the white sand beaches of glan, sarangani

Glan in Sarangani province boasts of 15-20 kilometers of white sand beaches that are unspoilt and to some extent, relatively unheard of. However, it may no longer stay away from the limelight for long with Congressman Manny Paqcuiao on board. The 8-division boxing champion who represents the entire Sarangani province would like to see that his district could also pack mean punches in terms of tourism and infrastructure development.

Although Glan is Sarangani's farthest town to the east, it is just an hour or so away from General Santos City. I was then looking forward to set foot on this municipality for 2 good reasons. This was the last stopover for Project Socsargen or our weekend trip last year that took us to various places in South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City. As of this writing, this was also the southernmost destination in the Philippines that I have been to.

The popular beach getaways in this municipality can be found in Barangay Gumasa. There are many resorts to choose from as well. After much discussion, our group decided to spend our final evening that weekend at White Haven Resort. The resort, I gather, is backpacker-friendly as they allow budget conscious travelers like us to pitch tents for a modest fee.

I must confess that I am actually not a beach person. But I enjoyed the laid back feel at Glan. I also appreciated the fact that there were just a handful of people that time probably because it was already Sunday evening when we arrived at Gumasa. My friends and I still enjoyed the place nonetheless by building human sand castles and walking the entire stretch of its shore.

But we had to leave early for General Santos the following day to catch our return flights. Half of me wanted to stay a little bit more to wait for the sunset at Glan and to explore other destinations in Sarangani like white water tubing at Maitum among many others. The realistic half won over that morning though. I then begrudgingly boarded our vehicle with a wishful thought that I could return to this province one day to experience its other adventures.




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