The Neglected Black-Sand Beaches of Davao City

In the past there were/are a number of beautiful black-sand beaches in Davao City which have been forgotten when the rage for white-sand beaches was imported from somewhere outside the Philippines.

Canibad Beach - (my)newly discovered

-Davao City, Philippines-

ok, before i start something that may mislead you, this post is not strictly about a Davao City beach. I consider anything very accessible and near to Davao city. More to the point, i consider Samal Island as part of Davao City, Philippines. It has been renamed as “the island garden city of Samal” only recently. Us vagabonds of Davao City, Philippines have trooped to this island for the longest time already and I daresay, you cannot access Samal except by boat or ferry from the wharfs of, you guessed it, Davao City, Phiippines. Ok, enough of that. On to the actual subject.
Last Holy Week 2009, our kali-escrima-arnis group Mandirigmang Kaliradman held our annual Instructors’ Seminar at Canibad Beach in Samal Island. I’ve heard about this secluded beach before but never had the chance to check it out. Secluded is a proper adjective to describe Canibad Beach. Stupid is the adjective for me for missing out on this for the longest time.

Now it will be futile for me to try to describe qualities or drawbacks of the beach with more adjectives without posting some pics here but of course I will not stop myself from telling my impressions of it.

I loved it. ‘like’ is too tame a word to use for Canibad Beach. You will miss out on the convenience of having a proper sari-sari store (there is one but be prepared to part with a considerable amount of your hard-earned cash) to buy whatever you forgot to bring(mostly this will be in the food/drink category).But you knew you were going to a secluded beach silly. It was nice during the time we were there because some campers actually put up their own little sari-sari stores, this caused the prices to become more reasonable while their supply lasted(We even had a halo-halo of sorts).
What about the amenities of Canibad Beach? Pretty good actually. You shouldn’t expect five-star amenities, it is of the Spartan category. Did I say that this is mostly a camper’s beach? Though there is a clubhouse of sorts where people can cook(a dirty kitchen is available, the only dirty thing you can describe at Canibad beach), attend to nature calls(clean comfort rooms cum showers) . The group stayed at the clubhouse and enjoyed the many hammocks there and the barracks type second floor for those who were slow with the hammocks and for our things. Some of us brought tents, too and put them up on the clubhouse grounds.

The days were great at Canibad beach. Enjoying the sea wet is very optional. You can enjoy the view while talking(read; drinking/singing/laughing/shouting) with friends but of course you shouldn’t ignore the sea and the sand of Canibad Beach. Bringers of books should beware, you’ll miss out on the nice.nice beach if you enjoy the ambiance too much while reading.

The nights were reserved for star-gazing, walks on the fairly long beach, serious drinking bouts, and of course: night swimming. All that and more at Canibad Beach. By the way, it is quite accessible from Davao City, Philippines if you know how(about an hour, most of it will be consumed by the ferry), there will be a bit of trekking/hiking involved but nothing a stroke survivor(me) cannot handle slowly with patience... So there’s the scoop(of sorts), I hope you get to enjoy Canibad Beach, Samal Island, Davao City, Philippines(with apologies to the island garden city of Samal).

Davao City, Philippines

What is it about Davao City, Philippines that calls to my soul? Uhmm, and to the souls of thousands of its residents and visitors... There is what we call the Davao “bug”. Once you are bitten you are most likely, if not definitely going to find ways of settling down here. Stories of such poor folk[they consider themselves lucky] abound. So what could it be?

Could it be because of the people? I daresay Davao City, Philippines folk are very cosmopolitan and remarkably decent for city folk, and I say this because it is significant enough to observe and I have been to a number of cities in this blessed country of ours.
Cosmopolitan: I say this due to my experience of seeing the faces we see on television walking the malls without people rushing them like loosed dogs. Funny though, if there is an official event, the people do crowd the stars like the star struck fans they are but, and here is where the Davao folk is unique, they give you space if you are not there for a job to do. I’ve observed Kakai Velasquez (singer), Matt Ranillo(actor), Sunshine Cruz(actress) being accorded this decency. I must confess that was years ago, when I was still malling, I hope this is still true now.
Remarkably decent: I say this because I am a stroke survivor and I have found it hard to navigate city streets generally because of the crowds of people who walk the sidewalks. But I do not find this as a problem in Davao City, as I feel like Moses parting the Red Sea when I walk the sidewalks of San Pedro street, the busiest in terms of pedestrian traffic in Davao City, Philippines. Also I do not have to walk in front of vehicles to make them stop for me to cross, so unlike another city in the country where I was not afforded such basic common courtesy in the months I was walking its streets. For this alone, I cannot imagine raising my kids anywhere else.

Could it be because of the places to go within the Davao City, Philippines itself? You like beaches? Black sand or white? Diving? Are you a mountain person and would like to commune with nature in the high places? Or perhaps you are the more adventurous type or looking for possible team-building activities that are not run-of-the-mill? Whitewater rafting? Ziplining? Spelunking? Hiking? I can go on and on. That is just what I will do in this blog. Highlight the places tbe /places to go within the City or very near its environs. By the way, the things I mentioned above are just some of the places you can do within Davao City, Philippines.
I have not yet mentioned the food/eating places and various places to relax and enjoy around the city. I will also write about th best kept secrets of the city in terms of places to be. Have I mentioned that all this comes at a price? A very low one that is almost scandalous when compared to places outside of Davao City, Philippines.

Til the next post!