San Antonio Arrival

welcome signage and resort advertisements at the San Antonio Island dock
So we arrived after the ‘less than half an hour’ boat ride amid a breezy noontime and calm waters (but this strait clearly has a very strong water current). Nice welcome scene hehe, barriotic! I mean it is obviously rural that had some taste or attempt at looking a bit touristy then. But now, look at that blue ‘welcome’ signage. It sits on the ground, at least still facing arriving visitors. I love such kinds of places - rural!

collectors booth where tourism fees and other fees are paid upon arrival on the island
We were already riding habal-habals when this girl started calling out to us “ma’am/sir yung environmental fee"! Asuuu, procedures procedures! If there were a lot of people arriving, many would have missed (intentionally or not) this 'ceremony'! Eh, the drivers immediately scrimage for you even while disembarking and bring you directly to their bikes! So one of my companions got off the motorbike to pay P40 (four people) and I also did so, to take this picture hehe. This town could do better than this set-up, but I’d rather keep silent. I get paid for that! But yes, I must admit, she's the first beautiful face I saw on this island!

san antonio beach with boats parked and mainland Samar Island in the background
One last look at mainland Samar. Happy day. Excited!

Now let me tell you about an instant change of plans… we headed to the western shores of this island riding habal-habals. That, instead of what I have known all along - that the resorts of choice are just a walk away from this little docking area! Why so? Because our friend/guide told us there is a better and fairly new resort – supposedly one of the best. The only one on the island that has a swimming pool! Plus, he knows the owners and the manager! How could we resist, right?

Okay, I will fast forward a bit to let you in on why we went to the western side instead of the usual east. After 2 days, visiting every resort there is in San Antonio, I can confirm YES, where we went is the best on the island – but read on for the details. My best may not be yours!

Anyway, back to our habal-habal ride and here are more views…

From the jetty area (jetty daw oh, eh hindi nga matawag na pantalan yan hehe) we drove towards center of town passing by the three most commonly suggested resorts, then veered left by the church, passed by a field that our guide told us is a runway, passed by SAAV, and then down to Barangay San Nicolas.
street view with a habal-habal rider in San Antonio Island Northern Samarstreet corner with a statue at San Antonio Island Northern SamarCatholic Church of San Antonio Norther Samarflower box welcome signage of San Antonio Agricultural and Vocational School (SAAVS)entrance gate of San Antonio Agricultural and Vocational School (SAAV)nice paved road on the western side of San Antonio Island

Resort name? Well, our friend/guide kept referring to it as “Veranda” but I was surprised to see that the resort’s name is actually “EWP Island Beach Resort” hahaha!
welcome streamer/banner of EWP Island Beach Resort
This get’s clarified in the next story, don't worry!

Meanwhile, you’d be glad to learn that this whole habal-habal journey from one side of the island to the other, took us a mere 16 minutes!

More in the next story. Promise!


For a chronology of this trip's stories, click these numbers:
01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10
11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20


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