Davao is full of adventure, culture, and unforgettable flavors—from scenic spots to local eats, every corner has a story. Curious how to explore it all? Read my guide!

Disclaimer: All views expressed on this blog are my own based on my own experiences and do not represent of any entity with which I have been, are now or will be affiliated

November 06, 2022
Pasay, Philippines

Date of Travel – October 21-31
Itinerary for this trip includes Davao Del Norte – Samal Islands and Davao Oriental – Mati Davao Del Sur – Davao City

The Davao region, known as the “Crown Jewel of Mindanao” and the “Durian Capital of the Philippines,” is a great place to start your adventure, whether you are a thrill seeker, a nature enthusiast, or someone who simply wants to relax in the city and sample exotic cuisine.

The southern and eastern areas of Mindanao are also accessible from Davao City via neighbouring provinces in the Davao Region.

It is located in the southeast of Mindanao and consists of five provinces: Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental. Davao Region, formerly known as Southern Mindanao, is designated as Region XI. On my 11-day backpacking trip, I visited Davao Del Norte, Davao Del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

Budget

Flight cost – Philippine Airlines charges Php5,331 for this service, which includes 10 kg of checked baggage going to Davao and 20 kg of checked baggage departing Davao. As a result of the severe weather during my trek over Mount Apo, it was prudent for me to bring along checked luggage..

Hotel Accommodation – Php8,519.86 with Q8 Hotel The location is convenient to both the market and the downtown area. The staff was wonderful and very accommodating. The facility is also very clean and reasonably priced.

Food Budget – Php8,000

Transportation (taxi, tricycle, jeep)- Php3,000

Tour/Transportation – Php16,100, since this was a solo trip I mostly shouldered all the private tours which were costly. I booked the following WATZ DAVAO TOUR for Davao Oriental and Buda tour. The cost was Php3,000 + gas to be shouldered by the visitor. For Samal Island and Inland tour, I booked Samal island tricycle Tours Php1,300 for land tour inclusive of entrance fees – Bluebird View Deck Samal Php20 and Kaputian Beach Park with Samal signage for Php90 (50Php for environment fee and Php40 for entrance fee) for island tour was Php4,200 (Php3,500 for boat + Php500 docking fees + 200 for the giant clam sanctuary environmental fees)

Total budget for Davao only excluding Mt. Apo and Surigao Del Surfor 10 days and 9 nights= Php40,950

Language

People can speak Tagalog, English and the dialect is Bisaya.

Weather

Like the rest of the Philippines, Davao has two seasons – rainy (May-Oct) and dry (Nov-Apr). It was dry from October 21-27, but, during our hike on 28th it was raining due to typhoon!

I believe this was the longest vacation I’ve ever taken within the Philippines. It is impossible to overstate how exceptional everything was! Here are my top recommendations for each province that I have visited.
Day1 October 21 Davao City, Davao Del Sur

I arrived in Davao City at about 6:00 p.m. I promptly began my search for the city’s finest restaurants after checking into the Q8 hotel. I admire Davao City because it is so well-kept and organized. Grab was my preferred mode of conveyance, and the company only employs Grab taxis, never private cars. Since they were not accustomed to receiving tips, the taxi drivers were careful to only charge you the amount specified. Separately, the culinary blog will be published.

Day2 October 22 Samal Islands, Davao Del Norte

I was due to go island hopping with another agency, Travel Buddies and Tours, but they cancelled on me at the last minute, which was very unfortunate, and the refund took a very long time to arrive. I will not endorse Travel Mates. So I selected and hired a different travel agency Samal island tricycle Tours. In Samal, I had to meet my guide named Abdul. In Sasa Warf, I traveled on a RoRo, a type of vessel. RoRo is an abbreviation for “Roll-on, Roll-off,” which depicts how cargo is loaded and unloaded from a ship. The cost of this ferry journey was only Php10. It was a bizarre sight to see vehicles being loaded onto this ferry for the very first time haha. It took approximately 10 to 15 minutes to reach the island of Samal.

Samal Islands

I first went on an inland tour, and to be honest, I only wanted to see Hagimit Falls, which was closed at the time, but we were able to sneak in by going around the falls. Since they are endeavoring to restore the falls, tourists were prohibited from visiting. Following our visit, tourism officials arrived and called the authorities. haha! But it was a lot of fun, and I admire Hagimit Falls, so I would only recommend visiting Hagimit Falls as opposed to other Samal land tours.

Hagimit Falls – I was awestruck upon seeing the falls, whose turquoise blue water was crystal transparent. It was a cluster of spring water falls surrounded by a verdant canopy of mature trees, primarily hagimit trees (ficus minahassae), from which the waterfall received its name. I was fortunate to have the falls to myself, and the tour guide was an excellent photographer!

Other places for Inland tour which you can skip:
1. Bluebird View Deck – where you can see the views of Samal, I only spent 5 minutes to see the view
2. Bat cave – I skipped this, not a fan of bat caves except Batman haha :p
3. Kaputian Beach Park – where you can see a Samal signage, I only spent 5 minutes here
4. Balate tree – a huge tree which you can also skip
5. Vanishing island – we were not able to go here due to time constraint but since I was island hopping I was cool to skip it
6. MAGONGAWON FALLS – Since the Hagimit falls was closed at first, my guide let me see another falls which I did not like that much, it was too far away and it looked like a deserted water falls. Although it’s still a good view, I will not recommend unless they make this a touristy place as trekking down required a lot of effort.

Samal Island Hopping

The island comprises of the following activities: Wishing island Diaz island Sight seeing Malipano Island Coral reefs Sight seeing Pearl parm Giant clam Sanctuary
The coral reefs and gigantic clam sanctuary were the highlight of the island hopping. Samal’s thriving coral reefs astonished me; the water was clear, the corals were diverse, and there were numerous fish. I had to snorkel towards a sea serpent, lol. I wish I could dive, but I need more practice first. Samal’s upscale Pearl Farm resort was also a site we were able to visit. The visit to the giant clam sanctuary was the final and most fascinating and must-see portion of the island. After a brief introduction to the conservation efforts, a guide will transport you clam-snorkeling.

In the Philippines, giant clams, including Tridacna gigas, the world’s largest bivalve mollusk species, are already designated endangered marine species. On Samal Island, the Giant Clam Sanctuary was established to prevent their extinction. More than 3,000 giant clams are cared for by the sanctuary’s personnel, which includes the Adecor United Fisher-folks Organization, a local community. Next time I dive, I’ll bring a GoPro.

Day 4 October 24 – rest day, did food exploration around Davao City and laundry haha

Day 5 October 25 – Buda-Davao Road trip

Buda is an intersection that links two provinces – Bukidnon and Davao. It’s 1.5 hours away from Davao City.

Met Watz my private tour guide at around 3:30am. It was a bit too early for a trip but we needed to see the sea of clouds, Buda-Bukidnon weather is cold in the morning but warm weather through out the day. I love doing private tour and road trip because you are not in a rush to explore places and it seems like time is in your hand. You can also skip those you don’t want to do. The only downside was it’s a bit pricey compared to joining tours and you are unable to meet other people. I actually prefer joined tours over private tours when you are a solo traveler because I get to meet a lot of people. If I were with friends, private tour is the best!

• Sonnenberg Mountain View
  
  This is our first destination. It’s a view deck with sea of clouds and mountains. I have been to too many sea of clouds, it’s still good to check this but I don’t think I’d wake up 3:30am to see this again haha! I loved the weather and the view of course but good to skip.

• Hills View Park
  
  This was our second stop and probably my favorite part of the tour. The landscape was amazing! The rolling hills and mountains were breathtaking! I’d probably recommend my friends to visit here or stay overnight.

• Philippine Eagle Landmark
  
  This was a welcome landmark which was made by famous local artist Kublai Millan, along Buda Highway in Barangay Baganihan, Marilog District. It was fine for me, it’s a good spot for picture taking but it’s okay to skip this part.

• Philippine Eagle Center
  
  The Philippine Eagle is one of the world’s largest, most powerful birds of prey. It was formerly known as the Monkey-eating Eagle, as natives told that the eagle only preyed on monkeys but later found that it has variety of animal preys – from lizards to pigs.
  
  The Philippine Eagle Center is located in Barangay Malagos in Davao City and houses over 30 Philippine Eagles, 18 of which were captive-bred.
  
  The center is also home to more than 100 other birds of prey, reptiles, and mammals. 
  
  I missed the “Raptors in Flight” show which was an exhibit of wildlife rangers work with the eagles and other birds of prey to show their skills and tricks.
  
  I love this visit and will come back to see the show and more eagles. It was so captivating seeing eagles spreading their wings and do some tricks with their neck haha!

• Malagos Chocolate Museum
  
  March 8, 2017 marked the opening of The Malagos Chocolate Museum in Malagos Garden Resort,
  
  The visit to the museum cost around Php520 inclusive of lunch and tour around the garden. It was huge and clean! I actually really love the chocolate museum. When I entered the museum, it smelled so sweet and chocolatey that I just wanted to stay there, it was so relaxing like a spa for your nose haha! To learn more about Malagos, go check this site.
  
  The museum boasts of interactive cacao and chocolate installation that is divided into four parts: The Museum Section where you will learn about the wonders of the cacao and chocolate-making through infographics. The Chocolate Bar where you can enjoy all sorts of Malagos Chocolate food and drinks and the Malagos Chocolate Laboratory where you can make your own chocolate!
  
  It was fun making chocolates, I thought I will be in a laboratory experimenting on recipes but it turned out just pouring hot chocolate in a mold then sprinkled it with marshmallows. haha! In other words, these are for kids. :p But overall, the experience was so fun! I truly enjoyed learning a lot about the single origin chocolate! The chocolate making cost Php500 for 2 persons.

Day 6 October 26 – Davao Oriental Road trip

I booked a private road trip tour with Watz Davao Tour again. Since I cannot drive, I hired a private driver, haha! I don’t recommend private tours early in the morning as it’s very tiring especially this was a back to back road trip and I was not really feeling well due to period. It was very tiring and pricey at the same time. But, I recommend the tour agency as Watz was very accommodating and it’s safe in Davao for solo travelers.

Davao Oriental is a province located in Davao Region which is 4 hour away from Davao City. It’s capital is Mati.

Here were the activities I did:

1. Sleeping Dinosaur Viewdeck

Located at the Badas point in Brgy. Dawan, we made a quick stop over so I could see a great view of land formation that looked like a sleeping dinosaur along Pujada bay. I don’t think anyone should miss this view, I’d recommend this, it was amazing!

2. Mindanao Flying Saga

We arrived around 8:30am at The Mindanao Saga Flying Club. It is an aviation club where you can take different courses according to your skill level.  It is based in Brgy. Dahican, Mati City. I don’t fly planes that’s for sure but I’d really love to try this adventure so off we went. It cost Php3,900 for an ultralight flying. I was really looking forward to fly this day but it was just really unfortunate that the wind gust was really strong when we arrived that I was not able to fly a plane. 😦 It sucked! I felt so down the whole day because of this and my period. Since I were not able to fly, they refunded the Php3,900. This is a must visit and I’d go back soon for sure!

3. Blue Bless Resort

We had breakfast here with Php60 entrance fees. I’d skip this resort, it was a bit windy and the waters were not that clean.

4. Dahican Surf Resort

After the Mindanao Flying Saga, we headed to Dahican Surf Resort. Dahican Surf Resort is a beachside fronting Mayo Bay. It’s a prime spot for surfing or even camping and Mati’s best kept secret. They have shower rooms and you can stay overnight via camping or by booking their private rooms. They also have cafes and restaurants where you can dine in while you relax by the beach. What I really love about this place aside from it’s relaxing was the fact that it has a long stretch of ecru sand and clear blue water. It’s crazy amazing, I have never been to a surf spot with creamy sand! haha

I was really not feeling well so I were not able to surf and swim. It would have been really great to be in the water and try different sports here. The day tour only cost Php100, you can check more prices to their Facebook page. Mati was really for adventure seekers and I’d go back again and will stay at Dahican resort and surf or learn skim board the next day!

Day 7 October 27 – free day, foodie day

Day 8-10 October 28-30 – Hiked the highest peak in the Philippines, Mt. Apo. Woohoo!

Day 11 October 31 – free day and preparing to come back home in Manila

Exploring parts of Davao was an amazing experience. The people were warm and polite, the streets were clean and organized. I’d go back here in a heart beat. I recommend Davao for solo travelers! I will explore more parts of Davao next time and visit other parts of Mindanao – it’s a less traveled region.

Love,

Maria, sometimes, Niskie