Our trip started in Davao City with a pleasant drive on good roads to Mati, with a short stop at the Tagum City Hall under construction, a truly humongous building. The road follows the Davao Gulf and passes scenic Pujada Bay before reaching Mati. We then proceeded to the stunning Dahican Beach, a 4-km stretch of white sand facing the Pacific Ocean. We stayed at  Kanakbai, a two-room resort near the North end of the beach (tel 0905 3119198). There is no restaurant but the staff can shop and cook for guests. Another cheaper option is the Botona resort, which has a restaurant that serves basic food. The road to Bobon, further South on the Guanguan Peninsula offers beautiful views of the coast, on both sides of the peninsula. In Mati, I can recommend the breezy La’ne’s Kan-anan restaurant (easy to find behind the Shell station).

We then proceeded to Pusan Point, at the end of a 9-km dirt road that starts at Barangay Santiago, a few kilometers South of Caraga. A sign at the junction shows the way. Pusan Point is the easternmost point of the Philippines and consists of sharp limestone rocks jutting into the Pacific. On 31 December 1999, this was the site of a great gathering of people who wanted to be the first to see the first sunrise of the new millennium in the Philippines. A marker commemorates the event. A large cross and a lighthouse also stand at the site.