Danajon Islet

Danajon Islet (also known as Dawahon Islet), is at the easternmost edge of the Danajon Bank. It is coterminous of Barangay Dawahon, a part of the municipality of Bato, Leyte.

Map of Danajon Islet, Philippines

The islet is only 5 hectares (12 acres), and has a population of about 10,000, depending on the time of year.

The main and only cash crop for the locals living on the islet is guso (seaweed), which is grown in the shallow waters of the Danajon Bank, upon which the islet sits. The islet is only 3 meters (9.8 feet) above sea level, but the Danajon Bank protects it somewhat. There are two large 1,000 feet bamboo docks, for the drying of the guso before it is sold. The guso is either sold in Cebu or Cagayan de Oro, after it is transported there.

There is an elementary school, a church, two basketball courts, one small road, and one government medical clinic. The high school children are sent to Hingotanan Island, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away by boat. There is a weekly ferry service from this islet to mainland Bato, Leyte, which is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. Other nearby islands include Bilanglangan Island, Gaus Island, & the Caubyan Islets, which are 27 miles (43 km) to the east.

The islet takes its name from the Danajon Bank, the Philippines only double barrier reef and one of the few documented double barrier reefs in the world. A very rare geological formation, it comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge due to a combination of favorable tidal currents and coral growth in the area.

Danajon Bank is home to a vast array of commercially valuable reef fishes, shellfish, crustaceans and invertebrates such as sea cucumbers and sea urchins.Its extensive seagrass beds are nursery and feeding grounds for various species of rabbitfish (siganids) and sea horses, while its mangroves are spawning habitats for crustaceans, shrimps and various fishes.