Under a bright blue, cloudy sky, at the receiving end of the beautiful radiance of the sun, we set sail toward our destination: the dotted islands off the coast of Inopacan, which the locals appropriately refer to as Cuatros Islas. Our short boat journey started off with nothing out of the ordinary; looking ahead, I fervently wished we could magically cut the distance: boat rides bore the wits out of me, even if I deeply love hopping from one island to another in this archipelagic country of ours.
An Ideal Off-Grid Destination: Cuatros Islas
A few minutes after the motor engine of the outrigger fishing boat revved to its full speed, I started to feel the cool wind gently caressing my face, lulling me to sleep. All of a sudden, I see our boatman suddenly become highly excited. Following his line of direction, we closely gazed out to the sea and witnessed a pod of wild dolphins rapidly darting in and out of the blue waters.
The lovable sea creatures playfully repeated their rhythmic movements, much like synchronized dragon boat rowers, as if they were smoothly swimming to a pounding beat of unseen drums. They remained vividly visible for a few magical seconds, holding us in sheer, fantastic awe.
Wide awake now, I savor the rest of the boat ride while vividly imagining the kind of untouched underwater wealth inhabiting below; of vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life that perfectly mirror the vast natural wonders that the waters surrounding the Philippines are famously comprised of.
I look ahead of the boat to see the four islands: Digyo, Mahaba, Apid, and Himokilan, all appearing luminous as their pristine white sands meet the pointed rays of the afternoon sun from afar.
Slowly as our boat sails by, I see Himokilan Island being dwarfed from my left peripheral vision, while the long, inviting white stretch of Mahaba Island quickly reveals itself as the boat smoothly approaches it. Slowly docking at the very edge of the sandbar, we jump right into the waist-deep waters and wade near the dense tree-line to properly drop our stuff. Wasting no time, I eagerly jumped into the water and was instantly delighted by the refreshing crystal-clear waters.
Apart from us and a few friendly stray dogs, the only people I saw on the eastern side of the island were five foreign tourists who had been quietly camping on the island for the last few days.
In stark contrast to other highly commercialized, popular islands in the country, Mahaba Island actively provides the ideal, secluded setting to get lost and truly enjoy the beautiful natural environment, which is heavily teeming with lush tropical vegetation and towering trees as you go further inland. One of our trip companions, Leyte Tourism officer Patrick Buena, also informed us about a rare species of red shrimps uniquely inhabiting the waters of the hidden lagoon found right at the center of the island.
For about an hour and a half, we thoroughly savor our isolated surroundings with short, peaceful walks and a refreshing swim back to the waters. I envision the island enduring its raw bareness for a very long time; the more it heavily retains its natural nakedness, the more beautiful and alluring it appears.
At the back of my head, though, I fear that our country's false sense of rapid tourism development might eventually come back to severely bite us, especially if we carelessly allow unregulated and misplaced commercial progress to be done in fragile islands such as the Cuatros Islas.
Environmental conservation should aggressively become our first and foremost local agenda so we could proudly promote these islands without severely risking destroying exactly what makes them highly attractive in the first place—to successfully avoid them being overrun with unnecessary, ugly concrete infrastructure that, most of the time, only sticks out like a sore thumb in a bare, natural island such as Mahaba Island. Fortunately, Patrick completely agrees with me.
Since we spent most of the lazy afternoon at Mahaba Island, we were left with barely enough time to hop into nearby Digyo Island. This particular island is nothing unlike Mahaba Island; it has a few small, rustic houses and basic nipa huts quietly dotting the beach front. The smallest island among the four, it is also an absolutely perfect place to pitch a tent and comfortably enjoy rustic island living for a few days, while successfully staying completely off the grid—to exist peacefully without the constant grasp of social media.
Just like the rest of the province of Leyte, Cuatros Islas was also hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). There were still a few severed and violently bended coconut trees stubbornly standing as a grim, physical reminder of the brutal force of nature that battered the region two years ago.
But as we all sat idly on the fine sand, watching the minuscule swell of the sea, I directed my sight further towards the horizon. I profoundly feel a deep sense of calmness; something strongly begging me to remain for the night, for a few days, or maybe more. If I had actively come prepared with a heavy backpack filled with bread and basic camping gear, then I might probably have stayed.
Before reluctantly boarding our motorized boat to take us safely back to the Leyte mainland, much like General MacArthur, I firmly promised to return. Next time, though, I won’t be just a mere, hurried passerby to this beautiful, resilient province that is slowly stepping out of the dark shadow of Yolanda. I want to fully explore the vibrant province of Leyte and intimately experience all the wonderful things it is known for, and should be highly known for, such as these four distinct isles of isolated, natural splendor.
