Where to stay in Masbate

City hotel on Quezon Street with a small water-play area, the one families with kids tend to ask about. Central enough to walk to the market, the banks and the cathedral.

Small guesthouse on the boulevard, on the walking side of town: sunset on the baywalk is a two-minute stroll and the grill stalls are closer still.

A bayfront resort in the city itself, and the best-rated place on this list. The restaurant is a local institution for eating by the water, which means you can stay somewhere with a proper kitchen without leaving Masbate City.

Out on the east coast at Curvada, in Cataingan: a beach resort in the part of the province most visitors never reach, and the natural base if you're heading to the Bagat-Dagat festival on the lagoon.

The east-coast day trip that locals rate highest: white sand and clear water that people compare to Boracay, about 1.5 to 2 hours from the city. Rooms as well as day cottages, so it works as an overnight.

The dive resort that put Ticao on the map, and the reason most foreign visitors come to Masbate at all. Eleven beachfront bungalows facing the Ticao Pass, a PADI dive centre on site, and the Manta Bowl a boat ride away. Remote on purpose. There is nothing else within walking distance, which is the point.

The comfortable option on Ticao: a small boutique resort with a pool, a clubhouse and beachside dining, rather than a dive camp. Good if you want the island without giving up a proper bed and a cold drink by the water.

A local beach resort with a function hall attached: the place San Jacinto uses for weddings, reunions and barangay events rather than a dive holiday. Handy if you want to be near the town rather than out at Tacdugan.

Ticao Island's first waterpark, opened right on the shore at Brgy. Burgos: pools and a jacuzzi on one side, the sea and kayaks on the other. This is the one to know if you are travelling with children, who will get more out of it than out of a dive resort.

A small beach lodge on the same Tacdugan shore as the big dive resort, at local rates. The cheapest way to sleep on that side of Ticao. Expect a simple room, not a resort.

Batuan's beach resort, on the east side of Ticao at Brgy. Canvanez, built specifically to give the municipality somewhere to put visitors. The base to use if you are exploring Batuan and the east coast rather than diving off Tacdugan.

A small beach resort at Buyo, in San Fernando, the quietest of Ticao's four municipalities and the one almost no visitor reaches. Local, unpolished, and empty most of the year.

A holiday spot in San Fernando town itself, at Poblacion Silangan. Being in the poblacion means shops, food and transport are on the doorstep, rare on this side of Ticao.

The accommodation option at Monreal, on Ticao's north-west corner, which matters because Monreal is where the boats from Pilar (Sorsogon) and from Lagundi arrive. Useful as a first or last night rather than a destination in itself.