Daanbantayan is a highly urbanised city in the province of Cebu. According to the 2008 census, it had a population of 73,000. The city territory also includes the island of Malapascua. Every year, it hosts the colourful Haladaya Festival in honour of the city's legendary founder Datu Daya. The name of the city itself comes from the words “daan”, which means “old” in the local dialect, and “bantayan” - this was the name of the guard post from which local residents monitored the approach of Moro pirates.
Today, this small town is considered a tourist paradise of northern Cebu. It is known for its beaches with fine white sand, especially particularly good on Malapascua Island. Dive sites teeming with marine life, attract hundreds of dive enthusiasts. Only here can you see the giant manta ray and fox sharks.
The town itself is also home to several attractions, such as, the municipal building, called the Tribunal, which was built by the Spanish. The first municipality building was wooden with bamboo inclusions, and in 1916 a reinforced concrete building was constructed. Just after the World War II, two wooden flimsies were added to it, one on the south side and one on the north side. These were later replaced by stone two-storey extensions.
Another landmark of the town is the Church of Santa Rosa de Lima, built in the mid-19th century with the help of the locals. The church is built of brick blocks and is still in good condition, although the inside has already been Santa Rosa de Lima has undergone restoration work and the original design has been altered. However facade of the church has remained intact and retains its original appearance.
The historic site is Cape Tapilon, which was the site of the same Datu Daya watchtower that gave the town its name. From here, the watchtower was used to watch for the approach of the warlike Moro pirates who would often enslave Datu Daya's subjects. Datu Daya's subjects into slavery. Unfortunately, no remnants of the tower have survived remains of that tower. Today, the site is a private estate.
You can’t miss the island of Malapascua, discovered by a Spaniard whose ship ran aground here on Christmas Day 1520. Because he had to spend such an important holiday away from family and friends on an uninhabited island, the ship's captain called it "Mala Pasqua", which means "Bad Christmas". Since then, although the locals still insist, that the real name of the island is Logon. Here in 1890 a miracle happened - an image of the Virgin Mary was found on a piece of wood. It's said that the image is still continues to grow in size. Believers from all over the Philippines and even abroad from all over the Philippines and even abroad, come here to worship the Virgin Mary, whose image is today is kept in a specially built chapel.
In the coastal waters of Malapascua Island is the popular dive site Monad Shoal - at first glance unremarkable flat shoal, which is not so much coral. However, thousands of tourists are willing to fly halfway around the world to to scuba dive here, as it's the only place where you can see to see amazing fox sharks at depths of just 20 metres. Normally, fox sharks live at depths of 350 metres and it's not clear why they're so close to the surface so close to the surface. In addition to sharks, the waters off Monad Shoala there are manta rays, sea eagles and hammerhead sharks.
A 50-minute boat ride from Malapascua is the small island of Gato - a rock that grows out of nowhere right in the middle of the Visayan Sea. On Gato Gato is home to many species of nesting birds, and the forest that covers the cliffs is home to flying foxes. In the coastal waters of the island you can see myriads of rare nudibranchs, and reef sharks live in underwater caves.
