Anybody who follows Feyma or I must know by now that our dream is to build a home and live on Samal Island. We already bought the land, and we will be building a house there in the future! We are very excited for the day to come when we can do that.
If you want to know why we have decided to make Samal our home, have a look at the video, I’ll share my thoughts with you, and also have a look at some scenes in a couple of different parts of the Island!
Bob,
How big is Samal Island? I mean area. 6 miles by 10 miles?
40 miles by 60 miles?
Just curious.
Dan
PS Really like the videos
Hi Danny – I am not totally certain in terms of distance how large the island is. I will say that you can spend a whole day on the island just traveling around. I have never made it all the way to the southern end of the island, although I've been to the shoreline on the Northern, Western and Eastern shores. From the North Central part of the island, I have driven as much as 2 hours south without reaching the southern tip. So, it is a big island.
Nice Bob….ur getting better at the video production. Very nice Island, the fruit stand is the exact place I stopped last year for refreshments.
What a luxury to be able to go from city to paradise in 30 minutes, very few places you can do that , one of the very appealing attributes of Davao.
Hi Brian – Thanks for the compliment! Indeed, having just a short trip to peace is really a huge advantage! I love Samal! 😆
I just read on the Island Garden City of Samal official site and on an online news site that a bridge is in the works with funds from a bank in the middle east. I can see pros and cons…mostly cons (from a selfish perspective of course).
Hi Jon P – Yeah, I have actually written a lot about the bridge in the past 2 weeks or so on this site, perhaps you missed it. Basically, I was hoping that the bridge would not happen, or at least not happen until many more years had passed. Now that it is (presumably) going forward, I have resigned myself to it, and accepted it. The advantages of the bridge, in my view are that my access to the island will be easier and cheaper. Also, my land value will skyrocket and I should make some nice money on our investment there.
That said, there are downsides like too much development and such.
However, if development is too much, I can take my profits, and move somewhere else. The East side of the island, in my opinion, will remain relatively peaceful and development free for years.
A bridge will make the cost of construction lower. At present it will cost you an additional 30% to transport materials through the straits. It will also pave the way to the industrialization of Samal's Davao side causing pollution and unsightly factories. I hope the Samal goverment will develop a zoning plan and keep factories out of Samal. It will also bring about an increase in "informal settlers". I think it will be realized soon. One major member of the Philippine senate is investing heavily there and will surely push for the bridge. Samal roads are much better built than Davao's in my opinion. The east side is has clear water and air. Less crowded and more affordable. But that may change soon.
Hi bobby – The bridge will certainly bring the cost of construction down, but I would be surprised if it would be by that amount. I also don't think you'll see factories or industrialization of Samal. The local government is quite strict about that. I hope, anyway!
Thanks for visiting.
Hi Bob, According to Google Earth (I measured it) Samal Island is about 21 miles long by 9 miles wide (measured at widest points).
Nice video. Show me more of the markets and what is available at different times of the year. I think a lot of people would be interested.
Samal is a nice place and I would like to see it stay the way it is. This bridge is going to turn Samal into Mactan Island with so many subdivs. Oh well progress is what it is… unstoppable.
One of the places I still haven't visited is Samal Island! It's hard to believe, given that I've spent so much time in Davao this past year. On my next visit a trip to Samal will definitely be in the itinerary. No matter what. Thanks for sharing the video; I know now what I am missing – and I am missing a lot!
Cheers!
Hi John in Austria – I thought it was a little bigger! Thanks for checking on that!
Hi BrSpiritus – Yes, indeed, Samal is a beautiful place! I hope that it will be preserved as much as possible!
Hi Migs – Next time! I'll take you over there!
Hi Bob
This is my first post.Hello and best wishes from me and Joradin to you Feyma and the family.I was very interested to hear you mention that a golf course is being developed on Samal.Do you have any more details,such as ,when it will be open for play?
Nice video,made me feel homesick for Davao.
All the best.
Dave.
Hi Dave – Nice to hear from you! I hope that all is going well for you in the UK. The golf course is under construction in Kaputian, I can't really say when it will be finished.
Hope to see you next time you are in Davao again!
Ahhh Samal Island … that is where I did most of my courting to my now-wife. We would go on lunch trips (with her trusty side kick/friend/personal assistant) and have fun little lunches.
I went diving with the guys over at White Tip Diving -Davao .. we were somewhere off the coast of Samal for some really great scuba diving.
Hopefully, whatever development is happening, it will be done tastefully and , somehow, the local people will benefit.
Like everything else the bridge will offer advanatages and disadvanatages, but overall I think it will be a good deal for the isalnd. As some of you know Bob and Feyma very kindly took me on a tour of part of Samal during my recent visit … I can say that Samal is one of the few places that looks and feels as I thought the Philippines would/should. I really liked it there and those who haven't visited should certainly put it on their list.
Hi Thomas Shawn – Yes indeed, Samal is a beautiful and alluring place! I also hope it stays that way, to the greatest extent possible!
Hi Dave Starr – Indeed the Samal Bridge has ups and downs. I was hoping to hold it off for a while, but it seems that it will be happening!
the bridge idea sucks BIG since i now own 2 beach lots at Kaputian This USA recession has taken all my money in deflation, in other words, all my things here are worth 60 % of what they were and I have to sell out to move to Samal. My sari sari store in davao I bought 2 weeks ago is doing ok and I guess I will start srotes in samal in 2010 when I move there. Taking as how i have NEVER been to Samal I just buy all this stuff from people in hong Kong. the movies of samal look kind of sucky, to be Tarzan you need a big monkey, and a cute woman. i got the cute woman in Davao but I failed to see any photos of large chips in samal so far. Maybe carry a big knife and say, " Tarzan do " Well exept for the stores and mango trees, i will be reclusive. I also own a rice farm in Luzan and alot stuff in davao city. My friend from mindanao was goign to Davao next week and take photos of all the stuff i own when she flys from the USA. I told her to take my taxi cab and go all over the place. Maybe a rumor can be started about the bridge to the NPA? If you do not want it ? I know if I am like a white guy in Samal it might be hard to be reclusive. In Cebu City white people will not even speak to anyone its like they are invisable. I tried to talk to white people in Cebu and they never reply back. I assumed the reason was that they had many bad experences with locals before in being friendly ? So if i am in Samal and you see me i might be so reclusive and to pretend i and deaf? I have not decided yet. I am wondering if the snakes are bad there and alot of poison snakes hang out ? I see topo maps where the sea is a 100 foot deep off the east side of Samal. I own a samal boat. If any fish is too big i plan to carry a knife to cut the line. I am shipping many nice fishing poles to davao in Balk. boxes this summer for my Samal fishing trip. My X wife in Cebu owned so many farms and houses it took me 2 days just to see them all in 2004. Some of that was my money. Now i shifted from cebu to davao, even I ahev never been to davao these places i got cannot be too sucky right ? like a pig in a polk ? ( for those who do not know pig-in-a polk- that is where men used to put a CAT in a sack and sell it to farmers CHEAP saying a PIG was in the bag –then u got a cat –thats buying a pig in a polk ) I guess I might TRY to talk to people but I always have so manys projects going on theres no real time–i am just in here for lunch looking at Samal photos— I guess I need to jump a plane in a few weeks and go to Samal— My camping tents already got to Davao in Jan so i am ready for camping in Samal. MAKE alot photos of Kaputian so i can see them STOP selling lots so not alot people go live there. I got to go back to work to make plane ticket money
Hi Howard Spiehler – The information you shared about buying your property in Samal sounds a bit "different." You have never been to the Philippines before, and bought land on Samal from people in Hong Kong? Did you realize that you cannot legally own land in the Philippines, because you are not a Filipino?
I don't know about all this "Tarzan" stuff that you are mentioning.
Hi Bob
Found your blog and a trying to find out some information. We the (wife and I) have recently bought a block of land on Samal (Jun 2009). I will be in Samal in August 2009. I am presently working in South Korea but originally from Australia (Cairns) so i love the tropics lifestyle.
Would like to contact you regarding building on the island. Some of the questions i am looking for are who are reputable builders etc. I really have many questions.
Look forward to hearing from you and your wife Feyma.
Ashley and Karin
Hi Bob,
Are you familiar with Babak? My wife and I are thinking of building there. How much would it cost us to build a small house there, maybe 800-1000 sf?
Thanks,
John
Hi John – Yes, I am very familiar with Babak, I have been there dozens, maybe hundreds of times.
How much will it cost to build a house there? Just depends on your tastes, what you want to put in the house, etc. It could be P500k and it could be P500M, just depends on your tastes and budget.
SNAKES–I was just informed that a man was hired to clean the samal land i have an he was cobra snake bit and is paralized, a neighbor went there with his son 16 and the boy died of snake bite and cobras as big as your arm are everywhere–myself I would CREAM mate a few acres with 50 gal of GAS and burn all in sight–i an trying to buy a kabota mower and put SNAKE GUARDS all around it to stop snakes from climb the mower–I need to go there an control this BIG SNAKE problem-maybe snake fenace the property lines and find a good mongoose as they are immune to croba bites–i have been in Cebu an had farms there in 2003 but mindanao is starting sound like a hell hole. NPA burned my tagum house in 2012 and now these muslims are causing problems–i have ASKED for USA troups into Mindanao now but these USA millitary doesnt like to work
Why would you expect the US military to fight snakes on your property?
How much is the price now at Babak Rd near the elementary school it’s a frontal lot per sa meter . And high school is also 5 minutes away.
Thanks