Amihan sa Dahican - Save our Seas
The word Amihan is the Filipino name for the Northeast monsoon winds, influencing life in the Philippines from November/December to May/June each year. The winds create powerful waves at the southern coast of Mindanao, which are perfect fit for surfing and skimboarding. The Amihan sa Dahican Team was established in April 2004 with a threefold purpose: to conserve marine wildlife species in the bay, take care of young kids, and share surfing and skimboarding skills with visitors. Our motto is: "If you love nature, nature will love you back".
As a team, it is important to us to protect our marine wildlife through conservation activities, since Dahican Beach is a marine turtle sanctuary with three species of turtles nesting here, and the entire Mayo Bay is teeming with marine wildlife, such as whalesharks, dugongs, and dolphins. We patrol the beaches at night to protect turtle eggs from poachers and predators, and set up two hatcheries. We were also involved in several large-scale projects, such as the DENR-GEF/ADB Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project (ICRMP).
As a team, it is important to us to protect our marine wildlife through conservation activities, since Dahican Beach is a marine turtle sanctuary with three species of turtles nesting here, and the entire Mayo Bay is teeming with marine wildlife, such as whalesharks, dugongs, and dolphins. We patrol the beaches at night to protect turtle eggs from poachers and predators, and set up two hatcheries. We were also involved in several large-scale projects, such as the DENR-GEF/ADB Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project (ICRMP).
"If you love nature, nature will love you back."
-Amihan Team
In the early years, we got a reputation as a good training camp for skimboarding and surfing and earned awards in national and international competitions. It was then, that Dahican Bay was made known to the public because of the journalists, writers, and bloggers visiting the area. Many children came to the area to learn from Amihan, and our team decided to take care of these kids. Many of them dropped out of school and some walked away from their homes because of poverty. We serve as a second family to them and safeguard their value formation, encourage them to get education, thus offering them a chance to improve their lives.
At the same time, we love sharing our surfing and skimboarding skills, and teach these to visitors, as tourism at Dahican Beach is growing. The kids assist us with that and can earn their own income. With that comes of course also the responsibility to ensure sustainable tourism, e.g. to advocate for less light pollution from beach resorts, which may disorient adult marine turtles and hatchlings.
You can read more about what we do here.
At the same time, we love sharing our surfing and skimboarding skills, and teach these to visitors, as tourism at Dahican Beach is growing. The kids assist us with that and can earn their own income. With that comes of course also the responsibility to ensure sustainable tourism, e.g. to advocate for less light pollution from beach resorts, which may disorient adult marine turtles and hatchlings.
You can read more about what we do here.
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The Location
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Dahican Bay is a great venue to find peace and serenity, and to escape from a strenuous life. It has stunning white beaches that face the waves of sparkling turquoise water, alluring countless surfers and skimboarders to have fun in the water.
The bay is part of Mayo Bay, and is located in the municipality of Mati, Province of Davao Oriental, Region IX, Philippines. This Region is well known for its teeming marine wildlife and you can find dugongs, marine turtles, dolphins, whales, rays, and much more in these waters. With a beautiful coastline and clear water, Dahican Beach truly looks like paradise. |
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