4 YOUR ORDINARY GUIDE TO MASBATE

The Philippines is one of the richest countries of some of the world’s greatest biodiversity. It is composed of over seven thousand islands which bequeath abundant of natural resources. Each and every island has unique culture and rich in art, music, and literature. Besides English and Filipino, the country has nineteen recognized regional languages. If you fold the Philippine map into half, Marinduque is proud and upright its pride as the geographic center of the Philippines. Yet Masbate considered as the heart of the isles.

ABOUT MASBATE

The province of Masbate has three major islands – Masbate, Ticao and Burias. It is surrounded by clear and blue water and also stunning white sand beaches. It is indeed a true tropical bliss bordered with some farms and rolling mountains that makes the province epitome for cattle raising. That's why it is known for its cattle industry and The Rodeo Capital of the Philippines. If you get to ramble around the main island, the southern part has grazing lands owned by some of the Portuguese nationals whom born and raised in the country. Sometimes Masbate considered as part of the Visayan region but it is situated in Southernmost of Bicol Region. This, maybe because the convergence of different dialects due to its vicinity, the mixes consist of Bicolano, Waray, Ilonggo, and Cebuano.
 

Masbate is easy to find in the Philippine map, it is a boomerang shaped right at the center of the Philippine islands. Harmonious and peaceful, the natural beauty stayed untouched which makes this province perfect for some scuba diving trips. White sand beaches will also give you an ultimate summer experience if you're in for some beach bumming, truly breath taking and worth visiting.

Besides cattle industry, mining is another thriving commerce; the province is also leading in precious minerals like Gold and Silver. Municipality of Aroroy located at the northern part of the city proper is a foreground of mining trade in and out of the country.

HOW TO GET HERE

The province is very accessible, either by Air or by Land.

Buses have daily trips in Pasay and Cubao Terminal going to Dalahican in Lucena, Quezon. The trip will take 3 - 4 hours. Then you can take RORO vessel via Montenegro Lines straight to Masbate port, they have daily trips Lucena-Masbate and vice versa.

Another option is via Southroad, or sometimes they call it Bicol Express. Bus terminal in Pasay and Cubao have daily trips straight to Pilar, Sorsogon. The trip will take you 12 hours. Then you can ride at the Pilar wharf either pumpboats, fastcraft, or RORO vessels – all straight to Masbate port. RORO Buses have direct trips all the way to Masbate, these buses will be loaded by RORO vessels. For inquiries on RORO Buses, you can call these numbers - 0917-597-1186 / 0922-889-7013 / 0908-920-2568.

By Air, PALExpress have daily trips to Masbate Airport; it only takes about an hour. This is the only flight to and from the city, although previous years Cebu Pacific and Zest Air considered Manila-Cebu-Masbate route but didn’t last. As of this writing, only PALExpress on operational for daily morning trips vice-versa.

THINGS TO DO & WHERE TO GO
There are a lot of things to do in this province. I’ve been to Bituon Beach located in Mobo, Masbate. It’s just few kilometers - about 20 minutes away from the city proper. It is indeed a “star” in Masbate, engulfed by a long stretch of white sand and crystal clear water, surrounded by majestic mountains, and a perfect place for your ultimate and greatest life adventure.

Another place that you shouldn’t miss when visiting Masbate is the Buntod Marine Sanctuary. It is visible from the city proper. It’s just 15 to 20 minutes away by boat. This sanctuary is being monitored by the Samahang Mangingisda ng Puro-Sinalikway Inc., through the help of the local government. Salute to the city and local government for protecting this marine sanctuary and  open for visiting tourists.

You can get here via Rendezvous Hotel and Retaurant. There are boats waiting for you. You can also contact Jojo, head of the Samahan at 09074542004 for the details of boat rentals.

Catandayagan Falls is the newest and promising place to visit in the province. It is located in Ticao Island, just right across Masbate mainland. You can check this site, our fellow travel blogger for your guide how to get to this place and expenses.

You can also consider these places when visiting the province of MasBeauty:

• Pawa Mangrove Nature Park - the biggest area of natural mangrove park .

• Underwater Cave - entrance is through undersea, just like the hidden lagoon of Palawan, and it will only take few seconds to get into the cave. It has caskets which believed to 500 years old.

• Porta Vega - located in Dimasalang, it has powdery white sand and crystal clear water.

• Palani Beach - located in Balud, like Porta Vega it has the wide stretch of powdery white sand.

FESTIVALS:

• Rodeo Masbateño - it is celebrated every month of April. This makes the province as the Rodeo Capital of the Philippines and the only known rodeo show in Asia. The contingents to compete into different events for cowboys and their calves are coming from different municipalities, and even other provinces. Talents from Visayas and Minadanao region are vying to win and hail as the Rodeo Champions.

• Lapay Bantigue – this festival held every 30^th of September in celebration to the city anniversary. It started in 2002 after Masbate converted as the only and capital city of the province. Lapay Bantigue is about to give thanks to St. Philomena, the saint of fishermen. And to note, I know how the steps of this dance.

• Pagdayao Festival – this festival celebrated every 13^th of June to give honour and thank to Saint Anthony de Padua – the city patron saint.

TRANSPORTATION:

• Tricycle – This is the main transportation around the city, you can ride this for short distance destinations.

• Public and Private Van - They now have UVExpress that travels all the way to Esperanza, the southernmost town of Masbate. Esperanza is just few miles away from Cebu province. This is the gateway of small pumpboats to reach the Visayas group of Islands.

• Public Utility Jeeps – This is another popular choice of transportation. They can bring you anywhere in the province on any different destinations.

• Public Buses – Bus now travels from Northern to Southern part of the islands. This is for longer distance destination.

FOOD
Looking for food is not a huge problem, there are plenty of food businesses open serving 24 hours around the city proper. The taste is most likely similar to the Bicolandia cooking, thus, being part of the region. It's usually involves in some chili peppers and coconut milk, notable cuisine are "laing" and "bicol express". So when you get to ramble around the province for some food cravings, make sure to bring some water due to its notorious spicy flavors.

However if your choice is on typical and familiar food, the City now have Gaisano Mall. It has common fast food chains that you can find in Metro Manila.

ACCOMMODATION
There is enough number of accommodations you can find in the City. You can start searching from hotel/restaurant/resorts nearby the beach front. 7AR Golden Beach Resort and Restaurant is one of the luxury resorts that offers stunning view, great food. But if you are on affordable hotels, inn and lodging houses, Sampaguita Tourist Inn is one of the cheapest that you can find, here most of the people coming from remote municipalities stay.

You can also check other options:

• Balay Valencia

• GV Hotel

• Racher's Hotel

• MG Hotel

• St. Anthony Hotel and Restaurant

• Rendezvous Hotel

SIGNPOST

Masbate founded on March 10, 1917 with three Districts. There are 20 municipalities with a total of population of (as of 2010) 834, 650. Masbate City is the capital city of the province and part of the Region 5 - Bicol Region.

For more information about the province, you can visit this site.