The Island Explorer

Waniban Island is located in Pujada Bay. It is a small island nearby Cinco Masau in the western coastline of Mati. From Cinco Masau, it was a 25 minute boat ride that cost us opnly P800 roundtrip. The boat was a tourist boat, so, it had comfortable seats, unlike fishing boats that are commonly used by tourists like me in provinces. We docked by the shores of Waniban and was happy to see that we were the only remaining guests. The rest went back on our boat when we arrived. Thus, we had the whole island to ourselves and the caretakers. Cottages can be rented, there are around 5. So, I am assuming it's a great stopover for an island BBQ lunch. The island has fine white sand, not powdery though, but more coral like Palawan's. The sun shone after a while, and we just laid under a tree by the beach. It was paradise indeed. Imagine having a view of of the wavy and mystical mountains Davao Oriental against clear blue waters. I explored the island on foot, which only took 15 minutes. T

Cinco Massau has a great story to tell. Years ago, the owner of the resort risked his money and land to put up cottages by the sea. Perseverance and dedication eventually led into the expansion of Cinco Massau, now one of the most popular resorts in Mati. Cinco Massau is located on the western coastline of Mati. From Dahican Beach, it's a rough 15 minute drive to Massau Beach, where the resort is located. The resort is popular among the masses, and is unique because the cottages are located on stilts that extend almost 300 meters to the sea. We saw the place packed with locals as it was a Sunday. You can rent cottages for P300 for a day, or P800 for a night. The cottages are so basic though, without anything else but a sole double bed and a dining area outside. There are 5 concrete aircons rooms in the mainland though for P1,500 each. We had our lunch there, which was also basic. They really don't serve food, since most of the guests arrive with prepared food. You can also gril

Finally, I am back on my own shores. I have been missing exploring Philippines since the year started. So, when the chance to go to Davao came, I hopped on a flight and headed off to one of the burgeoning destinations in the South, the emerging city of Mati in Davao Oriental. Dubbed as the new backpackers haven, the relatively small city of Mati offers beach excursions and island adventures. The trip to Mati from Davao took 3 hours, though our driver was wild. You can take a bus to Mati from the Northern Terminal of Davao City. We sped over concrete and "under construction" roads. Arriving in Mati, we were treated to a great view of the peninsula. We left at 7:30 AM in Davao City and arrived in Dahican Beach, our first stop, at the east coast of Mati at 10:30AM. Dahican Beach was dubbed as another Boracay of the South (I really hate it when people say Boracay of their area). Truth is, Dahican Beach is more like Pagudpud. There were locals swimming, and I only spotted a few to

Our Viet-Cam Adventure has come to an end. As we arrive in Saigon at night, we decided we should make the most out of our remaining time. So, we decided to dine in one of Saigon's most popular Vietnamese restaurants, Quan An Ngon.  Located near the Cathedral, this beautiful and bustling French style villa restaurant serves excellent local dishes prepared on the spot. Quan An Ngon has already been an icon in the city, as hordes of tourists and locals swear by the food that is displayed like an open market. Let your senses guide you to what you want to eat, as you survey the food stalls that are scattered around its gardens. Quan An Ngon is definitely one of the best in the city and a trip to Saigon won't be complete without pigging out here. After a heavy yet very satisfying meal, we decided to find dessert, particularly ice cream. I remembered a local ice cream parlor that served unique flavors. The name of the ice cream parlor was Bach Dang. I also thought of walking to the pl

When I go abroad for R&R for at least 5 days, I try to mix in as much travel experiences as possible. I have three travel categories that I normally rotate: culture, urban and nature. For this trip, we already had our cultural fix with Angkor Wat, the urban with Saigon and for nature, Mui Ne. I initially planned to go to Sihanoukville, a burgeoning beach destination in Cambodia's only coastline. But I've heard that it's not really that nice beach wise. I also realized that traveling with Filipinos, you get high standards for beaches. So, I didn't try to impress based the quality of beach, but on what can be done in the area. Hence, I took the risk of taking everyone to Mui Ne, which is popularly known for one astonishing geological formation, the Sand Dunes. There are actually two sand dune destinations in Mui Ne, the White and Red San Dunes. The Red Sand Dunes were nearer the resort town. Since it was about to hit lunch time, the sun was high, so we decided to go a

After visiting the nearby fishing village, we asked our guide to take us to a lunch venue by the beach. He brought us to this seaside "dampa". The seafood here was fresh and very appetizing. The crabs were huge and had a lighter color (don't know what that meant though). Each weighed 3 kilos minimum. Some vendors also tried to sell us crayfish, prawns, lobsters and all sorts of other crustaceans. In the end, our lunch menu included the following: Grilled Scallops and Prawns and Steamed Crabs. All naked, meaning no cooking sauces. We only asked for soy sauce, lemon and salt. We had difficulty buying, since our guide again seemed to have conned us into paying for more. Disheartened and already angry at the tour guide, we threatened the vendors to cancel our orders. But the crabs were already in the pot, so the vendors argued with our tour guide. In the end, we fought our tour guide, paid the price we agreed upon with the vendor, and apologized to the vendors. We knew it was

The next day was tour day. Since we rented the van for the whole duration of our stay, we had something of a customized tour, at our own pace. That's what I like about renting your own transportation. And if you do your math, more often than not, especially when you're with a group of more than 3, you get to save a lot of money. So, in Mui Ne, we hopped on our van, and visited our first destination: The Fishing Village. The coastal towns of Vietnam are mostly fishing villages, and in Phan Thiet (province where Mui Ne is), you could see a lot of a unique type of boat: the basket boat. The basket boats are unique to Vietnam, so the traditional boat has become a tourist magnet. Most local fishermen still use these basket boats, to carry their catch. Some use bigger boats to pull these basket boats filled with bounty. You can actually see plenty of huge fishing vessels, an indication of a thriving fishing industry.  We rode a basket boat and paid 50,000 VND, which is pretty expensi