Suyac Island Mangrove Eco-Park — Attraction in Sagay

Stunning nature and very admirable effort to involve the local community to preserve nature while at the same time benefitting from the effort. Ecotourism as its finest.

I really love these mangroves and there is a trail you can walk which is not a loop yet but the tour guide Noli said they plan to make it a loop. You can appreciate the mangroves, dip in the clear water when it’s high tide and do bird watching along the trail and the tower. I saw kingfishers among other birds. They have the oldest mangroves in all of Negros at 200 or so years old.

The locals are very sweet and welcoming. I rented a boat alone and went there after Carbin reef. They welcomed me with a necklace made from mangrove fruits and they had a dance presentation with someone playing a ukelele. The guide then took me for a tour of the mangroves and into my cottage where a lunch was waiting for. I pre-ordered boiled crabs ahead. The tourism office in Old Sagay port where I booked my ticket asked me what i want for lunch as they have to prepare it ahead. If you plan to visit, it’s best if they have a day’s notice as the island doesn’t have much but fish and crabs, other things they have to buy from the mainland to prepare for you.

I really had a great time and plan to return and i cannot recommend them enough.

My only suggestion is to cut the mangrove branches that make the trail very difficult to navigate. Some only give you about two feet of clearance so you have to crawl under them. I’m healthy and fit so it was really no problem but i was carrying a heavier backpack and it was kinda annoying. I was done crawling after a few attempts and there were about 20 mangroves branches! Some trees are really huge with many branches and cutting one would I believe not hurt the...

AT ITS BEST (CBT and Low Volume High Impact Tourism)

This is the best Community-Based Tourism Narrative and the best model for a Low-Volume, High-Impact Tourism Experience in the country that I have personally witnessed.

Locals here before do not believe in the promise of tourism and environmental conservation. During the onslaught of the infamous Typhoon Yolanda, where the existing mangrove forest in the island has protected all the lives of the residents, this is where the turn of the tides happen. Additionally, the relentless support of the Sagay LGU with the Tourism Office, which Ms. Helen Arguelles at the helm of these efforts, has led the Suyac Island community residents to subject themselves for capacity building for both efficient environment conservation and sustainable tourism operations.

To date, this destination alone has earned its Php million mark in income. This collective income funded the continuous conservation efforts and sustenance of the Suyac Island...

This is one of my favorite island getaways, a nice place to visit.

Suyac Island is a mangrove eco-park, a 1.8 hectare island in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.

Suyac is also a community of fishermen and their families, who organized themselves to protect the 4 hectares mangrove area and promote their place as an eco-tourism site.

A visit to Suyac is a wonderful experience. You can indulge in fresh seafood, cooked by the residents who formed themselves into an association to orient visitors about the environment and manage the eco-tourism project and the cottages.

The cottages, which can be rented, can be reached by a boardwalk underneath the mangrove trees, leading to the sea. During high tide, you can swim in the clear waters under the bamboo cottages.

You can reach Suyac Island from the Old Sagay port by a pumpboat, by coordinating with the Sagay City Tourism and...