Santa Cruz, a first-class municipality in the province of Davao del Sur, opened all its tourism sites to visitors after the province was placed under alert level 2 classification.
“Open na tanan sites namo sukad adtong nag modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) until now nga naa nang Davao del Sur sa alert level 2,” Julius Paner, tourism officer of Sta. Cruz told Edge Davao.
Paner added that the province has recently launched two sites namely Bamboo Peak in Barangay Jose Rizal and Tomari Falls in Sibulan.
He said Bamboo Peak is a trekking site and the first hiking attraction in North Sta. Cruz District. It is a 4.6-kilometer trail made up of single-track farmlands and tropical rainforest within the Ancestral Domain of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe. The trekking will culminate in a summit measuring 1,106 meters above sea level. Sea of clouds, overlooking sceneries, and vast forestlands can be seen on the top of the summit.
Meanwhile, Tomari Falls is one of the more attractive waterfalls located in Sibulan, Sta. Cruz. It has a height of 50-meter with a 20-meter diameter. It is a natural cold pool ideal for bathing.
Paner said all these sites are being operated by the community. A minimal registration fee of P50 pesos per person will be collected. Hiring of a local guide is mandatory, with a rate of P500 pesos per group with a maximum of five persons per group.
Other tourist attractions in Sta. Cruz that are now open for the tourists and visitors are the Mt. Apo, Bagobo Cultural Village, Passig Islet, Water Tubing in Sibulan River, Mt. Dinor in Sinoron, Pilan River in Sinoron, Tacub Laya Falls in Sinoron, Mt. Loay, and Saliducon Cave.
“We remain an ecotourism attraction, showcasing outdoor sites and experiences, which is an appropriate tourism product in the new normal,” Paner said.
Based on the latest guidelines on the implementation of the alert level system of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the management of emerging infectious diseases, alert level 2 refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, healthcare utilization is low, or case counts are low but increasing, or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing.
