Samar is a province located in the Eastern Visayas of the Philippines along the edge of the Pacific trench. Known as an up and coming surf destination (Guiuan Island), Samar is located well outside the typical tourist trail in the Philippines and remains very much unspoiled even today. It’s famous because nearby Homonhon Island is believed to be the first spot where Ferdinand Magellan landed when he ‘discovered’ the Philippines. Too bad for him, he died in the Philippines when he messed with Lapu Lapu in Cebu…but I digress. I first visited Samar in 2007 on a marine biology survey trip with the Silliman University Marine Lab from Dumaguete. I was assigned to be the ‘coral mapper’ which meant that I got to ride around in a boat and click a GPS when I reached the boundary of where the reef started and the blue water ended. Aside from being a pretty fun island-hopping experience, I got to shoot a lot of photos of some great islands along the way. The experience even inspired a magazine article for Mabuhay Magazine, the in-flight magazine of Philippine Airlines. This Samar photo gallery covers some of the highlights from the trip to Guiuan Island and the surrounding islands of the nearby archipelago.