Dominating the town centre is Cuyo's 1860 church, convent, and fort built by the Spanish and finished in 1680.

The town and its cultural and natural environs are being considered to be nominated in the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage Site declaration in the future.

Oriental traders were early discoverers of the Cuyo group of islands and introduced barter trading with the locals.

Later, the Malay chief Matuod and his people arrived in big boats called sakayan and formed settlements on Cuyo.

In 1622, the Conde de San Agustín, together with five Spanish missionaries, colonised the island they named Cuyo.

The friendly character of the people proved to be a blessing to the Spaniards, who found it easy converting the native population to Catholicism.

The forest deity of the Cuyunon people was Diwata ang Kagueban (literally goddess of the forest), who was honored in a celebrated feast, periodically held atop of Mount Caimamis in Cuyo Island, and Neguno, the ancient god of the sea of earlier Cuyonons who was responsible for turning a greedy man into the first shark.

Later, the Spanish called Diwata ng Kagubatan as Virgen Del Monte, in another bid to rebrand the deity as 'Catholic'.

A Spanish naval flotilla of six vessels and 250 men under Captain Nicolas Gonzáles met the returning pirates with their loot and booty on December 21, 1636.

The poblacion of Cuyo is home to a Spanish fort, which shelters a church and a convent in its high stone walls.

Unique in the sense that you can find the church, the convent and the Perpetual Adoration chapel all within the fort.

In Cuyonon music the "akompanimento" refers to the harmonic accompaniment-principal or "primera" to the first or highest voice, and "segunda" to the second.

Among these are the Pastores (the Christmas dance of the sheppherds), the Chotis (from the German schothische), Lanceros de Cuyo (local French guadrille), Birginia (Virginia reel or square dance), Paraguanen (a romantic comic duet), and La Jota Paragua (a Castillan-type jota using bamboo castanets and manton).

It is presented by five pairs of youth arranged in two lines, fully costumed and made up, and bearing props like flowers, crowns, and even knives.

Folk from the nearby islands board barotos (boats) to view the parade which recreates the confrontation of San Agustin and the native "savages".

Participants portray the Aeta by darkening their bodies with soot and painting their faces with anyel (indigo).

The director is then approached by the last to recite, customarily the role belongs to youngest child of the barangay captain's family assigned.

As the floats of San Agustin and other saints enter the church at the end of the procession, the participants kneel, prostrate themselves, or sing while performing skipping steps before the images.

The merrymaking intensifies when the alakayo, a dancing clown, chases the ladies, stopping only when coins are thrown to him on the ground.

Today the dancing Ati-Ati are composed of groups of individuals from the villages of the town, which perform to a percussion band with flutes and guitars, a specialized combined form of the tipano and de kwerdas.

Another pantomime, innocentes, recreates the descent of the "savages" from the hills to pay tribute to San Agustin.

The clash between the Muslims and the Christians is further dramatized by background music; commonly used tunes are the pasadoble, marchas, giyera, and kasal.

Alternate steps of offense and defense, e.g., advancing and retreating, with corresponding movements of weapons, are followed by circular formations simulating scenes of strategy plotting.