Skip to main content

What to Day-tour in Samal Island?

Aside from Durian and Duterte, there's more in Davao to be interested with. As you may already knew, the Philippines was blessed with many natural wonders. Some of them I have written articles in the past. But going back to Davao, let's take a closer look in the Island Garden City of Samal. Here are four places you can go to if you want to spend a day in that island.

The Montfort Bat Sanctuary

Monfort Bat Cave in Samal
Monfort Cave with over two million bats.

This is a 245-ft cave that serves as home to about 2.3 Million fruit bats. When you go there during the day you can see them hanging in the walls and ceiling of the cave... and sleeping. But when you go there late in the afternoon or dusk, you may be treated with a beautiful sight: bats coming of the cave in tornado-like formation...2.3 Millions of them.

Oh by the way, entrance is to the Monfort Bat Sanctuary costs 100 Pesos per person. You will be greeted by a tour guide who has some knowledge about bats and the cave.




Pearl Farm Beach Resort

Malipano Island - Portion of this island is part of  the Pearl Farm Beach resort.
Formerly a pearl farm where pearls are grown, this resort offers access to the white sand beach along with their pools and other facilities. In a day-tour scenario, you may stay here for about three to four hours. Or if you decide to stay in the island for a night or two, you can make this your last stop of the tour since they offer very comfortable accommodations.

For information on their rates, go to their website:  www.pearlfarmresort.com

Kaputian Beach

Kaputian Beach offers natural white sand. Public beach but the water is pristine.

Now if you are in a strict day-tour and you wanted to be back in Davao City before evening, you may want to go to Kaputian Beach instead of the Pearl Farm Resort. Well, one reason is that it's a public beach. All you need to pay is a few pesos for the entrance and the cottage if you want to stay there for a few hours.

Kaputian Beach offers beautiful white sand shore. You can do some swimming and you can buy food in the nearby stores and have it eaten in one of the cottages.

But since it's a public beach, it's not well maintained. Still you can be delighted by it's simplicity and quietness.

Now as an option and if want to stay overnight in Samal, you can choose to camp here. Some visitors bring tents and set them up near the beach. There's a guard that provides a measure of security during the night.

Hagimit Falls

Cool waters of the Hamigit Falls attracts locals and outsiders during summer.

Hamigit Falls is composed of multiple layes of low-level falls. For day-tour, this is ideal as the last destination so you can rinse out if you came from the beach. The water is cold and the view is nice. Many locals are here enjoying the cool waters especially during the summer. 

Oh by the way, entrance fee is about 60 Pesos per person (not sure but it will not reach 100 pesos).

The Overall Experience

The view of Mount Apo as the Ro-ro is crossing the waters that separate Samal from the island of Mindanao.

Honestly (and I'm speaking of my own opinion here), Samal Island is not a "wow" experience. Coming from Cebu and having been to many other places in the Philippines, I can say that Samal is just a typical island. It doesn't have much unique to offer aside from the millions of bats. For tourism to flourish in this island, it needs to have more to offer the visitors just like what Bohol did. Bohol didn't stop with the Chocolate Hills and the Tarsiers but each year, they continue to add more reason why people should visit and stay: diving, floating restaurant, dolphin watching, zip lines etc.

But overall and since I am accompanied by my loved ones, I could remember my Samal day tour positively. It was a welcome break from the stressful routine of the city-life.

How much?

In my case, I was in a group of six adults. I rented a tour van that can accommodate ten. It cost me a total of 5000 pesos for the entire day tour from 9AM to 6PM including the van, entrance fees, Ro-ro fare, and simple food for lunch. If you want to contact the owner of the van we used, here's some information:

Rommel Lumiguid
09229304109
boyet_grolier72@yahoo.com

Comments

  1. The author of this post is admirable, it brings a lot of emotion to everyone reading it, let's share it more widely.

    gooey game
    play friv
    y 8 c om

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is very fascinating, You are a very skilled blogger. I’ve joined your feed and sit up for in search of more of your fantastic post. Additionally, I’ve shared your website in my social networks jogo io
    2 player games for girl
    friv 4 game

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice post. Very useful information, I am bookmarking your web to get the latest update from your side. All the best keep up good work
    friv jogos online
    jogos online 2019
    friv jogos 4 school online

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing blog.Really thank you! Cool.Fantastic post.Much thanks again. Cool.I really appreciate this blog.Thanks Again. Hold writing.Wow, great article. Fantastic.This is one awesome website article.Much thanks againfriv game 2020 || kizi || abcya4

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 Steps to Replace Stolen or Lost Passbook

My passbook (inside my bag) was recently stolen inside a local grocery store, and I would like to share the steps I took to secure my account and get a new passbook.      By User:Aerous ", CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link The steps outlined here are for a BPI savings account, but generally, the procedure will be very similar to other banks in the Philippines. 1. Call the Bank to Secure Your Account The first and most crucial step you need to do immediately is to contact your bank by phone or personally report it to the branch where you opened the account. This action will ensure that funds will stay put. The bank will lock the account immediately. The big banks have 24/7 hotlines. For BPI, it's 889-100. You have to do this step ASAP after discovering the loss. 2. Go to the Branch to Ask for a Replacement of the Passbook It can mean a simple replacement of the lost passbook, but it can also mean closing the entire account and opening a new one for security purposes. 3. Get an Affidav

Resigning? SSS Will Deduct Your Loan Balance from Your Last Pay

The purpose of this article is to inform the public about this policy of the Social Security System (SSS), the government-owned insurance company for those employed in the private sector. I just learned about this a few months ago when my company announced a workforce reduction program. Among the sad discussions is about this policy of SSS regarding loans in cases of resignation or retrenchment. Section G-2 of the SSS Loan Terms and Conditions (at the back of the loan application form) explicitly says the following: "The employer shall deduct the total balance of the loan from any benefit/s due to the employee and shall remit the same in full to SSS, in case the member-borrower is separated voluntarily (e.g., retirement or resignation) or involuntarily (e.g., termination of employment or cessation of operations of the company)." In other words, y ou will be required to pay the rest of your loan (including the interest) when you change employer or employment statu

How Much Does a MRI Scan Costs in the Philippines?

My dad needs a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan for his prostate problem. I did a little research on how much does it cost to have one. Well, it depends on many factors, such as which body part is to be scanned. There's also this technique called "MRI with contrast," wherein the patient will be injected with a chemical to make the scan clearer. For your information, this technique of adding contrast is known as  Gadolinium Contrast Medium . It adds cost to the procedure, but with more clarity, the more you can trust the diagnosis. MRI Machine KasugaHuang , CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link So, in my father's case, we had a  Prostate MRI,  and I assume it was without contrast since he was never injected with the "contrast" chemicals. We got it in  i-Scan Healthcare Inc.  here in Quezon City. The cost is  13000 Pesos . Please take note that the amount was just for the scan, and a separate professional will read the result. Some laboratories offer this service (i.e