Benliw Dam (Small Reservoir Irrigation Project)

Overview

The Benliw Dam, officially known as the Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP), was inaugurated on May 27, 2021. It is a medium-scale irrigation development fed by the Pasanan Creek in barangay Benliw, Ubay, northeastern Bohol.

The dam is classified by the BPTO as both a camping ground and a dam — positioning it as an emerging agro-tourism site with practical agricultural infrastructure at its core. Water from the reservoir supplies irrigation and supplementary food production to surrounding farming communities.

Location

Barangay Benliw, Municipality of Ubay, Bohol. Ubay is on the northeastern coast of the island, approximately 2.5–3 hours by road from Tagbilaran City.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran, take a bus or van bound for Ubay (Dao Terminal). From Ubay town proper, hire a habal-habal or multicab to barangay Benliw. [TO ENRICH: exact road distance from Ubay town proper to the dam]

Practical Info

• Overnight camping requires a permit from the barangay
• Entrance is free according to third-party travel coverage; no separate camping fee is documented, though toilet access at nearby residential houses reportedly carries a small, informal fee to the homeowner
• No formal shower blocks or luxury facilities on-site; occasional local vendors sell snacks near the entrance; boat tours on the reservoir are available through local boatmen at negotiable rates
• The final approach road is unpaved and best suited to high-clearance vehicles, especially in wet season
• A “Leave No Trace” ethic is encouraged locally to protect the irrigation resource serving over 600 farming families
• Best visited in dry season (December–April) when roads to the reservoir are passable
• [FACT NEEDED: official operating hours and a specific barangay contact person — not published in any source found]

What to Expect

The dam structure consists of a 21-meter-high zoned earthfill dam with a crest length of 517 meters. The reservoir has a catchment area of 5.60 square kilometres and can store 2.86 million cubic meters of water. Infrastructure also includes irrigation and drainage canals and appurtenant structures.

The project serves 400 hectares of agricultural land across the barangays of Benliw, Emelda, Cagting, and Sinandigan — directly benefiting approximately 600 farming families. Secondary functions include flood control, watershed management, soil conservation, and aquaculture.

The reservoir sits against rolling green hills. Early mornings and late afternoons offer calm conditions for a walk along the dam structure. The wide, flat area near the dam is suited to small-group camping.

Notes

• Similar to other Bohol dams (e.g., Wahig River dam in Inabanga), the BPTO identifies Benliw SRIP as an agro-tourism prospect
• The reservoir also provides a supplementary source of fish for local residents through aquaculture
• Tourism infrastructure at the site is minimal; visitors should be self-sufficient with supplies

Bohol’s Best-Kept Reservoir Secret: Why Benliw Dam is the Ultimate 2026 Weekend Escape, accessed 2026-07-17.

Research attempt, 2026-07-28 (fresh angle: barangay-level LGU/directory sources, Wikipedia/mirror cross-check, and route-planner sites, since no prior attempt was documented for these two tags):

• Exact road distance, Ubay town proper to the dam — unresolved. Several Wikipedia-mirror sites (Alchetron, IPFS-hosted Wikipedia mirrors) state Barangay Benliw generally is “20 km (12 mi) from the town center, Poblacion,” but this figure (a) describes the barangay center, not the dam specifically, and (b) does not appear in the current live English Wikipedia article on Benliw when fetched directly — the mirrors appear to reflect an older, unsourced revision. PhilAtlas (checked directly) gives coordinates/elevation only, no distance figure. ViaMichelin route results turned up in search but returned no usable distance/time data. The VisMin.ph feature and the existing homes.ph source (re-checked) both describe the route (tricycle/habal-habal from Ubay port or town) without giving a km figure. No credible source with an exact figure found — tag left in place.
• Official operating hours and specific barangay contact person — unresolved. Barangaydirectory.com lists a Punong Barangay name (Jaylord Laguerta Vallecera, 2023–2026 term) and a phone number for Barangay Benliw generally, but the page is a third-party aggregator (not an official LGU/DILG source), self-flags its barangay-hall address as “being verified,” and could not be corroborated against an official government listing — not used as a source given the reliability bar. No official operating hours for the dam/camping site were found on any site checked (BPTO, NIA region7.nia.gov.ph, boholislandnews.com, bworldonline.com, homes.ph, vismin.ph). Tag left in place.