Samal Island Hopping
During the 2008 Kadayawan festival, and in the midst of the MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement – Ancestral Domain) conflict between MILF and Philippine government forces, I braved the vast lands of Mindanao for 8 days. I traveled from Cagayan De Oro to Davao City via Buda without incident, but unlucky for some their bus got bombed or open fired at, or passengers pushed off the cliffs one by one. As to why I chose that time to travel, I didn’t expect that it would be that dangerous and at the same time adventurous. I traveled alone, so I wasn’t responsible to anybody but me.
Samal Island Paradise Resort
Despite the war raging on the west part of Mindanao, it was sunny and relatively peaceful in the south. I got to join my manager’s family excursion in Samal island. We stayed in Samal Island Paradise Resort and the place was great! The services and amenities were great too!
How to Get There
My oh my, this was two years ago so I can’t remember the exact details. There’s a pumpboat that would take you from the main city to Samal island, and usually it would only take about half an hour. From the airport, you can hire a taxi to Samal Island. The taxi would be ferried to the island by a barge, and you would have to pay for the fee. Sometimes the driver would ask around a thousand pesos, but the meter would only run about 200. They ask extra because they wouldn’t have any passengers from Samal back to the city. If you need details, shoot me an email at: lakbayphilippines at gmail dot com.
What to Do
Enjoying Samal Island
You can go island hopping, or rather island viewing/touring as there were no islands to really hop on except for one. It was surprisingly cheap compared to Cebu’s outrageous island hopping rates. It was around 399 per person inclusive of lunch buffet, and you get to view Samal island and its islets, snorkel, sample the beaches the entire day.
There’s also jetski and kayak for rent in the resort so you can enjoy the latest trend in water sports.
Comments
Samal Island is already commercialized. It has white, fine sand, but what turned me off was the compartmentalization of beach fronts – they’re putting boundaries between resorts. It doesn’t do any good, it cuts off the stretch of beach which is usually what people look for when they beach bum. You can’t take a stroll as cemented boundaries blocks you off from going to the next resort. I didn’t get to explore Samal’s interior but I heard there are other stuff like caving. I may want to go back there but it’s not on my priority list.
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nice place. thanks for the visit.
.-= burn´s last blog ..Noynoy Aquino III hailed as President in RP! =-.
wow, ang exciting naman nung pagpunta mo dun! hahaha!
ang sad naman, sana di nila hinatihati yung beach.
ang selfish nung resort owners.
.-= ericaorange´s last blog ..Philippine Presidential Elections 2010: My Experience =-.
oist, magtatampo sila sa iyo. samal island is an independent province na. hindi na naka-depende sa davao. at kaya may garden sa pangalan nila, dahil noong bata pa ang isang matandang senador (paterno) ang tingin daw niya sa samal island ay isang malaking garden. and when i saw it. i knew what he meant.
did you try the bat caves? it’s a huge wonder.
thank you for this post. reminds me of one happy afternoon. one beautiful, happy afternoon, despite the fact that i was working.
.-= Atticus´s last blog ..Post mortem =-.
ehehe… pang SEO po tong title.
i didn’t get to the bat caves, sad
wow nice place… haven’t been there yet. And that was one hell of an adventure!
.-= Yenyen´s last blog ..Thank you for my Camotes Experience =-.
Information about travel and holiday tips in Indonesia, Accomodation Guides, Hotel Reviews, Inn Reviews, Indonesian Hotels, Cheap Hotels, Budget Travels.
I am just three- four hours away from this island, but I haven’t visited it yet, Hope one day our path will cross..
.-= ahgarcera´s last blog ..LAKE HOLON – 2ND Gaudy’s World Invitational Climb =-.
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Men samal island! this is one of my dream place to have vacation. thanks for sharing your info and to you’re very nice pictures.
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip. Did you try scuba diving in Samal Island?
I’ve been in and out of Samal for only one reason, BEACHES. They have the most beautiful beaches here in the Philippines. Our outsourcing company – TryBPO.com, even celebrated our company’s day out in Isla Reta.
Philippines Outsourcing´s last [type] ..BPO Philippines- Indispensable Business Process Outsourcing Hub
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I’ll get back to this post kapag natuloy na ako ng Davao. Sayang nung ticket ko, d ako tuloy this Jan. *sniff sniff*
thepinaysolobackpacker´s last [type] ..Looking Back at My 2010 Travels
i’m so sorry to hear that gael… bigay mo nalang sakin ang ticket mo nyehehehe…
tagal ko na plano punta dito sana masakto sa off ko yung sale ng cebupac