Hotels near Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport - TAC, Tacloban

Just like any other city in the Philippines. Crowded, Traffic, Noise, Pollution, Hot, Lots to do, Lots to see. Oh Almost forgot this one. For some reason or another Tacloban still requires you to have a QR CODE to enter Robinson, and a few other places. When we asked the Police Guard why, the reply was expected. Because they tell me to do this...lol. Seriously though, this is whats so puzzling about the Philippines. Every BRGY, Island, or City is different when it comes to COVID. Mask on/Mask off, No QRC/YES QRC. SMH. Just figured since its all one GOV, you would follow what they put out. This is why its More Fun in Dah Philippines... P.S Its cleaner and less Dirt and Dust like DIRTYGUETE (Dumaguete). Such a Dirty, and Dusty City that one is...

People are very nice. Laid back. Not intense. Our time is short and so we had no time to really explore. Sto Nino Cathedral is worth visiting. We went to see the lighted San Juanico Bridge but after waiting for two hours, nothing happened. It was a waste of our time. The airport could be improved. It was very hot at the waiting lounge. Toilet is okay.

The City of Tacloban is a pity. There is nothing perfect. They need at least 50 Years to bring it up to near Canadian/American standards. It's impossible to walk safely as you could be overrun, or trip over obstacles or holes on roads or site walks if there are any at all. Blocked by parking cars or motorcycles. When you look over the roofs from your hotel room it looks like Bangladesh. There are lots of eateries, but all pretty junky. And the food is a disaster. You can get around with this Toysycles, but they will rip you off. There is absolutely no beach access. Avoid Tacloban all together.

Tacloban is a major city with just about everything you'll need, but nothing really special other than MacArthur Leyte Landing Memorial National Park in nearby Palo. I heard there are a couple new swimming resorts but I didn't visit them. That said, you are in driving distance (1 to 5 hours) of really nice coastlines, waterfalls etc. in Samar (and probably Leyte).

We did a day trip to Basey and the Sohoton caves by bus & tour from the Basey tourist office. Worthwhile. Later we discovered an option of going to Basey by ferry - worth trying. St Nino Shrine & Museum was interesting. The old Leyte Capitol building is a fine example of American commonwealth architecture - although closed the guard may let you in! The WW2 picture gallery in Alejandro Hotel is excellent. Some decent restaurants. Guiseppei’s was a good Italian, we tried Buutan Vegan restaurant - good break from meat & seafood, Chewlove portions were a bit small, however the best value for money was Seafood Galore - careful it moved premises on 20 April. We also did a day trip to Palo - the landing memorial, cathedral. stations of the cross up hill 522 and on the way back the Japanese pillboxes at the Pacific Resort/Nantos Japanese restaurant. Some of the longer distance buses go from Robinson’s (New Terminal) to the north or Robinson’s Place to the south of town. Both have connecting local buses/jeepneys.

There are many interesting things to see and do in the area. However, transportation is a nightmare unless you book tours with companies that provide transportation. I noted that rental cars that you can drive yourself, are difficult to find and very expensive when you do find them. It seems that taxi's are only to be found at the Airport and thou reasonable at 300 pasos for a short trip across the city, it is difficult to find a taxi on the street. Tricycles (motorcycles with side cars) are ubiquitous in the city but uncomfortable, frequently overloaded and probably unsafe.