Welcome to Maasin City, Southern Leyte and the nearby provinces and islands within Region 8, which is in East Central Philippines!
Welcome specially to the citizens in the Russian Federation, Scandinavian, European, and other countries in and near the northern and southern hemispheres in which you have many months of very cold or winter season to deal with. You can travel near the equator to spend your retreat, tour, vacation, to retire and/or invest in one of our tropical 7107 islands in the Philippines. You have the option to come in to the ideal and truly "green" Province of Southern Leyte! Tourist arrivals in Southern Leyte grow recently by 461%!
We also would like to extend our heartfelt concerns to our fellow Filipinos who work with and the owners/stockholders of certain companies, factories, industries and organizations in the low-level Metro Manila to relocate permanently to avoid suffering from the usual and mega floods, which will happen again, again and again in the future. In addition, you are absolutely risking your lives living and just waiting for the big earthquakes to hit Metro Manila. Millions among you would suffer someday similar fate as the people in Chile and Haiti!
If you search the Internet, there are many travel guides which the non-residents wrote about and took pictures of Southern Leyte as well as Leyte, Biliran and Samar provinces. Thus in this website, we who are natives of both Leyte and Southern Leyte would like to share with you the extra information and pictures which are not covered and included in the familiar travel guides. We can provide you with the reliable persons to contact with and right information to see, for example, our famous scuba diving, the whale sharks, coral reefs and mangroves, the gray, ivory and white sandy beaches, caves, rainforests, waterfalls and other famous attractions. We are associated with a successful real estate developer who also operates vacation homes for rent and for sale in Southern Leyte.
When you tour, visit or take a vacation to experience and enjoy our famous ecological and historical attractions, you can reach our truly green province by boarding a flight to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila. Then from the Manila Domestic Airport, take a connecting flight to Tacloban City, the capital of northern Leyte.
We highly recommend that you spend a week or more days touring the historical, ecological and other attractions in Leyte, Biliran and Samar provinces. Do not fail to visit the Gen. MacArthur Landing Memorial, Santo Niño Museum, San Juanico Bridge (longest bridge in the country), Visayas State University in Leyte province, and the various attractions in Biliran and Samar provinces. For more travel guides and other information on Region 8's northern provinces, please click on the Leyte links below.
When you are done touring Leyte, Biliran and Samar, you can then continue with your travel and tour down to Southern Leyte. From Tacloban City's taxi van and bus stations, you can take one of the passenger vehicles from early morning up to late in the evening bound for Maasin City, the capital of Southern Leyte. The van or bus ride along the straight and zigzag concrete highway takes about 3.5 to 4.5 hours from Tacloban City to Maasin City.
An alternative way to visit us is to take a flight to Cebu-Mactan International Airport. If you have the budget for faster travel, you can charter a small aircraft from Mactan to Maasin City Airport. Most travelers from Cebu City take the ship which sails about 2 to 3 times per week direct to Maasin City and daily to Southern Leyte via Bato, Hilongos, Baybay and Ormoc City which are located in northwestern side of Leyte island. From these towns and a city, you can ride any one of the buses, jeepneys, or taxis (vans) which travels several times daily down to Maasin City. When you wish to have a personal car, professional or super fine tourist guide to meet you at the Tacloban City Airport, Maasin City Airport or at the piers as mentioned above, you may contact Mr. Bambom T. Gonzales in Maasin City through his phone #(011+63+920) 216-4537. His residence phone # is (011+63+053) 570-5543.
Upon arrival in Maasin City and if you are seeking for a fine place to stay, we suggest that you check-in either at the Villa Romana Hotel, Ampil Pensione, Southern Comforts, Maasin Country Lodge, the newest Jaimee's Hotel and Resort, or the other hotels, inns, lodging houses and restaurants which are listed in the local telephone directory. The air-conditioned, nice and cozy lodging places are located in barrio Abgao, Mambajao and Ibarra, just about 5 to 20 minutes by motorcab from the Maasin City pier and bus stations.
Furthermore, when you are going to tour, visit or take a vacation in Southern Leyte, we highly recommend that you venture out to the new concrete roads and bridges from Liloan to San Ricardo, Panaon island, to see the latest ferry terminal which can take the passengers and vehicles about one hour to ride in the ship bound for Surigao in northern Mindanao. In your itinerary, we suggest that you include driving or riding through the new concrete roads and bridges from Silago, Southern Leyte to Abuyog, Leyte. Southern Leyte has the newest and tallest bridge in the Philippines! The tourists and visitors can try bungee jumping, rappelling or paragliding off the Agas-Agas Bridge.
Most importantly, we suggest that you visit the Tahusan Beach in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte which faces east to the Pacific Ocean. Tahusan Beach is about as long, if not longer, and as wide as the world famous Papohaku Beach in Molokai, Hawaii. But, Tahusan Beach has additional attractions: the beautiful, fantastic and photogenic San Pablo and San Pedro islands across the blue channel. Moreover, we recommend that you explore the historical, ecological, scenic and the scuba diving attractions in Sogod Bay and Limasawa island!
"Sogod Bay now has 11 marine sancturaries within the Bay. Limasawa is the latest marine sanctuary in the bay; it's one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the Philippines and includes two of our divesites Adrian's Cove and Zack's wall. The Southern Leyte Government is pushing for more marine sanctuaries within Southern Leyte and is a big supporter of the marine environment and eco tourism. There are a few new discoveries in Sogod bay. In our marine sanctury in Santa Sofia we have seen a flamboyant cuttlefish, in the Lungsodaan marine sanctuary we have seen 3 different coloured pygmy seahores and on Napantau marine sanctury we've found a warty frog fish. The whale shark season has started; we have been on 10 whale shark trips this year. Plenty of plankton in the water hopefully this will be a good season," according to the website of Sogod Bay Scuba Resort.
Regarding our intentional community, we are still a proposed project. We have been praying and hoping that some generous churches, individuals and organizations from all over the world would join and/or provide us the funds to build the self-sustainable 7th Millennium Community. However, as consultants we can work with you when you plan to have a successful tour, vacation, investment and/or retirement in Southern Leyte.
Finally, please check with the offices of Congressman Roger G. Mercado, Governor Damian G. Mercado, Mayor Maloney Samaco in Maasin City, Southern Leyte, and their counterparts in Samar, Biliran and Leyte provinces, for the official information on touring, visiting, investing and/or retiring in Southern Leyte.
Where else can you find the world's 3rd-largest English-speaking country and a haven for confort, dignity and natural hospitality? Please read the maps, directions and other related information from the Australian, Canadian, U.K., U.S. and other foreign embassies in Metro Manila before you visit, tour or take a vacation, and to invest or retire in Southern Leyte. If or when you need additional information, feel free to contact us or the Trip Advisor. The 7th Millennium Community is one of the top reliable and trusted sources of general information in the country! To see additional pictures along the coast of Maasin City and Southern Leyte, one hotel with a restaurant very near the seaport, and the 2 hotels on the beachfront, please click on pictures.
