Last November 2018 Jopet and I went to Davao to explore the city and explore one of Davao’s gem which is the Samal Island.
We as couple usually plan ahead of time our future travels to save up some money for us to really enjoy the rest of the trip. We always try our very best to find the cheapest yet having the best quality hotels, food, and other activities that we wanted to do. So before going to our destination it became my hobby to look for travel guides/travel itinerary from the internet to know how much money are we bringing. So this blog may help you decide where to stay and what places to visit during your stay in Davao City & Samal Island. Enjoy!
We went to Davao City last November 29 – December 2, 2019. We brought P14,000.00 (cash) with us good for 2 persons for 3 days & 2 nights excluding our stay. Okay a tip!
Tip: We divided our money into 6 groups: 1) Food 2) Gasoline 3) Hotel 4) Entrance Fees 5) Fare and 6) Others (meaning for emergencies, fares or another impulsive decisions to make HAHAHA!) We sort of bought a small envelope (sobre) to place the money. It’s safer this way because we will only be bringing money that is necessary for our daily activity. Try it guys, it might help.
Going to Davao City
We ride a bus from Cagayan de Oro City going to Davao City. The fare is P670.00 each, non-stop. Our ride was supposedly 6 hours long but in our case since there is an unexpected turn of events, we got stuck in Bukidnon and wait until it’s good to go.
Arriving at Davao City
We arrive in Davao’s Ecoland Bus Terminal almost 7:00 in the morning and waited for J’s ate to fetch us. His ate invited us for breakfast and to see J’s nephew or pagumangkon in bisaya. After enjoying our food and having a little chit-chat with J’s ate, they offered us a ride going to Sasa Port (nakalibre kami ng papunta sa port). The barge fee is P10.00/each which is super cheap. Amazing! The ride is approximately 10 minutes lang.
Getting Around in Samal Island
We rented a motorcyle; self drive for P800.00 comes with free 1 liter of gas good for 1 day. Actually if you ask me, the price was a bit pricey compared to Camiguin which is P500.00 only. But we have no choice because it was the cheapest among the motorcyle renters so we made a decision to just go for it. (I forgot to ask Kuya’s name but if you want here is his contact number: 09161900368. I believe he has tour packages and other offers which is good especially if you are planning to go with a group.)
Sunrise Beach View Resort
We made a reservation earlier before our trip in Sunrise View Beach Resort good for one day for only P1800.00. It is a 5 minute drive from the Samal Ferry Wharf. The resort was surprisingly good. It’s not that big though but they maintain the peace and solemnity of the place. The people are welcoming and their service is quite impressive. The place is beachfront and they also have a swimming pool (so you can choose between pool or beach; what do you say you can have the best of both worlds!) Our room was air conditioned and they have cable flat screen TV. If I were to rate the resort it would be 5/5. ♥
J trying to be funny and me trying to be a little extra by bringing the pixie lights with me to add a little romance to our date night.
Everything else was a blur. char! 
Sunrise Beach View’s beachfront.
Monfort Bat Sanctuary
The world’s largest known population of Geoffrey’s Rousette fruit bats is found in the Monfort Bat Cave located in Barangay Tambo, Samal Island, near Davao City in southern Philippines. The Monfort Bat Cave was officially recognized by the Guinness World Record in 2010 as largest single colony of this kind! And Ranked #3 of 9 Attractions in Samal Island and a recipient of Certificate of Excellence 2014 by Trip Advisor Philippines.
monfortbatsanctuary.org
Monfort Bat Sanctuary is located at Barangay Tambo, Samal Island. We paid P50.00 each for the entrance fee and P10.00 each for their environmental fee. When you are planning to visit the sanctuary please observe cleanliness and avoid being too noisy. I think you could ask for a tour guide to help you wander around the sanctuary but in our case we don’t have a tour guide so we just followed the trail. You won’t get lost anyway because each cave has a number (if you know how to count! HAHA kidding aside).
Hagimit Falls
Entrance to Hagimit Falls 
Hagimit Falls is not quite impressive as the tourists describe it. All the blogs I read about Samal Tourist Spots, Hagimit Falls is always on the top list. The place was crowded at the time we visited but the water was clear and cold. But we made a decision not to stay too long to visit some other tourist spots. If you still want to check the falls, it is located at Peñaplata, Samal Island. (maybe I didn’t appreciate it because it was crowded and my expectation was too high)
Kaputian Beach Resort
Kaputian Beach resort is located within the Southern Coast of Samal Island. Its approximately a 45 minutes to 1 hour via motorcycle ride. The entrance fee is P15.00 per person only and you can enjoy the white sand and crystal clear beach. If you are into adventures the place is actually good for snorkeling and diving. They have cottages but since J and I were only staying there for an hour or two we were just sitting at the fine sands of Kaputian beach. They also offer room accommodations and if you are planning to bring foods inside the resort feel free to do so, no corkage. Just laze around the resort and watch the sunset with your lover, it would be romantic!
We ended our 1st day tour with a few drinks by the beach having a conversation and a little magic of pixie lights!
The next day, we left Samal Island around 9 AM and went back to Davao City to spend the rest of the day there.
Getting around Davao City
J and I stayed in GV Hotel which is located at A. Pichon St, Poblacion District, Davao City for P800.00 only good for one day stay. We chose GV hotel because the location is a bit near to malls and other establishments which is a pretty good thing for us. We can easily walk from one place to another (hassle-free, save money, probably we can lose weight, and don’t forget that walks are romantic).
First Stop
Our first stop was in Tent Azuela Cove to visit Big Bad Wolf books and of course to buy books. Luckily we still have money left so we bought a total of four books. We had our brunch in Mcdonalds, snacks in Yellow cab then we spend the entire afternoon roaming around SM Lanang.
Our next stop was to buy durian fruit, key chains and magnets for pasalubong purposes. (I fail to take pictures of the pasalubongs we bought). By the way I forgot the name of the pasalubongan store but you can find it in google map actually there are tons of it. And then we had our dinner at Primo Pop Grill. See pictures below:
J took this picture after doing some treasure hunting from Big Bad Wolf Books. 
The face of a winner. No, actually the face of no proper sleep, but who cares I enjoyed every second of this trip.
We ordered two rice, sisig and calamares. (diet po kami) 
After having our dinner we went back to the hotel to prepare our stuffs for our departure tomorrow, December 2, 2019. And that’s how we ended our 3 days and 2 nights tour. I hope this helps.
Below is a summary of our expenses (this is only according to our budget):
- Fare from CDO to DVO City (vice versa) : P1,340.00 x 2 = P2,680.00
- Sunrise Beach Hotel : P1,800.00
- Motorcyle Rental Fee : P500.00
- Gasoline : P500.00
- Barge Fee : P20.00 x 2 + P40.00
- Food (good for 2 pax for 3 days) : P3,500.00
- Entrance Fee’s : P500.00
- Others (fare in Davao City and books which is an impulsive decision btw) : P3,000.00
We still have approximately P1,480.00 left. Sulit na, tipid pa!
You can follow me on my instagram for more pictures from our travel, @gabthegabbler.
Thank you! Hope this helps! ♥
JG Wanders 