CITY OF MATI, Davao Oriental, Philippines — Davao Oriental’s crown jewel, Pujada Bay, and two other bays in the province —Mayo and Balete — have been declared as among the world’s most beautiful.
In a letter to Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang dated Feb. 19, 2020, Michel Bujold, world president of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World, said the club’s board of directors had voted in favor of accepting the three bays as new members.
The three bays are all in Mati.
In 2017, Davao Oriental province has applied for inclusion of Pujada Bay in the elite list. Prior to the inclusion of the three bays, the association listed 43 bays in 27 countries as members.
Last month, two top officials of the club arrived in this city for a four-day “grand validation and visit.”
“Pujada Bay is almost a virgin paradise!” Bruno Bodard, the club’s general manager, said then.
“It is nicer. It is much more beautiful than we expected. The Philippines is a very nice country. You have the jewel in Pujada Bay,” Bodard added.
“This place beguiles and inspires, sedates and stirs, where the distance between heaven and earth collapse and you will be able to catch glimpses of the divine or the infinite as you are united with nature,” said club treasurer Guy Rousset, one of the two validators.
“A truly wonderful experience awaits you here,” added Rousset.
Although only Pujada Bay was applied for, the validation covered the two other bays which also wowed the validators for the cleanliness of its waters.
During the validation visit, Bodard reminded Dayanghirang and Mati Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat that membership in the club requires them to commit “to saving the natural heritage of your bay.”
“You have to preserve the identity of your bay and respect the way of life and the traditions of those that inhabit the area while ensuring economic development compatible with these commitments,” Bodard counseled.
Encompassing some 20,887 hectares, Pujada Bay is a U-shaped body of water in idyllic Mati, the capital of Davao Oriental. It is a protected landscape and seascape.
The bay is bounded in the east by the Guang-Guang Peninsula and by the Pujada Peninsula in the west. Pujada Island stood in its mouth that opens to the Philippine Sea fronting the Pacific Ocean.
Because it is relatively safe from strong winds and waves, the bay offers shelter for seafarers and fishers during storms.
White sand beaches and calm blue waters amid a backdrop of mountain ranges conspire to provide a picturesque view of the bay.
It is more known for the promontory dubbed the “Sleeping Dinosaur Island” because it forms like a reclining Tyrannasorous Rex.
According to Dayanghirang, the provincial government sought inclusion of the bay in the list of the world’s most beautiful “to share its magnificent assets to the people of the world who would like to experience the natural and cultural richness of our place.”
Rabat has earlier expected a tourism boom in the city and province once Pujada makes it to the list of the world’s most beautiful bays.
Davao Oriental has 259 Department of Tourism-registered tourist attractions. In 2019, tourist arrivals have surpassed the million mark, compared with 801,479 in 2018.
/atm