THE City of Mati, Davao Oriental, prides itself with its white sand beach, particularly Dahican; which through the years has become a place for surfers and body boarders. It is also rich in marine resources such that free seafood is common fare.
What has not been fully explored is its potential as a diving destination. The first question that need to be answered is: does Mati have anything to offer?
At first glance, it holds much. Except that, the exploratory dives planned ran smack into bad weather, only one dive was successfully done off Waniban Island.
With a team from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and this writer and dive buddy Carlos Munda tapped to explore last month, the underwater of Waniban somehow hints at some potential, but does not have that wow factor to bring the divers all the way from Davao City, where most divers emanate from, which is from three to five hours away.
The next dive was supposed to be closer to shore at the Tamisan Protected Water Scape, but time has ran out, and dusk was settling in. Evening of that day, it rained like mad complete with lashing winds. The dawn showed some promise, except that, rain and wind came in almost the same intensity. The exploration had to be called off. You don't dare challenge nature in literally unfamiliar waters.
What's interesting, however, was that the community at Tam-isan have been trained on entertaining visitors and preparing food for them, and that by itself is a very good start. But more exploration must be made.
One thing that is awesome is the very clear visibility. You can see far into the deep blue. Almost ten years ago, we explored Lucatan village in Tarragona, Davao Oriental, the next town after Mati, and it was a beautiful dive with all kinds of critters and fish, including marine turtles and giant batfish. We're hoping to be able to explore once again. If only...