Since Dinagat islands became a province in 2006 it has become part of my bucket list of places to visit. However, its creation as a province was not without controversy from the start. In 2010 it reverted back to becoming part of Surigao del Norte. The Supreme Court again reversed its decision and finally proclaimed the constitutionality of its creation in 2012. Since then, the province has gradually awakened to the fact that tourism could boost the income of the province. Being a province, tourists could already be lured to the place. Hence infrastructures are slowly being built and prepared for the influx of tourists for indeed Dinagat has its fair share of spots that can be enjoyed by tourists who are out looking for something extraordinary not found in other popular places of destination.
The province consists of seven municipalities which were carved from the main town of Dinagat: Loreto, Cagdianao, Libjo, Basilisa, Tubajon and San Jose. The main string to fame of the island before is that it is the stronghold of the PBMA (Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association) founded by Ruben Ecleo, Sr. in 1965. In the seventies there were many converts from the Visayas and Mindanao who migrated to the islands in the belief that only those who were in Dinagat will be saved.
My visit to Dinagat started in the capital town of San Jose. We were able to book a place at the Bahay Turista Mini Chalet, an accommodation being administered by the Department of Tourism. Aside from being the Tourism office of the province, it also has some aircon rooms for tourists to stay.
We used a motorbike to go around the mainland. Our first destination was the town of Cagdianao. We visited the Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, the municipal hall and the Tagbirayan Beach. Then we went the town of Dinagat visiting the Immaculate Conception Parish Church which was on the hilly part of the town. From Dinagat we went back to the capital town of San Jose passing by their unfinished Provincial Capitol and the iconic White Castle, the residence of the Ecleo family which sits on top of the mountain and can be seen as one approaches the island. As the capital town of San Jose is mostly composed of members of the PBMA, there is no Catholic parish church in town. We were even surprised that there are no liquours, not even beer are sold in the town of San Jose.
The second day was island hopping day. We passed by Lalaking Bukid, an island which looks like a man sleeping. Our first stop was at the Bababu cove. From there we went for a hike to the top of the forested mountain only to descend again to the Lake Bababu. The lake has an underwater channel linked to the sea, feeding it with salt water from below. But the lack of wind action on the surface results to its striking stillness, allowing the freshwater layer above to maintain its low salinity despite the continuous input of seawater. Meromictic is how marine scientists refer to the phenomenon when layers of saltwater and freshwater do not intermix even if they are both contained in the same basin.
Further on, we passed by the islets belonging to the towns of Basilisa and Libjo. One group of islets were called Kisses islets as they resembled like the Kisses chocolates. In between a group of islets that we visited was called a Tidal pool as it resembled a huge pool with blue waters. On the sides of the pool were plenty of edible sea weeds (latu). Visited Punta Buena Suerte a resort in one of the islands of Libjo. Before going back to San Jose, we passed by Cuyos Sandbar and Bitaog beach which all have fine white sand.
