Fun things to do in Butuan City

If you like fishing you can go fishing for a few hours with a local fisherman and help them bring in a nights haul of fish with nets in the oldest fishing method of the sea. They will give you a special whole sale price for however much of the catch that you might want for yourself and you will have a special view of the life of these hardworking fishermen.

It will be an adventure to go out on the ocean in a small boat.

Kahimunan Festival on every third Sunday of January
Mazaua Discovery Day on March 31
Balangay Festival on May 1-31
City Fiesta of Saint Joseph on May 19
Abayan Festival on every last Sunday of July
Adlaw Hong Butuan on August 2
First Recorded Trade Mission to China on October 3

The Rivercruise Tour is a kind of specialty tour. It is a historical tour which traces the historical significane of the place before the invasion of the Spanish Conquistadors in the early 16th Hundreds of Ferdinand Magellan. The Agusan River is the third longest river in the Philippines and the most navigable. It is where the main riverraod deltas of the those time. It is also in this place that you can witness how the local people live in this pace. Since Butuan City is the Timber City of the South, you can still witness the vast majotrity of the people depends on logging as one of the major industry of the south. It is here that you could also see the Banza Churh Ruins, in Lilo, Barangay Banza. This site is one of the oldest poblacions of the city. The church was built here in 1625 by the Recollect Friars and was reduced into ashes in 1753 by Moro pirates. This was known as the oldest church ruin and the most beautiful in the entire island of Mindanao before its destruction.

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This is a well-maintained museum. Thanks to the fact that the oldest boat artifacts in Philippine history were found here. (9 boats at present , 1 boat is displayed at the Manila National Museum). The Masao River delta (where present Butuan City is) used to be a very busy seaport as shown by the dug items within the river banks. Displayed in the Museum are stone crafts, metal crafts, pots, gold, burial coffins, jars and porcelains traded from other parts of Asia. And of course, parts of the 9 Balanghais (local name for the old wooden cruising boats) is the main feature. The oldest boat was carbon-dated to be made as early as 320 A.D.

It was a very educational experience for me touring the place. Thanks to the very accomodating and eloquent Museum administrator, Boy Mitra, who can tell you on and on the history of Butuan and the Balanghais as complemented by the items displayed in the museum. This guy surely loves his job.

Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, except Sundays and holidays.

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Take a close look at the real "Balangay" (local name of wooden boats) artifact dug in the Masao River Delta, the place where present Butuan City is. The National Museum built a dedicated building to house one of the well-preserved boats at the actual location where it was discovered. Carbon-dated to be built in 320 A.D., the boat is about 12 m. long and is the oldest watercraft found in the Philippines. The wooden pegs that interconnects the wooden planks are still visibly doing the job > just marvelous. An added attraction at this place are bulky wooden coffins, used by early Butuanons, dating more than 200 years old.

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Mt. Mayapay is the highest peak in Agusan del Norte.