from Guiuan proper to Homonhon Island. This time around we will all relax in paradise.
Warning: You will likely see tons of my photos in Handig Beach! I am not a model wannabe, but a place like Handig Beach brings out the confidence to flaunt the frustrated model in me! Haha š
Let's unwind! ā¤
Back to basic
Handig Beach is just one of the many beaches on Homonhon Island. Homonhon Island isn't usually on people's bucket lists because (1) there are no direct flights that will take you here from either Manila or Cebu. You have to take a flight to Tacloban City and travel 145km to Guiuan. (2) Not everyone is ready to live the island life. Not everyone will dare to sleep in non-airconditioned huts during summer; there's no electricity at specific times of the day, too!
When you go to a new destination especially a beach or a resort for that matter, one question that's top of mind is "What are the amenities?"
To set your expectation, there are no luxurious manmade amenities in Handig Beach, but who needs one when you got the best of Mother Nature's raw beauty?
In this post, I'll share some of the things we've discovered while exploring Handig Beach.
From our huts, we could see a huge, rocky mountain at the northern end of the beach. There were a few small rocks/rock formations by the shore, too. We were waiting for our lunch to be served so decided to take the free time to explore the northern end of the beach.
Guess what? We ended up taking lots of photos here. We were the first tourists to arrive that day so we had the entire place to ourselves for a couple of hours.
You will fall in love with Handig Beach because it's everything you could ask for total relaxation and soul rejuvenation. Did I mention there's barely a mobile signal here? You can just leave your phone in your bag and sit still by the powdery white sand beach as the waves come crashing on your feet. It might not be as powdery as Boracay's but it's not bad considering the entire experience.
Or just like us, you can hit the rock formations and pretend you are a Victoria's Secret model. It's free to dream anyway! HAHA š
On the northernmost end of the island are more rock formations scattered all over the beach. Some were too small that during high tide, they disappear but most of them are gigantic enough to be seen and explored even during high tides. We spent the next few minutes getting the most out of this part of Handig Beach! We had to take a break for lunch and came back in the afternoon during sunset.
It wasn't a walk in the park to reach some of the rock formations tho. This is the part that I suggest you should go at least in pairs. Handig Beach is facing the Pacific Ocean which means the waves could be crazy at times; they're strong enough to pull you farther away from the shore and when that happens, you surely need someone to check on you and ensure your safety!
There were rock formations that are accessible either by swimming from the shore (which was relatively easy) or by hopping from one rock formation to another but there'll be a point wherein the only option is to swim across a small canal-like structure that swells when the waves come in. This is the tricky part, you should be careful and fast enough to reach the rock formation before the next big waves come and devour you. It ain't too deep but the waves are definitely scary the longer you stare at them. You can check out my photos below and confirm it yourself.
But of course, just like anything you worked really hard in life, it's worth the risk. You'll see a better view of the rocky cliff at Handig Beach and appreciate the rest of the smaller rock formations you've hopped from just to reach the farthest one.
When we arrived at the farthest rock formation, we thought that's it, we've reached the end but damn there's more to see. You might have heard old adages that say the farther you go, the more beauty you'll see; that's probably true for Handig Beach. We thought that we've seen all of it but just when we were contented, another door of adventure awaits us.
We decided to go back to the shore and explore whatever part of that rocky cliff could be explored. We followed the shoreline to some narrow rocky pathway that led us to a part of the mountain that seems to have been a victim of a natural calamity. By the looks of it, I bet it's caused by an earthquake. Part of the rocky mountain fell off the ocean thereby forming more rock formations and more spots to take great photos of. If you want a dramatic venue for prenuptial shoots, this place won't disappoint you!
We continued walking on the slippery rocks until we reached the end. Well, it's not the end per se, we just decided we've explored enough; there's no safe path that would take us across the next rock formation. The waves were stronger in this spot that swimming across is clearly suicide! We decided to call it day!
It's amazing how Mother Nature surprises us at times when we least expect it. We were here only for the beach but look what we found: a glaring rocky mountain and parts of it submerged in the ocean. Definitely worth the trouble we went as I narrated last time.
Aside from the untouched beach and these massive rock formations, you might be wondering what else could be done in Homonhon Island. I'll cover this in my next post, so stay tuned! šš„°
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