Commonly called OMAGEICA (Oboob Mangrove Garden Integrated Ecotourism Conservation Association), the protected mangrove garden is located south of the island, just a few minutes of travel if you are staying from Sta. Fe. Oboob will always be part of the itineraries of every first-time tourist of Bantayan Island and similar to ours last year, we indulged ourselves in the scorching heat of the sun that didn't seem to bother us.

We managed to get to the area as early as 8 AM and upon arriving, food stands and merch stalls were already set beside the road and along the entrance of the garden. As you may know, 2021 was the year when everything seemed getting back to normal after the Covid pandemic but not the case for the local economy of the island. As we have observed, there were little to no tourists at that time, and even when we are about to exit the vicinity, no new tourists were coming in. It is contrary to what the local vendors were expecting where there should be a slow influx of tourists to the island since the lifting of restrictions.

While finalizing this post, I can't help but hope for their slow recovery, especially in the tourist economy.

After paying an entrance fee that I don't remember how much, we immediately proceed to the photo spot en route of their bamboo bridge. Beside it is the Omageica Restaurant. We didn't bother looking out for what was inside their floating restaurant, we already ate our breakfast from the food stands outside.

Their bamboo bridge stretches out for about hundreds of meters covering the entire mangrove garden to the area where the shallow water touches. They also have several huts placed in different locations in the garden. Every hut has something to offer for tourists. Services like taking pictures, fish feeding, and merchandising.

We made the most out of our time in the garden by taking pictures and feeding fish while alternately basking under the shade of the huts. The intense heat of the sun made our walk more draining but we kept our vigor on.

As we took several steps around the garden, we saw signages of mangrove plants and their respective names. It was fun knowing the different names of these mangrove plants. I don't know what the difference between these mangroves was because it seemed to me the physical difference(if there is any) was negligible.

The deep part of the Oboob where the seawater formed a small channel through the garden was perfect for fishing. I forgot if fishing is allowed in the area though. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the end view of the garden facing the serene sea as we were about to take the return route passing to their mangrove tunnel.

The mangrove tunnel showed off the formidability of mangroves' stems towering at uniform heights. These mangroves belong to the black color classification of mangrove if I'm not mistaken. During low tide, you can see the root crowns of these mangroves alongside the walkway. Even at peak noon, these mangroves helped in maintaining the level of temperature in the tunnel-like spot. We felt the cooling sensation when we walked through these mangroves.

As we were heading to the exit part of the bridge, we saw the diversity of marine life in the area. From different kinds of mangroves to marine animals creeping in the brackish and murky water. It reminded me of the lessons and purpose of the covid pandemic, one of which was the rehabilitating effect it bestowed on nature. It harbored nature from the explicit and abusive use of humans.

I think that would be all for this travel post. I wanted this travel experience to be more personal and engaging and at the same time, more informative to the readers. If you happen to have read this part, make sure to follow me for more of our travel experience with my wife.