Samal Island

Samal Island being very close to Davao City is a place often visited by tourists and locals alike, but many visitors never get beyond the popular coastal resorts such as Paradise Island. This is unfortunate because there is more to Samal Island than that, much more.

Follow the links on this website and let me take you the mysterious Camp 23 site where believers prostrate themselves before a statue of a war time general, and still follow the religion he founded, The Moncadistas. In their church is both The Bible and The Kabbalah. A little further on is The White House, the shell of what was once was The General's palatial residence. This area is riddled with caves where people have searched for the fabled wealth of Yamashita's gold.

For the fit and active there is the descent into The Great Depression at Bito, a place little known even by locals with it's high canyon walls and cave at the end where the river plunges underground only to re-emerge some 5 km away at Hagamit.

For another day there is the ascent to the top Mount Puting Bato the highest peak on the island.

For relaxation why not take a picnic to Hagamit falls and swim in the cool waters in one of it's many pools, and on the other side of the island is Canibad Beach, very unspoilt, very beautiful, like my foreigner's conception of Treasure Island from the novel.

The fact is that exploring Samal Island by mountain bike has become my passion, you will see that I have graded some of the links like ski trails just in case you want to explore using your own bike. Green is easy, blue is intermediate and black can be demanding, but hey I am not now a young man, if I can do it, anyone can!

But don't think that you need to use a bike yourself to experience what Samal Island has to offer, a motorbike, a car, or even sometimes public transport is just as suitable. So just get here ...

Dr. Scott Nimmo