I may have stayed in Mati for only a few hours but I was already satisfied upon seeing this view. 📍Sleeping Dinosaur, Mati City
🇵🇭DAVAO ORIENTAL ADVENTURE PRIMER🇵🇭
✈🛳🚌 How to get to Davao Oriental:
⏺ Take a plane from Metro Manila to Davao City (e.g. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia).
⏺ Hail a taxi to get to Davao City Transport Terminal/Ecoland Bus Terminal.
⏺ Ride a bus or van bound for the towns of Davao Oriental.
🏄🏝🚴 Sites to Explore/Activities:
⏺ Dahican Beach and Sleeping Dinosaur of Mati City
📌Fom Davao City, ride a bus or van bound for Mati (travel time: 3 – 4 hours).
📌From the city proper, hire a tricycle that will take you to the beach and view deck of Sleeping Dinosaur.
⏺ Aliwagwag Falls of Cateel
📌From Davao City, ride a bus or van bound for the town of Cateel (via Compostela Valley or via Mati; travel time is 5 – 6 hours).
📌Hire a motorcycle that will take you to Aliwagwag Falls upon reaching Cateel.
⏺ Tourist Spots of the town of Baganga (San Victor Island, Lake Carolina, Sunrise Boulevard, Balite Hot Spring, Campawan Curtain Falls)
📌From Davao City, ride a bus or van bound for the town of Baganga (travel time: 5 – 6 hours) or ride a bus/van to Mati City then transfer to a bus bound for Baganga.
📌Hire a motorcycle or tricycle that will take you to these spots.
***The boatride to San Victor Island will just take about 10 – 15 minutes from the shore.
It was June 2014 when I first visited Davao Oriental. Together with some members of the travel group Backpackers of the Philippines, I quickly grabbed the opportunity to join this backpacking trip. 📍Dahican Beach, Mati CitySince we were nine in the group, we decided to hire a van with driver to save on time. It would be too much of a hassle commuting. All the expenses would be divided among the joiners of our trip anyway. 📍Sunrise Boulevard, BagangaThe rainy season in Mindanao welcomed us when we landed at Butuan City Airport. After dinner, we embarked on our long ride from Agusan to Cateel. Because we were traveling on a budget, instead of wasting money to stay at a lodge for a few hours, it’s way better to just spend the night on the road. We then arrived at Aliwagwag Falls early morning the next day. 📍Aliwagwag Falls, CateelWe didn’t get a chance to bathe in Aliwagwag’s cascades but we made sure we don’t miss trying out the monkey bridge. If my memory serves me true, we only stayed for less than two hours at the eco-park. After all, we still needed to allot time for our travel to another municipality of Davao Oriental. 📍Dahican Beach, Mati CityUpon arrival in the laid-back town of Baganga, we left our stuff right away at the inn where we would be staying for the night. We gave our driver time to sleep and hired two tricycles to tour us around the municipality. We quickly had lunch at one of the eateries at the town proper then headed to our first stop, San Victor Island. It was a quick boat ride from the shore to get to this small island. Its shoreline may be short but San Victor surely knows how to define “quality” because of its creamy fine sand. 📍San Victor Island, BagangaOur next destination was Balite Hot Spring with an entrance fee of just 5 pesos. There were some locals taking a dip when we arrived. Trust me, the spring was so hot my balls got hard-boiled. 📍Balite Hot Spring, BagangaSunrise Boulevard was our last stop that afternoon. It would have been great if I already had my DSLR by that time. The dismal ambience produced by the approaching dusk plus the gloomy weather would be perfect for long exposure shots. One of the strongest typhoons to ever hit the Philippines in 2012 destroyed these mangroves in the area and created this. A beautiful disaster indeed. 📍Sunrise Boulevard, Baganga
⏰⏳ SAMPLE ITINERARY:
DAY 0
8:00 PM ETA Davao City
9:00 PM Check-in
DAY 1
4:00 AM ETD for Mati
7:30 AM ETA Mati / breakfast
8:30 AM ETD for Sleeping Dinosaur
10:30 AM ETD for Dahican Beach
12:00 PM Lunch
3:00 PM ETD for Baganga
6:00 PM ETD Baganga / check-in
DAY 2
6:00 AM Wake-up call/breakfast
7:00 AM Baganga whole day tour
6:00 PM Back to lodge / dinner
DAY 3
5:00 AM Wake-up call / check-out
6:00 AM ETD for Cateel
7:00 AM ETA Cateel
7:30 AM ETD for Aliwagwag Falls
8:00 AM ETA Aliwagwag Falls
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM ETD for Davao City
💰💶 ESTIMATED BUDGET (for a solo traveler): Php 6,000 – Php 7,000 (exclusive of airfare)
***Expenses may vary depending on the type of accommodation you will avail and personal consumption of food and other necessities. If traveling alone, you will solely shoulder the guide fees and motorcycle/tricycle transfer and tour rates.
☎ Contact:
📌Tricycle Driver in Mati City: Kuya Nonoy (09972610744)
The next day, we needed to get our asses back on the road for the second phase of our trip. We first went to Lake Carolina before checking out. We would have wanted to take a swim but it was going to be a long ride again to reach Surigao del Sur. It was time to bid goodbye to Davao Oriental. 📍Lake Carolina, Baganga After two years, I decided to visit the other side of Davao Oriental. I was on a solo backpacking trip in July 2016 (thanks to my flaky friends who were supposed to go with me at that time) when I visited Mati City. 📍Aliwagwag Falls, CateelAfter spending the night in Tagum City, I hopped on a van bound for Mati the next day. Upon reaching the city, I first had breakfast at Jollibee then negotiated with a tricycle driver outside if he could take me to Sleeping Dinosaur and Dahican Beach. 📍Sunrise Boulevard, BagangaMy original plan was to try out riding the ultralight aircraft in Mati. Unfortunately, I had already spent a fortune since I was traveling alone and I had to shoulder all the expenses especially the rental fees for the tours/transfers via motorcycle or tricycle (thanks again to my flaky friends). 📍San Victor Island, BagangaIt was a weekend that’s why Dahican Beach was crowded. Actually, saying that the beach was jam-packed is an understatement. It seemed like a blockbuster movie just came out in the movie theatres. I patiently waited for photobombers to get out of my frames. It felt like the gods somehow answered my prayers because I was able to capture some photos without other people in it. 📍Dahican Beach, Mati CityMy next stop was the sleeping Plesiosaurus. The view deck was actually along the national highway but I opted to just ask the tricycle driver to take me there as well. I took only a few photos and selfies. My service then brought me back to the terminal of buses. It was time to go back to Davao City. 📍Sleeping Dinosaur, Mati CityThere had been numerous instances that I had to travel alone but it’s actually a fun experience, to be honest. Besides, the tricycle and motorcycle drivers and guides serve as my company every time I would venture on a solo expedition. Moreover, I get to learn their way of life as residents of the municipalities I visit. Backpacking after all is a cultural immersion. 📍Aliwagwag Falls, Cateel
***For more photos in Davao Oriental, please click this link. For other destinations in Davao Region, you may visit this link.
