it is bordered by the islands of samar to the east, leyte to the south, masbate to the west, and luzon to the north. the sea is connected to the philippine sea to the north via san bernardino strait, to leyte gulf to the southeast via san juanico strait, to the visayan sea to the southwest, and to the sibuyan sea to the northwest via masbate pass and ticao pass. it contains biliran island, the islands of almagro, maripipi, sto. nino, daram, and tagapul-an.