Dashing into Dahican Strip (Part 1)

Summer’s over in the country but for me it’s one season that doesn’t really have a definite ending. As long as there’s a slice of nature where I can enjoy a summery dose of sun, sea and sand, my restless feet will always find their way there.

Pujada Bay

If there’s one tourist magnet near Davao which I’ll never tire of paying a visit to get the best of the summer season, it’ll most likely be Mati. Having been there many times in recent months, I’m head over heels for the city and its natural come-ons.

Dahican Beach

As my thoughts turn to nature during the last few days of May, I heard once again the reverberating call of the city’s popular beach: Dahican. Little did I know that not a few of my co-workers wanted to dash into that top destination in Mati, too!

When I shared about my plan for a last summer hurrah in Dahican, it elicited one question from them: “When do we leave?” How can I say no to that? LOL! Thus, what was originally a solo sojourn turned into a weekend wandering with some of my officemates!

Together with Roy, Kim, Alex, Maliz and our friend, Tessa, I drove once again to Mati (my second sojourn this year!) for our summer escapade to Davao Oriental. Except for Alex and me, the rest of Team Dahican hasn’t visited Mati before.

  

Three of us—Kim, Alex and myself—took turns in steering the wheel. Driving to Mati had us speeding our way through the three provinces of Davao Region—Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental, where Mati is.

Encountering little traffic, my car took us past the palm trees of bustling Tagum City, the coastal municipalities of Maco, Mabini and Pantukan, the verdant plains of the rice and coconut-producing towns of Banaybanay, Lupon and Isidro and, finally, Mati.  

Sleeping Dinosaur Island

Approaching Davao Oriental’s capital, the generally straight road gives way to a long and winding stretch, flanked by craggy elevations on one side and deep ravines on the other, with matching magnificent glimpses of picturesque Pujada Bay.

Because most of my companions were first-timers, a stopover for a slew of selfies with the Sleeping Dinosaur Island and Pujada Bay, two of Mati’s picture-perfect attractions, at the background was sort of customary, if not obligatory. LOL!

  

We pulled over at Badas, a lookout point along the highway that offers a commanding view of the bay and the islands dotting it. With DSLRs, digicams and smartphones in tow, the team indulged in a seemingly never-ending photo shoot! 

Usual travel time from Davao to Mati is about three hours at the most. Add to that about 10 to 15 minutes of selfie time at Badas. LOL! From there, you’ll reach downtown Mati after meandering some more along the zigzag road for about 10 minutes. Add again another 20 to 25 minutes and you’ll be in Dahican. 

Before proceeding to Dahican, we made a detour to one of Mati’s mouth-watering fixtures to give in to the grumbling of our tummies—Seaside Restaurant. So named because of its location (adjacent to Pujada Bay), the restaurant offers the most delectable dishes consisting mostly of seafood caught from the waters surrounding the city.
 

For lunch, we had sea bounties galore—kinilaw na malasugue (blue marlin ceviche), sinugbang pusit (grilled squid), prawns in chili and garlic sauce and pesang dugso (red axil emperor fish soup with veggies), with piping hot rice and cold soda to boot! 

Mati Baywalk

After lunch, we stretched our muscles by walking towards the baywalk located beside the restaurant. There, we had another round of photo ops at one of the city's most-frequented spot.

Not a few of the places I’ve visited in various parts of the country have put up signages affirming the inhabitants’ love for their place. Mati is no exception. It also has this free-standing “I ♥ Mati” sign along the baywalk which always attracts tourists obsessed with selfies. 

For this sojourn, the signage once again stood as mute witness to the selfies our team shot there. Incidentally, a similar standee has also been put up right smack at Dahican Beach, where we also indulged ourselves to several rounds of photo ops. LOL!
 

Visitors wanting to go to Mati but have no rides or would rather commute may hop into any of the aircon buses and vans plying the Davao-Mati route. If I’m not mistaken, vehicles bound for this route leave every hour. Arriving in Mati, commuters may take any tricycle that could bring them to Dahican. 

Once a secret known only to locals, Dahican, whose name means “to come in from the sea” in the native tongue, is blessed with a seven-kilometer immaculate stretch that’s caressed by the cerulean blue waters of the country’s south seas. 

Arguably, the beach has one of the finest grains I’ve seen so far here in Mindanao. So, you can just imagine the exhilaration, not to mention the ecstasy, which engulfed our first-timers when their world-weary feet stepped into Dahican’s creamy white sands! :-D

(to be continued)

Magnetized by Mati City (Part 2)

Mati holds a special place in my heart. There’s something about the capital of Davao Oriental that seems to have magnetized a part of me. Perhaps it has something to do with those precious memories of my childhood that had taken place there so many summers ago. As a young boy, I used to spend not a few vacays in Mati where some of my maternal relatives used to live. 

All these years, I’d been hankering to visit the city anew. True enough, this came to  fruition last June when I, together with a group of high school buddies, went on a weekend wandering to the city (see my post at  http://scorpio-sojourn.blogspot.com/2013/07/magnetized-by-mati-city.html). It was, however, an overnight trip so we had little time to roam around. 

Landmark at Mati Park and Baywalk

So, I promised myself I’d return to Mati before the year ends, with or without travel buddies. After so many starts and stops, I pushed through with a lone—but not lonely—journey into the heart of Coconut Country. It was a bold decision that gave me cold feet for weeks prior to the trip, lasting up to the very day of my departure for the city! Go or no go?, I kept asking myself many times. 

Part of the zigzag road

What’s so scary about Mati? Absolutely nothing! It’s only me who has some unresolved issues that have kept me from exploring it on my own. Blame it on childhood traumas I haven’t conquered that time. As a kid, I remembered puking each time the bus started to negotiate through the serpentine stretch leading to the town. The rough and rugged condition of the road that time made it all worse.

Pujada Bay as seen from Badas

Lest I give the wrong impression, be assured that it’s safe, secure and stimulating to take your vacay in Mati. If one is coming from the cities of either Davao or Tagum, the well-paved stretch to the city is arguably one of Mindanao’s smoothest—so much so I was driving at speeds ranging from 80 to 110 kph at certain points! Good grief, traffic enforcers would have skinned me alive if I did that in our city!

It was truly a helluva catharsis for this vagabond who hasn’t run a car at those speeds for the longest time. What made me uncomfortable though was driving over the homestretch—the eight-kilometer zigzag road starting from Badas all the way to the city center. Surely, the sight of picturesque Pujada Bay and the distant cityscape of Mati would take your breath away but that’s not the issue here. 

One more look at Sleeping Dinosaur Island

Those who’ve driven a Mati-bound vehicle know how intimidating it is to navigate through that part of the road network. Definitely no room for error; any miscalculated maneuver by the driver on the way to the city could send the vehicle skidding into the edge of the ravines and—heaven forbid!—end up in a lethal fall down below. Now, that’s the part that really scared the hell out of me!

Archway to City Hall

But I was determined to conquer one of my fears. I’ve made a pact with myself that whenever I turn a year older, I have to overcome at least one of the things that had been sending shivers down my spine. Mustering up enough courage, I went on with the solo sojourn to Mati, which, to my delight, ended up as one of the most exhilarating stunts I’ve ever pulled in my whole life!

Fresh seafood stew for the soul

Mati Pylon

Having survived the gut-wrenching episode at the gorges, I felt new reserves of courage circulate throughout my nerves, arming me with renewed confidence to win the battle against self-doubt. Geez, I’ve freed myself from one of my greatest fears!, I heard myself saying. As a fitting reward for that feat, I treated myself to a hearty meal at one of my favorite seafood restos in town—Seaside Grill!

Dahican Beach

Surrounded by two bodies of water—Pujada Bay and Mayo Bay–Mati is admired for its white-sand beaches, foremost of which is Dahican Beach, which I, together with my travel mates, explored last June. Located about ten kilometers away from the city proper, the beach, known as the country’s Skimboarding Capital, attracts hordes of swimmers, skimboarders and other sun-worshipers. 

On this recent escapade to the city, however, I missed out on the captivating beach as I spent more time roaming around the downtown area. Instead of staying at a resort in Dahican just like the last time, I billeted myself in one of the old hotels in the city center so I can easily explore the interesting places there. I wanted to revisit a few landmarks and visit the new ones I didn’t see last June.

St. Nicholas of Tolentine Cathedral

On top of my itinerary was going to St. Nicholas of Tolentine Cathedral to say a prayer of thanks for a safe journey to Mati. Too bad, all the entrances to the church were locked that time so I proceeded to City Hall, which, I forgot, was also closed for the weekend! Whew, I ended up taking shots of two nearby landmarks I saw, the Mati Pylon and the City Hall Archway. Not bad. 

Pujada Bay at dusk

Later that afternoon, I went to the park and baywalk, which are just a few meters away from my hotel to watch the sun go down. Dusk was about to settle and I wanted to capture the fabulous event. Got to have my own take of that picture-perfect scene, I thought. To my dismay, the sunset over Pujada Bay turned out to be a bummer for me! It was a far cry from the picture-perfect snaps I’ve seen from various websites.  

Looking back, I take comfort at the crowning glory of my sojourn, that is, seeing two of Mati's three islands—Pujada and Waniban—albeit from a distance from a lookout point near Badas. Of the three, Pujada is the biggest, Waniban is next while Oak is the smallest, visible only at low tide and vanishes at high tide. I’d been raring to capture all of them in one frame but managed to snap only two. Too bad, I didn’t get to be in any of them.

Undoubtedly, the second coming to Mati this year was a dream come true for this dyed-in-the-wool thrill-seeker. It was a personal feat that upsized my sense of self into something I’ve never imagined. It was an exhilarating joyride that gave me not only a gritty taste of personal triumph over one of my fears but also a grisly aftertaste of life on the edge (pun intended…LOL!) while driving on my own. 

That confidence-building solitary sojourn to Davao Oriental’s capital arguably boosted my spirits.  I now feel more adequate, competent and empowered to mount yet another sojourn around Mindanao’s cities. After Mati, could Butuan, Iligan, Surigao, Tandag, General Santos and the others be far behind? Hmmm, the idea of driving my way to all of them thrills me to the max! 

A day after my Mati escapade, I came across these  wonderful, inspiring lines which I thought of quoting to wrap up this post. I couldn’t agree more with whoever wrote them. For me, it hit the nail right on the head. So, I say, many thanks, Mati, for helping me “cheat on one of my fears, break up with my doubts and get engaged with my faith. Now, I’m married to one of my dreams.” :D