Cape San Agustin

Cape San Agustin in Davao Oriental

Cape San Agustin is the most southeasterly point in the Philippines situated in the island of Mindanao, between the capital City of Mati and the coastal town of Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental, facing the vast raging waters of Celebes Sea on the south and the calm waters of Davao Gulf on the west. Known of old as "Provincia de Caraga, 1609," which stretches from the Cape of Surigao in the north-end, and down to the Cape of San Agustin, it was considered a most important strategic navigational demarcation during the Spanish colonial era. The area was also of strategic importance for the Americans and Japanese in World War II where both forces had radar installations near the Cape. Cape San Agustin was a favorite hunting ground by American submarines in WWII, and many Japanese shipwrecks are reputed to lie in this area.

Map of Davao Oriental

San Agustin Lighthouse

Today, Cape San Agustin is more than just a strategic navigational demarcation area; it is now an important tourism spot in Davao Oriental as it features several historical landmarks that date back during Spanish time, stunning beaches and other attractions:

Parola or the San Agustin Lighthouse

The San Agustin Lighthouse, popularly called "Parola," is one of the chief attractions in Cape San Agustin. There are actually three lighthouses that stand magnificently in an area of about 2,186 square meters, situated some 100 meters at the farthest end of Cape San Agustin, overlooking the sea. The oldest lighthouse was built in 1938 and stands about 50 feet from the ground. It has an exterior spiral staircase of 93 steps leading to the top. The second one in the middle is an umbrella-shape structure towering to about 80 feet in height. The third and newest lighthouse is painted in white with a height of 100 feet.

The Three Lighthouses of Parola

The view from the top of these lighthouses command a stunning panoramic view of the Celebes Sea and the Gulf of Davao, and many locals and visitors regularly gather here to witness the breathtaking, almost postcard-like view of the Sunset in the horizon.

Closer view of the Parola Lighthouses

From the Parola down to the other side of the lighthouses is a stunning stretch of pink sand beach surrounded by a greenery of towering coconut trees and lush vegetation facing the ravaging waves of the crystal clear turquoise waters of Celebes Sea. It is called the Parola Beach, also known as Pundaguitan Beach. The pink coloration of the sand of Parola Beach is due to the abundance of red organ pipe coral sediments in the area mixed with white sand. There are only two known pink beaches in the Philippines; the other one is in Sta. Cruz Island in Zamboanga City, also in Mindanao.

The Parola Beach

The farthest side of Parola Beach is dotted with sea rocks and different rock formations marvelously shaped overtime by the strong waves of Celebes Sea. Among those sea rocks and rock formations, one extraordinary rock formation witnessed the foundation of Christianity in the Province where Spanish missionary priest, St. Francis Xavier, celebrated the first Holy Eucharist and Holy Mass on the stones of the Cape, naming the cathedral-like form of the stone-facade as "The Altar" when he arrived in the Philippines in 1550. This natural rock wonder is about 60 feet high and faces the endless smash of big waves of Pacific Ocean at Barangay Lavigan.

St. Francis Xavier was named patron saint of Governor Generoso in view of the saint's personal presence in Cape San Agustin in 1550.

The Altar of Cape San Agustin

Cape of San Agustin is an ecological wonder in itself. It is home to thousands of flying fox, locally known as "kabog," and within its waters lies the San Agustin Reef. The reef is approximately three kilometers long and about a kilometer wide and is home to whales, locally known as "buhotan;" dolphins, locally known as "lumod;" and sea cows, locally known as "dugong." While the reef is hardly a popular site for diving because of its remoteness and strong currents, the area is rich in marine life and much of the corals are pristine. The coral reef has been described as a 'double atoll' and lies on the dividing line between the Celebes Sea and Pacific Ocean. It is said that this large reef could act as a 'seed bank' for coral and marine life within the Gulf of Davao.

The San Agustin Reef

How to get to Cape San Agustin

Cape San Agustin is situated at Sitio Talisay, in Barangay Lavigan, the southernmost barangay of Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, and to get there, one has to pass through several other south district barangays from Poblacion (town center). It is about two to two and a half hour drive from Davao City via private transportation or public utility buses at the Ecoland Bus Terminal, or L300 vans at Gaisano Mall and Victoria Plaza in Bajada to reach Governor Generoso.

For more information and assistance, the Municipal Tourism Office at Barangay Poblacion, Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental may be contacted at Telefax +6382 440 354.

Bonsai Forest

Bonsai Forest in Mount Hamiguitan

Bonsai is a widely popular and quite expensive pursuit of art form where specific species of trees suitable for bonsai development are meticulously cut and shaped to restrict its growth; with its crown defoliated, and root pruned, and grafted periodically to make them small and compact purposely to mimic the shape and style of mature, full-grown trees. It is an ancient art form that has become a tradition in Japan and other Asian countries. But, in the Philippines, particularly in Davao Oriental, Mindanao, Bonsai trees are naturally grown and shaped over time, untouched by human hands.

This unique wonder of nature can only be found in the lush forest of Mount Hamiguitan located within the boundaries of Mati, Governor Generoso, and San Isidro, Davao Oriental. Popularly known as "Bonsai Forest", it is the Philippines' largest and only protected forest noted for its unique bonsai field or 'pygmy' forest of outstanding universal value. It sits in an elevation of 5,345 feet above sea level, covering a sprawling area of almost a thousand hectares of 16 species of century-old bonsai trees of twisted trunks and branches that grow naturally to an average height of about 1.4 meters. The bonsai trees are very sturdy that one can literally stand over it without falling. Because of the rampant timber poaching, illegal logging, and over harvesting of forest products and resources, Mt. Hamiguitan and its vicinities was declared a protected area under the category of wildlife sanctuary and its peripheral areas as buffer zone by virtue of Republic Act 9303 on July 30, 2004.

Mount Hamiguitan is a declared protected area

The entire Mount Hamiguitan covers a land area of about 31,000 hectares and is home to many endemic, rare, endangered and economically important flora and fauna, and is part of the reason why the Philippines ranks seventh among the 17 biologically rich countries of the world that represent fast disappearing habitats of globally important species of plants and animals. 

Mount Hamiguitan is considered ultramafic. It has a kind of soil that contains high level of heavy metallic compounds that makes it suitable for bonsai trees to grow naturally. Unlike other ultramafic forests in the Philippines, Mount Hamiguitan has several special and unique species of century old miniature trees. 

Bonsai Tree at the peak of Mount Hamiguitan 

Philippines' largest and only protected forest

noted for its unique bonsai forest of outstanding universal value

A typical form of a natural bonsai tree

about 1.4 meters tall, century old, twisted trunks and branches

Mossy-Pygmy forest

Hidden inside the thick bonsai forest are living trees that seem lifeless at a first glance due to its unusual branch structure and color. This plant community exists at the Mossy-Pygmy forest of Mount Hamiguitan.

This is one of the 10 amphibian species identified in Mount Hamiguitan

wherein seven of which are endemic to the Philippines

Nepenthes Peltata

Nepenthes Peltata is one of the three tropical pitcher plant species that can be found only in the upper slopes of Mount Hamiguitan. It is a plant species endemic only in the Philippines and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Full grown pitcher plant

Full grown orchid

Almaciga Bonsai Tree

Shown in above photograph is a full grown but waist-high Almaciga (Agathis philippinensis) bonsai tree which is already bearing fruit. Normally, Almaciga grows at a height of 15 meters or so at its natural habitat with a diameter cannot be embraced by two persons joining hands together. 

Tinagong Dagat atop Mount Hamiguitan

Tinagong Dagat (Hidden Sea) is situated a thousand feet above sea level, atop Mount Hamiguitan. The site is uninhabited and considered as one of the most puzzling phenomena of nature; a mysterious lake having high and low tide cycles as if a sea rises in the mountain - only in Mount Hamiguitan.

Unusual rock formation in Mount Hamiguitan

 Twin Falls

Twin Falls is an identical cascade of waters situated in Barangay La Union, near the Bonsai Forest. It is a popular stop-over to mountaineers and trekkers where they refresh after a stressful journey in and out of Mount Hamiguitan.