Basay (Negros Oriental)

Basay is the westernmost town on the south coast of Negros Oriental, right at the border with Negros Occidental. Population was about 25,000 as of the 2010 census.

Understand
The waters off Basay are among the richest fishing grounds in the country. The area's main industry is fishing and its main tourist attraction is game fishing.

The town is home to the Minagahat language, the indigenous language of Southern Negros. Basay is agricultural, with sugar cane, rice, corn and copra as major crops. Fringing its shoreline is the Mindanao Sea, considered the richest fishing waters in the country.

Get in
Basay is on a coastal highway between the two main cities of Negros, Dumaguete and Bacolod. The road is good and buses or jeepneys are available from either city. Dumaguete is closer, approximately a 2½-hour drive.

Both Dumaguete and Bacolod have airports with domestic flights, but neither has international flights. The region's main airport for those is Cebu Airport.

Do

 * Camangyawon Beach is a fine white sand beach stretching between two rivers in Camangyawon, a municipal fish port complex.
 * Nagbo-Alao Cave and Beach is a fine pebbled beach lined by prominent rock formations and coves, just off the highway, reached by foot paths.
 * Diving at Balatong Point: called Punta Tambungon by local people, it has rocks and large corals used as navigation landmarks. The biggest shipment of World War II ammunition for the Negros guerrilla movement was unloaded here.
 * The festival of the city's patron saint, St. Nicolas de Tolentino, is celebrated on March 19.