Getting Here!

     From Cebu City, Maasin can be reached through nightly inter-island overnight boat trips directly or through the alternate entry points in Bato and Hilongos ports which are about a 45-minute drive. Those who travel by air from Manila take the 3 to 4-hour Tacloban-Sogod/Baybay-Maasin route.  Major bus lines operate for Manila-Maasin-Davao trip via the Maharlika Highway.

     In Maasin, a tricycle (pot-pot) or a motorcab caters your short-distance trips within the city. Multi-cabs, jeepneys, and motorbikes (habal-habal) complement your inter-town tours and escapades in the mountain barangays. Buses and jeepneys ply routes from Maasin and to other towns in Leyte and Southern Leyte.

Maasin: How It Got It's Name

           Legend has it that Ferdinand Magellan on his way from Limasawa to Cebu in 1521 dropped by the Canturing River for fresh water supply. His men found the taste of the water salty, thus the name MAASIN.

            This little town was already a flourishing trading center of commerce and industry populated by diligent and enterprising people largely of intermarrying Malay and Chinese descent. Maasin gained prominence as the leading source of abaca products and fiber craft.
 

            The Jesuits formally founded the already progressive Maasin settlement in 1700 and became a pueblo in 1755. A stone church and a baluarte (watchtower) were built to serve as refuge from and look-out perch for seafaring pirates. Indeed, Maasin stood triumphant over the series of Moro raids and insurgencies. Maasinhons brought back the gaiety of the town, rebuilt the trampled church and dedicated it to the Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion.
          

            Maasin was part of the Leyte province until when Southern Leyte was created in 1960 of which it became the provincial capital and the seat of the lone congressional district. Maasin was elevated to city status on August 10, 2000 by virtue of Republic Act 8796, ratified overwhelmingly by the Maasinhons in a plebiscite.

Wow! Lami Sii

        "Lami" connotes the English adjective referring to a high degree of satisfaction while the word "Sii" (read: see-i) is a vernacular word that affirms the adjective referred to and brings it to its superlative sense. Thus, when one says "Lami Sii!" it means the satisfaction is beyond compare. The word "Sii" is a distinguishing mark of a Maasinhon because only a Maasinhon knows when and how to use the word and we mean using it without fault.  

Welcome to Maasin City!

 Dajon sa Siyudad sa Maasin!

        Lurking behind the salty name Maasin is the sweetness of the Maasinhon hospitality!

        We are pleased to invite you to experience a new kind of adventure here in  a little city down southeast of the archipelago.

         ... where the colors of nature blend with the shades of modernization, an emerging city set on a backdrop of picturesque cerulean sky

         ... where verdant mountains hide awe-inspiring caves and waterfalls

         …where the flamboyance of our festivals speak not only of our genuine love for the arts but also of our means to instill in our children our rich cultural heritage, linking our colorful past to the modern times

         …where smiles are real and words are accommodating…where a hundred snapshots are never enough to cover your whole experience
        
         Savor the ultimate "Lami Sii!" Experience, only in Maasin City!


photo credits: bomicks. city tourism office. kneeknew