Pujada Bay, sometimes (usually historically) called Pujaga Bay, is a bay on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coast of the southern

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. It is an arm of the Philippine Sea in

Davao Oriental Davao Oriental ( Cebuano: ''Sidlakang Dabaw''; tl, Silangang Davao), officially the Province of Davao Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is city of Mati, and it borders the province of ...

province formed by the Guanguan Peninsula which separates it from the Mayo Bay on the east and the Pujada Peninsula which separates it from the

Davao Gulf Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in ...

on the west. Pujada Bay borders Mati, the province's capital and largest city, with its port and city proper situated at its head. It is entered between Lamigan Point on the east and Tumago Point on the west, with the Pujada Island dividing its entrance into two channels. There are three other islands on the bay, namely Uanivan, Oak and Ivy islands. The bay has been declared a marine protected area known as the Pujada Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape. It covers protecting the bay and its coastal area including its four islands. It was declared through Proclamation No. 431 on 31 July 1994 by President

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

Description

Pujada Bay is known for its rich coral reef system and white-sand beaches. It has a small inlet on its northwestern side called Balete Bay. Several rivers and streams flow into the bay, including Catmonan Creek, Dawan Creek, Dilaon Creek, Mati River, Matiao Creek and Guanguan Creek. The landmass bordering the bay to the north and west is characterized as hilly and mountainous, with flat areas in the Guanguan Peninsula becoming rough and mountainous towards its southern tip at Lamigan Point. Pujada Island near the bay's entrance is covered with bushes and trees and has a small lighthouse located at its southeastern end. Two sandy islets surrounded by drying reefs lie and southeast of the island, namely Oak Island and Ivy Island. On the east side of the bay connected to the Guanguan Peninsula by a rocky ledge with depths of is Uanivan Island. The bay is home to 25 genera of hard and soft corals, the most abundant of which belong to the genus '' Montipora'', '' Acropora'' and ''

Porites ''Porites'' is a genus of stony coral; they are small polyp stony (SPS) corals. They are characterised by a finger-like morphology. Members of this genus have widely spaced calices, a well-developed wall reticulum and are bilaterally symmetr ...

''. It also contains approximately of mangroves of mostly secondary growth and mangrove plantations distributed along its shores. It is also known to harbor nine of the sixteen species of sea grasses found in the Philippines.

References

Bays of the Philippines Protected landscapes and seascapes of the Philippines Landforms of Davao Oriental {{DavaoR-geo-stub