Hagimit Falls, Samal Island.

While not on the scale of Niagara Falls this is nonetheless one of the more beautiful attractions on Samal Island to visit, it is pleasant to swim in the cool waters of one of the many pools and afterwards it tranquil and restful just to sit in one of the cabins overlooking the falls and relax and take in the scenery. You are not confined to the first set of waterfalls you will encounter when arriving but if you follow a path upriver you will be rewarded by even more beautiful scenery where there will be less visitors. Press on further, clamber over a few rocks and can see where The River Hagimit emerges from a cave, its source being much further up at Bito Depression.

The downside of this attraction is there is quite along flight of stairs to descend from the car parking area so people with moderate disabilities may find this { and the ascent } demanding, the facilities such as the changing rooms and toilets are quite basic but on a par with what is found in the Philippines in general. And lastly you can only buy a limited range of snacks and drinks in the falls area so you would be best to bring any picnics or other food with you.

The history of the area is that falls area was first developed in the 1950's by a Mr Fortunato Batucan, but unfortunately he suffered an early demise from a bolt of lightening, he was known to be a hard working and industrious gentleman. His son Glicerio Batucan then followed in his father's footsteps and continued the development, Glicerio was very enterprising and had interests in other things such as sarisari stores, jeepneys, and small ferry boats.

Sad to relate Glicerio also passed on prematurely, on the 7th of May 1969 he drowned in one of the underwater caves in the pool system while diving for uwang { Freshwater prawns }. The nature of the man was that his pleasure was to serve these to his friends.


And now today a third generation of the same family is acting as guardian for this attraction and carrying on the tradition of those who went before, keeping the place open not only for the resident people of Samal and Davao to enjoy but for increasing numbers of visitors from overseas as well.

Click HERE to see it on Google maps.