Mati City Sunrise
The City of Mati offers beautiful landscapes and a number of beautiful resorts. The Provincial Capital Building and park rises atop the hill commanding a fantastic view of the Pujada Bay. Other plateaus that offer a bird's eye view of the town are Mati Tourism Complex and Badas Viewdeck.
Mati has always been known as a beach destination. Dahican is one of the most popular destinations in Mati with its 17-kilometer pure, fine white sand shore. Masao has been visited by tourists from Finland, Australia, USA, Japan and Korea. Pujada Bay boasts 15,700 species of sea life and has been considered as among the richest bays in South East Asia. Lobsters, Sea Cow (locally known as Dugong), bottlenose dolphin, hammerhead shark, manta ray and different kinds of turtles are among the most protected by the locals.
Recently, skimboarding, surfing, and frisbee sports have established a wide fandom among young locals with Dahican being the favorite hub for tournaments in the region. Putting Bato waterfalls located in Barrio Limot is embraced by wild vegetation.
Culture and Festivals
The City of Mati celebrates two annual grand festivals dubbed as the Pujada Bay Festival every June and Sambuokan Festival every October. Compared to Kadayawan of Davao and other of the country's older cities, both of Mati's festivals are relatively new.
In years, both festivals have become alternative tourists’ destinations as competitors from various regions in the country start pouring in for competitions like street dancing, boat racing, skim boarding, and frisbee.
Booming Economy
Mostly, the local people rely on agriculture and agro-industries for living. Different products like banana, pineapples, coconut and fish are exported to other countries. This region is linked to the markets of Mindanao, Malaysia and Indonesia. Because of its tropical nature and beaches, tourism is a rapidly growing business here. And with its large deposits of copper on its outskirts, mining is also contributing to the city's economy.
Experience Night Life
In the City of Mati, people always want to unwind during the night after a hard day’s work, they do it by going in groups with their friends, and do bar hopping for the entire night or perhaps go on a week end trip to a resort and spend the nights on the beach.
For a traveler, if he is a foreigner and he chooses to be checked-in to a hotel in the middle of the city, then during night time it would be his chance to experience Mati’s night life that is definitely exciting. In the city center, he can choose among the bars to hang out with his friends or relatives. By hanging out in the bars, he will be able to listen to the type of music that Matinians enjoy and he will also get the chance to try out the best sea food in the region since the city is a good source of fish and other sea products. This type of nightlife is also usually practiced by the younger generation Matinians. They would often hop from one bar to another to be able to check out if a particular bar would be having some specialties for the night or perhaps showcase one of their favorite local bands.
Before the travelers go on a night out, they should try out the sumptuous meals that city's restaurants offer. Perhaps they can even try out the food of the restaurant during or after their night out, since a number of them should still be opened in the wee hours of the morning.
Religious Sites
Carmelite Monastery - Located in a hilly part of Mati City, Carmelite Monastery is a 16-hectare monastery and one of the busiest places during Holy Week.
Carmelite Monastery
Mati City
Pujada Bay
Sight-seeing at "The Sleeping Dinosaur"
Oak Island
Mayo Bay
Masao Beach
Dahican beach
How to get there
Mati, the provincial capital of Davao Oriental, can be reached from Manila by taking any of the daily scheduled airline flights to Davao City or regularly scheduled inter-island vessels which ply the Manila-Davao City route. From, Davao City, Mati is accessible by 25-minute chartered plane or via 3-hour private car ride or a 4-hour public utility bus ride on a fully concreted and/or asphalted highways.
Pedicab or tricycle is the major means of transportation around town. In recent years, underbone motorcycles have earned quite a popularity among professionals and students, and thus easily became a public transport alternative to commuters who prefer more speed. Jeepneys are available for travels from Mati to the neighboring towns while vans and buses are still the only means of transportation from Mati to the neighboring cities.