Where is visayas philippines

The mountains rise to a giddy m at the peak of Mount Kanlaon, the highest mountain in the Visayas. From Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental, you can follow the coastal road clockwise to Silay, a beautifully preserved sugar town with grand antique homes and old sugar locomotives.

Much of the north coast is given over to the port towns through which sugar is shipped to Manila, but at the southern end of the island around Dumaguete there are good beaches and scuba diving, with a range of excellent budget accommodation. After appointing bureaucrats to run the island, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi placed it under the jurisdiction of its first Spanish governor.

Religious orders wasted no time in moving in to evangelize the natives, ripe for conversion to the true faith. The latter half of the eighteenth century was a period of rapid economic expansion for Negros, with its sugar industry flourishing and Visayan ports such as Cebu and Iloilo open for the first time to foreign ships.

In the last century the rapacious growth of the sugar industry and its increasing politicization were to have disastrous consequences that are still being felt today. Tiny, volcanic Apo Island, 7km off the south coast of Negros, has become a prime destination for divers, most of whom head out for the day from Dumaguete, Dauin or Siquijor. Snorkelling in the sanctuary costs P per person, while diving costs P Most tourists visiting Apo take an organized trip from Dumaguete or Bais, though you can travel independently on one of the regular bangkas from Silliman Beach in Dumaguete and from Malatapay.

The trip takes about 45 minutes and the price should be P for 5—6 people. Among other dive sites, Calong-Calong Point off the southern tip of Negros is known for its dazzling number of smaller reef fish.

Nearby is Tacot, a tricky deep dive where sharks are common. From the coastal towns to the south of Dumaguete you can take a bangka to Siquijor, where sites such as Sandugan Point and San Juan go as deep as 65m, and where you can expect to see tuna, barracuda and sharks plus, from March to August, manta rays.

You can arrange trips to these sites through the dive operators in Dauin or Dumaguete. At m Mount Kanlaon, two hours south from Bacolod by jeepney, is the tallest peak in the central Philippines and offers a potentially dangerous challenge. The rim of the crater is a forbidding knife-edge overhanging an apparently bottomless chasm. The dense surrounding forest contains all manner of wonderful fauna, including pythons and tube-nosed bats and locals believe the mountain is home to many spirits.

There are three main routes up the volcano itself. The Guintubdan trail is the easiest and most comon ascent, but even this should not be underestimated. The 14km-long Mananawin trail works best over three days and offers the chance to really get to know the region, while the short, steep Wesey trail is very exposed and only for experienced tropical mountaineers. Coming from further afield you can also arrange to climb Kanlaon through Dumaguete Outdoors in Dumaguete.

The substantial, vaguely triangular island of Panay has been largely bypassed by tourism, perhaps because everyone seems to get sucked towards Boracay off its northern tip instead. The province that interests most tourists is Aklan, whose capital Kalibo is the site of the big and brash Ati-Atihan festival, held in the second week of January.

Ati-Atihan is a quasi-religious mardi gras held every January in Kalibo. The culmination of the two-week event is a procession through the streets on the third Sunday of January, a sustained three-day, three-night frenzy of carousing and dancing.

Transvestites bring out their best frocks and schoolgirls with hats made of coconuts join aborigines, celebrities and priests in a fancy-dress. The fancy-dress element derives from the lighter-skinned Borneans blacking up their faces in affectionate imitation of the Atis. It was a move calculated to hasten the propagation of Catholicism throughout the Philippines, and it worked. Ati-Atihan has since become so popular that similar festivals have cropped up all over the Visayas.

Historians generally agree, however, that the Kalibo Ati-Atihan is the real thing. Off the northern coast of Panay, between Mindoro and Bicol, the province of Romblon consists of three main islands — Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan, and a dozen or so more smaller islands. There are, however, some beautiful and rarely visited beaches and coral reefs, making it an excellent off-the-beaten-track destination for scuba diving, snorkelling or just exploring and getting a sense of provincial life in the archipelago.

Romblon Town itself is a pretty place, with Spanish forts, a cathedral built in and breathtaking views across the Romblon Strait from Sabang lighthouse. Dominated by the ragged saw-like bulk of Mount Guiting Guiting, verdant Sibuyan Island in the easternmost of the Romblon group has everything an adventure traveller could dream of: a sparkling coastline, a thickly forested interior and a couple of daunting mountain peaks.

Five mammal species one fruit bat and four rodents are unique to the island. Much of the Sibuyan was declared a nature reserve in However, this has not prevented the island from being targeted as a potential mineral mining site, and much to the dismay of environmentalists and local communities, a Canadian mining company was granted exploratory mining rights in Most of them live in three towns, San Fernando, Cajidiocan and Magdiwang.

The island of Samar, between Bicol and Leyte and km from top to toe, has yet to take off as a major tourist destination, which is both a shame and a blessing as large parts of the island remain unspoilt, wild and beautiful. There are also dozens of relatively untouched islands off the north coast. In Eastern Samar, Borongan, and further south, Guiuan and the beautiful island of Calicoan are deservedly popular stops on the surfing circuit.

On a historical note, Homonhon Island in Eastern Samar is where Ferdinand Magellan is reputed to have set foot for the first time on Philippine soil in Samar has a different climate from the rest of the country, with a dry period in May and June only. Apart from that, rainfall is possible throughout the year.

Siquijor Island. Negros Occidental. These include the beaches of Sipalay, the Ruins in Bacolod, and popular waterfalls such as the romantic Casaroro Falls. You will definitely catch the love charm when visiting this island! We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements.

To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". Sign Up. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Traveller's Guide To Visayas, Philippines. Ronica Valdeavilla. Brief history and culture. Natural features and climate. Must-see destinations in Visayas.

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