101 Reasons to Visit My Birthplace
Text and photos by Jojie Alcantara

Mati was once the sleepy, quiet town with a hidden wealth of natural beauty which I proudly wrote about in Mabuhay Magazine in 2007. Today, the capital of Davao Oriental enjoys the surge of tourist influx and word-of-mouth hype from people who are relieved to find a nearby escape from the hustle of stressful urban life.

I was born in this simple town and whisked away in infancy to live and grow in Davao City. But my childhood memories are vividly filled with summer visits and frolics in our popular beaches with cousins. Caressed by the stunning blue Pacific Ocean, Mati's geographical location affords a lengthy coastal line filled with powdery white sands, it is blessed with an enchanting panorama of the deep blue.

Dahican, the most popular beach, is an extended strip of stunning white beach lined with coconut trees, facing sparkling turquoise waters that ebb and flow wildly into the Pacific, inviting adventurous skimboarders to surf in glee. But there is more to Mati than sand and sea, and glorious island hopping.

Now that my once lazy hometown is brought into the limelight, it has been highly commended for more tourist attractions like coastal villages, mangrove and turtle sanctuaries, Philippine Eagle and tarsier habitat, cultural museums and tribal weaving centers, durian and pomelo farms, ukaylandia (that last part is for vintage hoarders/treasure hunters like me). Beach resorts prominently emerge to lure tourists and bakasyonistas in their lairs, several of them fast becoming charming havens to people. A day's jaunt is never enough.

From the Davao City airport, a 165-km. trip by private vehicle or airconditioned bus takes less than three hours to Mati with a scenic travel along a winding coastal path, the 8-km zigzagging Badas road on a cliff. From this vantage point, the sudden sight of the Sleeping Dinosaur at once enchants you, a charming reminder that you are now entering Mati’s wonderful realm. For more information, check out www.mati.gov.ph.