Brief Encounters | What to do in Davao, Philippines, given Mount Apo is temporarily off-limits
- A trip to Davao, on the coast of Mindanao, will prove there is more to the Southeast Asian nation than Boracay, Cebu and Palawan
- This remote corner of the country is the capital of adventure sports, where you can try your hand at zip lining, wakeboarding and even wreck dives
The Hongkonger’s alphabet of the Philippines tends to extend little beyond P-B-C: Palawan, Boracay, Cebu. But one step further – D, Davao, on the southeast coast of Mindanao – leads to one of the archipelago’s adventure sports capitals, somewhere that’s all the more tempting for being relatively remote.
There’s something to raise a sweat whichever way you look. There’s a temporary ban, for wild fire reasons, on hiking Mount Apo (2,954 metres) – traditionally Davao’s default excursion – but white-water rafting faces off with zip lining and wakeboarding in the adrenaline stakes. Scuba divers can find somewhere exciting year-round, including some unusual wreck dives.
What’s more, as holiday planners will have long noted, the Kadayawan harvest festival galvanises Davao into six days of dance competitions, parades, street performances and a general celebration of all the good things in life, starting on August 13.
Where to stay
Throw a dart at Davao’s accommodation board and the chances are you won’t hit anything too special – with a few exceptions: offshore, Samal Island, a few minutes’ by shuttle boat from Davao Marina, has a few resorts on the attractive side; pick an overwater villa at Pearl Farm Beach Resort and a seaside swim’s no more than a flight of steps away. Expect to pay US$350 a night.