Sand sculpture at Sarangani Bay Festival

GUMASA, Sarangani (May 15, 2011) – Sarangani’s yearly tribute to the protected seascape - Sarangani Bay – features from May 19 to 21 a sand sculpture competition and sports activities.

Sand sculpture competition goes along with the yearly celebration that artists and spectators will have a chance to play with Gumasa white sands more closely.

The barangay has at least 7 kilometers of white sand shoreline, tourist-ready resorts and trails.

For mountain trekkers, the Sulyang Trail offers a spectacular view of the whole white sand stretch.

“This is an open competition and we’ll accommodate ten entries during the day,” organizer Quinn Villaruel said.

Sand sculpture competition will start from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm on the second day (May 20) at Rosal Beach.

For the three-day schedule of activities, check the following link (http://www.sarangani.gov.ph/bayfest).

Sarangani Province is accessible by plane and ferry from Manila and Cebu through General Santos City’s international airport and seaport.

From Davao City, it is accessible through land transportation via public utility vans and buses to General Santos City. Bus fare from Davao to General Santos is P240 or P254 (premier class).

When in General Santos, you can take a van with its terminal at KCC Mall to Glan Poblacion for P80 fare.

Glan is 53 kilometers from General Santos City while the Provincial Capitol in Alabel, the province’s capital town, is 11 kilometers from the city so that on the road to Glan, you can see the Capitol building by the highway.

From Glan Poblacion, enjoy the rough ride to Gumasa with habal- habal (passenger motorcycle) for P50. Gumasa is six kilometers from Poblacion.

Gumasa has seven connecting white sand beach resorts. Sarangani Tourism Office said these are tourist-ready resorts but there are other small resorts along the shores in Gumasa that can somehow accommodate tourists. By the end of April, these big resorts were already fully booked for the Sarangani Bay Festival.

Coco Beach (contact numbers 09182965217 and 09278237780) offers tent (single) for rent at P100 per night. (Russtum G. Pelima/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)