Davao: Samal Island

by Inna Monica Lucero - Saturday, May 03, 2014

The first time I went to Davao was last 2009, approximately 5 years ago. When I first heard that we’re going back this summer, I got super excited! Davao is such a huge city (the biggest city in the Philippines, in fact!) and there’s so much to explore in it! In this post, I am going to share with you our lovely trip to Samal Island.

Samal Island is a 10-15 minute barge/passenger boat ride from Davao City. It is surrounded with a beautiful white sand shoreline thus having numerous beach resorts. I recommend you guys to go to Pearl Farm resort, one of the best resorts in the island. The entrance is Php 1,800.00 per person on weekdays Monday to Thursday, Php 2,500.00 per person on weekends Friday to Sunday. They have rooms too for you to stay. We were kinda short on the budget so we stayed in another resort called Blue Jaz. The resort was amazing! The entrance was only Php 200.00 per person. You can bring your own food, or order at their restaurant. It took us about less than 10 minutes boat ride to Blue Jaz Resort.

Obligatory beach selfie :)

We also went on a tour on the Island. I’m not sure as how much the tour costs in other resorts, but it’s Php 2,800.00 in Blue Jaz. You can choose whether land tour or sea tour. If you choose both, then double the pay. We decided to go on the land tour.

First stop was the Monfort Bat Sanctuary. Entrance is Php 50.00 per person. I was so excited to see all the bats!

We were led by a tour guide who gave us some infos about the bats. I learned that There are 2.5 million bats all in all in these caves!

Look at all those bats!! Warning: The place smells so bad. I remember the tour guide saying, "The bats don't attack humans but the smell attacks you." During the day, the sun hits the "poops" of the bats making them smell soo bad. But not the kind that makes you throw up though, as you can see I'm so close to the cave just to take clear pictures lol.

Next stop is the Hagimit Waterfalls. Entrance is Php 40.00 for adults, Php 20.00 for children as seen on the picture above. There are cottages for you to stay the night. You have to go all the way down on the stairs or ramp to get to the place, but trust me, it was worth it.

The last stop was at another resort (I forgot the name, sorry!) but it was already noon when we finished at the falls so we decided to head back to Blue Jaz to have our lunch.

We ordered seafood pizza, and seafood pancit (I accidentally deleted the pic, but they were so good!!) and ice cold fresh buko juice. Their food is amazing I tell you.