Tagapul-an, Western Samar is an island municipality, accessible only through a two-hour boat ride. According to the residents, there are only two months when the seas are relatively calm, April and May. For the rest of the year, it’s either Amihan or Habagat that raises the waves to considerable heights. If its amihan, people usually go to the side leading to Masbate, if habagat, they use the other side of the island leading to Calbayog.
There are fourteen barangays in an island of more than two thousand hectares. All the barangays hug the shoreline, so the only way to visit the barangays is by boat. If the waves are high, the visitor will have to jump off the boat and swim towards the shore. Most of the hinterlands of the island remain uninhabited since the roads into the island remain undeveloped.
