Daanbantayan


Daanbantayan, officially the Municipality of Daanbantayan, is a municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 95,080 people.
Daanbantayan celebrates its annual fiesta along with the Haladaya Festival which starts 21 August and ends with street-dancing on 30 August, in honor of Datu Daya, the legendary founder of the town.

History

The name Daanbantayan was derived from two words: the word "daan", which means "old" in Cebuano, and the word "bantayan", which refers to a place that served as a look out for Moro raiders during the Pre-Hispanic Philippines. The original site of the town might have been at an elevated vantage point near Punta, in Tapilon.
On 8 November 2013, 9 people were killed and 50 injured when Super Typhoon Haiyan passed over Daanbantayan.

Geography

Located at the northern tip of Cebu, Daanbantayan is bordered on the north by the Visayan Sea, to the west by Bantayan Island, on the east by the Camotes Sea, and on the south by the town of Medellin. It is from Cebu City.

Islands and thalassic attractions

There are several small islands/islets and diving spots, with the list below arranged by latitude from nearest to farthest from Cebu island:
Daanbantayan is politically subdivided into 20 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Transportation

, White Stallion Express and Cebu Autobus are among the bus companies with regular service to and from Cebu city. Jeepneys, tricycles, and trisikads are the main modes of transportation within the town.

Tourism

Daanbantayan is now known for its pristine, white powder-like sandy beaches – one of which is Malapascua Island. With its vast and rich marine resources, it hosts a long string of dive sites offering unique marine life and beauty.
As a tourist destination, Daanbantayan stages the Haladaya Festival every year as an added attraction to local vacationers, holiday-makers, Filipino expatriates, and foreign tourists from as far away as North America, South America, and Europe.

Attractions

The church of St. Rose of Lima was damaged in the 2025 Cebu earthquake.
  • Municipal hall – built in 1916.
  • Santa Rosa de Lima Church – inaugurated on 10 April 1858 and finished in 1886.
  • Town plaza – site of a battle between the so-called Daanbantayan Volunteers and 19 well-armed bandits led by Capitan Berinoin 1898.
  • San Pedro River - its northern bank has an abandoned Muslim settlement founded by Datu Daya during the pre-Spanish era.
  • Tapilon point – site of the watchtower of Kandaya, called "daang bantayanan". But there are no remains of the watchtower.
  • Malapascua Island – is situated across a shallow strait from the northernmost tip of Cebu. This small island is known for its wide white sand beach, Bounty Beach; it has also become known as a superior diving destination.
  • Gato Island| – a small sharp rocky island rising in the middle of the Visayan Sea, about from Malapascua. The island is home to nesting seabirds, a colony of flying foxes, soft coral canyons, and rare and unusual nudibranchs.
  • Monad Shoal – a seamount known for its thresher sharks, making the shoal popular for recreational divers. The common thresher shark and pelagic thresher shark normally live in depths as deep as, but the shoal offers opportunities to see them in less than 20 metres of water.