Cuatro Islas

Cuatro Islas is a group of four islands lying off the western coast of Leyte, registered and visited through the municipality of Inopacan. Digyo is the smallest and the one most people camp on - a low island with a sandbar at one end, clear water and almost nothing built. Mahaba is longer and thinner, with a fishing community and a good stretch of beach. Apid has a village and reef around it, and Himokilan, further out and belonging to Hindang, is the largest and least visited. The whole set is done as a circuit: boats leave in the morning, stop for snorkelling and swimming, and either return in the afternoon or drop campers on Digyo overnight. Facilities are minimal everywhere - a few huts, toilets, no shops worth the name - and the reefs, while recovering, are not on a par with Bohol's. What the islands offer is space: this is a quiet corner of the Visayas with very little traffic.

What you actually see

• Digyo's sandbar - the small camping island and its spit.
• Mahaba's beach - the long strip with a fishing village.
• Apid and Himokilan - the outer islands of the group.
• The reef stops - snorkelling between the crossings.

When to go

March to June for calm seas. Weekdays are near-empty; Holy Week fills Digyo's camping ground completely.

Honest expectations

Registration is done at Inopacan before boarding. There are no shops - carry food, water and cash. Boat hire is per boat, so small groups pay more. Camping is basic and exposed.

Nearby

Ormoc and the Lake Danao highlands are north; Baybay and the coastal road run down toward Southern Leyte.