Nature · Upi, Maguindanao del Norte
The Upi uplands
Cool highland country, and the heartland of the Teduray.
Best: December, for the weeks-long Mëguyaya Festival
Loading…
Area guide
Maguindanao del Norte
The coast, the highland of Upi, and the road to everywhere else.
- Getting there
- Manila → Awang (Cotabato)By air, about 1h 45m
- Best time
- Year-round, with the driest stretch from December to April.
- Languages
- Maguindanaon, Iranun, TedurayFilipino and English widely understood
Maguindanao del Norte wraps around Cotabato City and runs north and west to the Illana Bay coast. Most visitors pass through it — the region’s airport is here, at Awang — without registering that they have left the city, which is a shame, because the province holds the most varied landscape on the BARMM mainland.
Upi climbs into cool uplands settled by Teduray communities, one of the region’s non-Muslim indigenous peoples, whose Meguyaya Festival is among the more distinctive things in the BARMM calendar. Down on the coast, Parang and Barira face Illana Bay with beaches and small islands, and Polloc port in Parang is the region’s deepwater harbour and its freeport.
The province was created in 2022 when Maguindanao divided in two, which is recent enough that maps, signage and search results have not all caught up. Anything published before then describing "Maguindanao" is describing both halves.
Things to do
13 places to see in Maguindanao del Norte.
Beach · Parang, Maguindanao del Norte
The Illana Bay coast
Beaches, small islands and the region’s deepwater port, north-west of the city.
Best: December to April, the driest months (about 40 to 55 mm of rain a month)
Mountain · Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte
Mount Minandar
A grass-covered mountain near Cotabato City, about a two-hour hike to the summit.
Best: December to April are the driest months (about 20 to 30 mm of rain a month), June to August the wettest
Nature · Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte
The Blue Lagoon
A deep, spring-fed pool of bright blue water in the forest, a few steps off the highway.
Best: Morning, when the water looks bluest
Beach · Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte
Kusiong Beach
A grey-sand beach lined with resorts, and the nearest beach to Cotabato City.
Best: December to April are the driest months (about 20 to 30 mm of rain a month), June to August the wettest
Mosque · Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte
Masjid Datu Untong Balabaran
A tiered, pagoda-style mosque in Taviran, one of the last of its kind in the Philippines.
Island · Parang, Maguindanao del Norte
Bongo Island
The province's one offshore island, at the mouth of Illana Bay, with a white-sand beach at Limbayan.
Best: December to April, the driest months on this coast
Memory · Barira, Maguindanao del Norte
Salamat Hashim residence, Camp Abubakar
The 1990 house in the former MILF stronghold of Camp Abubakar where the movement's founder lived, the first site marked by the Bangsamoro heritage commission.
Getting there and around
Getting there
- Awang Airport is in this province, in Datu Odin Sinsuat, roughly 30 minutes from Cotabato City.
- Vans from Cotabato City’s terminals reach Parang, Upi, Sultan Kudarat and Barira through the day.
- The coastal road north from Parang continues to Malabang in Lanao del Sur.
Getting around
- Vans and jeepneys between towns; tricycles and habal-habal within them.
- Upi is uphill and the last stretches can be rough after rain.
How long it takes
- Manila → Awang (Cotabato)air
- About 1h 45m
- Awang → Cotabato Cityroad
- About 30 minutes
- Cotabato City → Parangroad
- About 1 hour
- Cotabato City → Upiroad
- 1 to 2 hours
Where to stay
Phone or Facebook for the coastal places; local contacts and the LGU for the uplands.
- No photo of this resort yet
resort
Precious Cabana Resort and Hotel
Datu Odin Sinsuat
Resort and hotel that hosted a four-day MSSD training, October 2025
mssd.barmm.gov.ph · as of 2025-11 - No photo of this resort yet
resort
Illana Bay Beach Resort
Barangay Badak, Datu Odin Sinsuat
Beach resort registered with the Bangsamoro Board of Investments in 2023; said it would seek tourism accreditation next
bangsamoro.gov.ph · as of 2023-08 resort
Amaya Beach Resort
Barangay Kusiong, Datu Odin Sinsuat
Beach resort that hosted MSSD psychosocial sessions in March 2022
bangsamoro.gov.ph · as of 2024-01
How lodging works in Maguindanao del Norte
Most travelers sleep in Cotabato City and treat the whole province as day trips, which the geography supports — Awang, Parang, Upi and Sultan Kudarat are all within a comfortable day’s reach of the city.
On the coast at Parang there are small beach places and inns of a simple kind, aimed at weekenders from the city rather than at travelers, and they are seasonal in practice if not in policy.
In the Upi uplands, lodging is a matter of arrangement. There is no commercial market to speak of.
What to expect
- Simple rooms, with a fan or basic air conditioning.
- Beach lodging that is a cottage rather than a resort.
- Nothing bookable online outside the city.
When it fills up
Weekends and holidays on the Parang coast; Eid everywhere.
Nothing on this page has been verified on the ground, and no establishment is endorsed. Lodging in this region opens, closes and changes hands quickly, and the only reliable confirmation is a phone call before you travel. Where a trip depends on a bed being there, confirm it directly with the property or the area’s tourism office.
Before you go
Safety
Mixed, and worth treating by municipality rather than by province. The Awang corridor and the coastal towns see routine traffic. Some interior municipalities carry a heavier security presence and are not places to arrive unannounced. Local advice before an interior trip is the working rule.
When to go
Year-round, with the driest stretch from December to April. The coast is best outside the southwest monsoon; the uplands are pleasant whenever it is not actively raining.
Meguyaya Festival · Around mid-year. Upi’s Teduray thanksgiving festival — one of the few places where an indigenous non-Muslim culture of the region is publicly celebrated.
A route through here
Cotabato City and around
3 nights, based in Cotabato City
The easiest introduction to the region, and the only one you can do with a confirmed hotel booking and no local contacts. Good food, real history, and a coast an hour away.
Town by town
12 cities and municipalities.
- Barira1 place · 0 stays
- BuldonLittle online
- Datu Blah T. Sinsuat0 places · 0 stays
- Datu Odin Sinsuat5 places · 0 stays
- KabuntalanLittle online
- MatanogLittle online
- Northern KabuntalanLittle online
- Parang3 places · 2 stays
- Sultan KudaratLittle online
- Sultan MasturaLittle online
- TalitayLittle online
- Upi1 place · 0 stays