One cannot overstate the beauty of Sulu. The once mighty sultanate is a colorful portraiture where every element shines on its own but becomes all the more vibrant as a part of a bigger whole. Sulu is shining with its landscape, culture, history and tradition.

Unfortunately, there remains a stigma about the island province.

The impression about Sulu being an unsafe place is a bitter aftertaste of its troubled past, but that is just it: an aftertaste. With the establishment of peace and order, Sulu has started to open its doors to the rest of the Philippines and the rest of the world again. Tourism remains in its infancy but is growing fast nonetheless. If anything good could be gleaned from this, that would be the fact that the beaches in the island province remain unadulterated, and it would be such a pity if we do not visit any.

Thankfully, we did not only visit one, but two.

The boardwalk and stilt cottages over the turquoise water of Mang Sali Beach.

The first of the two beaches we visited in Sulu was Mang Sali Beach Resort. Mang Sali features cottages on stilts standing over the clear shallows connected by boardwalks. Located in the town of Parang, it offers a great place for unwinding with family and friends. The stilt cottages and boardwalk likewise provides a picturesque stage placed against an unobstructed backdrop of the Sulu Sea, perfect for social media pictures. Needless to say, we succumbed.

Mang Sali’s boardwalk protruding towards the sea.

Beneath the Instagram–worthy boardwalk.

We just took photos in Mang Sali and did not swim. If that sounded familiar, it is because it is. Our next beach destination was not far though. It was actually located at the beach resort right next to Mang Sali, literally immediate next neighbor.

The rest of our day along the coastline of Parang was spent in Tanduh Bunga Beach. Referred to simply as Tanduh Beach, it does not feature aesthetic structures but capitalizes on what it already has: palms of tall coconut trees, pristine powder-white sand and clear turquoise waters accentuated by temperate beams of the sun piercing through the clouds: picturesque tropical paradise.

Tanduh Beach will be the one where we would finally be able to take a dip in the sea. Finally, and yes, I also swam. Before we went for the water though, we first had our ritualistic picture taking.

Savoring the topical vibes of Tanduh Beach.

As if providential, the sun finally showed itself when we were in Tanduh, making the tropical vibe all the more felt. With the afternoon sun out in the sky, the time to swim became perfect! We changed to our swimming clothes and left our valuables in the cottage, hence there were no swimming photos.

At some point while we were swimming, everybody went back to the cottage as our Sulu guide Bhenny prepared some Bangbang Sug for us. What would the pastries be best combined with? Kahawa Sug!

While we were eating, there were also some Bajau kids who were selling their catch of sea urchins. Fresh from the source, we bought some and dug in.

It cannot get any fresher than this!

Some of our companions went back to the sea after we have taken our afternoon snacks, but not me. I was done for the day. I proceeded to the shower area just right across the street from the beach. I rinsed off, dried up and dressed up. All done!

Sulu is aptly the Pearl of the Philippine Southern Seas. Its rich heritage coupled with its natural wonders make it a destination worth going the distance. There is a dilemma, however, that keeps on poking my head. Years of conflict has practically isolated Sulu from the rest of the Philippines and even the world, and everyone would want Sulu to catch-up for the lost years and be progressive. Tourism could definitely help greatly with that. In my mind, however, Sulu’s isolation also allowed for nature to flourish, for most of the natural wonders were left alone on their own, the beaches included. There is no questioning that Sulu must open to the rest of the world as an emerging tourist destination, but caution has to be taken that such move will not be to the detriment of what is cultural and what is natural. Progress and preservation are not antipodes. With multi-sectoral consultation and hitorico-cultural consideration, a well-structured policy-making and legislation can provide for a framework to make progress and preservation go hand-in-hand.

Our visit to Sulu was already coming to a close. Not our dreams for it though. As a single Filipino nation, joining hands with our Moro brothers and sisters is not optional. Inclusive development must not allow anyone be left behind along the fringes of collective progress, no matter how literally located in the fringes of the national territory they could be. In fact, especially that they are in the territorial fringes.