Davao City Hotels

What a shame, then, that Mindanao’s integral splendours get lost amid periodic waves of turbulent discord in the southwest section of the island. Though the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao - the only Islamic enclave in the Philippines - is a powder keg and not presently safe for tourism, the island as a whole is a wonder. A reliable and worthwhile place to start is Davao City.

The dominant metropolis in Mindanao is home to 1.4 million people and has a peerless backdrop in Mount Apo. The stratovolcano is the rooftop of the Philippines and accents a superb national park. Within Davao City proper, a vital ensemble of landmarks and monuments unfurl. As a strategic Pacific stronghold for Imperial Japan in the Second World War, Davao is a boon for military history buffs. Some of the most notable landmarks include the Memorial to a Brave Son, Japanese Tunnel, Japanese Museum and Japanese Peace Memorial Shrine. For rest and recreation in the vicinity of the city, look no further than Talomo Beach, Eden Nature Park and the Island Garden City of Samal. With beach resorts, mountain scenery, arts, culture and nightlife, Davao City is a solid holiday bet and gateway to the rest of Mindanao.

Davao’s Top 10

Davao City History

• Jack's Ridge – This site is where the Japanese landed during WWII and offers a trail up and down the ridge.
• San Pedro Cathedral – The main cathedral in the city dates back to the 1800s.
• Battle Memorial – Marks the historical place of the longest battle fought between the American and Filipino forces and the Japanese Army.
• Camp Domingo Leonor – Military quarters of the Spanish and then American forces in the 1920s.
• Osmeña Park – The early settlement of the Davaoeños.

Davao City Art & Culture

• Araw Ng Dabaw Festival – This yearly festival held on March 16 starts off with a beauty pageant and colourful parade.
• Davao Historical Society Museum – Features indigenous and historical collections of the Davao Historical Society.
• Ford Academy of Arts – Offers local handcrafted items, including paintings and sculptures.
• Kadayawan Festival – A thanksgiving celebration held in the third week of August in Davao City.
• Davao Museum – Home to artefacts from the indigenous tribes of the area.

Davao City Shopping

• Aldevinco Shopping Centre – The best to place go for local arts and crafts and other souvenirs.
• Centrepoint Plaza – One of the main shopping centres in Davao City.
• Magsaysay Fruit Stalls – The city’s main marketplace offers the best selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Gaisano Mall of Davao – A six-level shopping area complete with stores, food stalls and theatres.
• City Triangle – One of the newest shopping areas in the city ,where you can find many retail stores and restaurants.

Gay & Lesbian Davao City

• Boyztown – This bar found in Davao City is one of a kind.
• Aura Sing-Along and comedy Bar – A welcoming karaoke and comedy bar that offers great food and a friendly atmosphere.
• Boulevard Strip – A great place to meet new friends.
• The Library – This upscale joint offers live music and sing-alongs.
• Lawaan Theater – A place to go to relax and watch a movie.

Davao Local

Though Davao City covers well over 2,400 km² and supports a population of more than 1.4 million people, the vast majority of notable landmarks cluster in a tiny, compact downtown core. The city dwarfs Metro Manila and Cebu in total area but is mainly made up of timberland and plantations. As such, visitors need not travel too far, outside of some vital afternoon and day trips, to enjoy the city at large.

Quezon Blvd. runs along the Davao Gulf coast and is a major thoroughfare in the city, with copious markets, temples, mosques and parks.

Other important commercial nodes in Davao City include Roxas Ave. and Elpidio Quirino Ave.

Mount Apo Natural Park, a rich, spectacularly biodiverse zone on the island of Mindanao is essential tourism fodder. The park, which has been on the tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 2009, is on the doorstep of Davao City.

The Davao Region of Mindanao, of which Davao City is a foremost part, unfurls a host of proximate points of interest, provinces and towns to explore. The Compostela Valley contains a number of beach resorts and coconut and banana plantations. Davao del Norte, a paragon province for agriculture, has a vibrant capital in Tagum City, which is easily reachable from Davao City on the Pan-Philippine Highway. Davao del Sur covers some of the most beautiful coastal areas on the island and has a small capital in Digos City, the “Mango Capital of the Philippines”. Davao Oriental hosts a string of resorts on the Philippine Sea coast, with a capital, Mati City, that is home to 125,000 people.

Davao Eat & Drink

The island of Mindanao has a blend of distinct culinary styles not found anywhere else in the Philippines. Davao City’s restaurants are a good place to discover what the island has to offer.

Davao Events

Davao City and the Davao region at large support a modest but colourful ensemble of diverse annual festivals.

Araw Ng Dabaw Festival is a foremost civic holiday in Davao that commemorates the foundation of the city on March 16, 1936.

Kadayawan Festival is a harvest celebration that takes place over one week every August with bountiful random events like durian rolls, fashion shows and street markets.

Binuhat Festival is a week-long celebration of LGBT and drag pride held in Tagum City, Davao del Norte province, every July.

Durian Festival takes place in Tagum in August or September and venerates the infamous, fetid fruit.

Musikahan Festival takes Tagum by storm every February, with numerous concerts and musical performances.

Pakaradjan Festival, held over the last week of October in Tagum, showcases the cultural contributions of Mindanao’s Muslim and indigenous tribes.

Each November Tagum holds a popular Food Festival that is a must for intrepid epicures who want to sample the best of Mindanao’s culinary heritage.

When To Go

Mindanao is not generally under threat from typhoons, a fact even more germane in Davao City where mountains offer relative shelter and protection from the most violent of storms. While heavy downpours do flood the streets on occasion, on the whole the climate is rather equatorial, with no strict wet or dry season.

Precipitation is abundant, though relatively uniform, throughout the year and temperatures quite stable between 72°F (22°C) and 91°F (33°C). The worst month for rain is May, with over 200 mm on average. March is the low point for the wet stuff but still features anywhere from 125 mm to 140 mm.

The fact that rainfall, temperatures and even humidity levels stay more or less even from one month to the next is a plus. Unlike so much of Southeast Asia, potential visitors do not have to schedule a trip to Mindanao or Davao within a narrow, dry season window.

What To Miss

The one knock on Mindanao is a perpetual ominous threat of terrorist activity, violent crime and separatist political unrest. Foreigners, unfortunately and all too often, make for easy targets to publicise a cause which the powers-that-be all the way in Metro Manila would just as soon push under the rug and forget.

Mindanao is admittedly a huge island but if you venture outside of Davao City, exercise a high degree of caution. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, in fact, advises against non-essential travel to southwest Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, i.e. the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. The willingness of rebels to use tourists as innocent pawns in recent years makes the proposition a patently risky one.

In Davao City, a much less odious menace is the ubiquitous presence of peddlers hawking overpriced pearls, handicrafts and trinkets. If a particular item strikes your fancy, drive a hard bargain, secure in the knowledge that the vast majority of huckster jewellery is counterfeit.

Getting Around

Metro Manila, naturally, is the de facto principal gateway to Davao City, with frequent domestic airline service to Mindanao from the national capital. As one of the archipelago state’s most important hubs outside of Luzon, however, affordable access to the city is on hand from just about every airport in the Philippines. Ferry transport is also possible but the trip from Cebu or Manila is prohibitively long and not necessarily less expensive than a low-cost airline flight, with departures, moreover, only once a week.

On the island of Mindanao, bus transport is the most reliable and cost-effective way to get from one town to another.

Within Davao City, locals and visitors alike mix it up with a combination of taxis, buses and jeepneys. A wide range of car rental companies operate in town and drivers can be hired for a daily nominal fee for city-wide and outskirts touring.