Samal Getaway with #TeamDDI and WayPH for Summer 2017- DAVAO LIFE

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Summertime is here and it is indeed a perfect time for some fun under the sun with family and friends!

It was a great start for the month of March 2017 for us. It is that time of the year where you have a perfect excuse to enjoy the sun… sand… sea! A time when most of us especially our family and friends are posting on social media with these hashtags: #vitaminsea #travel #beach #summer #summer2017 #islandhopping #samal and more.

We are grateful to Kaiser of WayPh.com for one fun Saturday spent with blogger and vlogger friends as hubby and I were able to join the Samal outing with #TEAMDDI.

A fun time to a great start of our summer 2017 for a much needed break going to the final exams of our dear little guy. Just grateful for God’s grace that my little guy did good and got 97% in his Chinese exam on the Monday that followed our summer outing so I am guilt-free. My little guy was left at home this time to review for the exams. I remember the last time my boys and I had a Samal island hopping together was four years ago with the families of hubby’s college classmates and friends.

Now, this recent trip with fun company was a nice dose of vitamin SEA, laughter, singing and bonding even over food with blogger and vloggers from the Davao Digital Influencers!

It was a nice Saturday morning last March 4, 2017 after watching Sarah Geronimo’s The Great Unknown Unplugged Concert Live in Davao with fellow #TeamDDI friends the night before.

Chamee and mommy Verna had a quick and fun ride with the Coast Guard before our boat left Sta. Ana Wharf around 9 in the morning.

Our first stop was at the Coral Garden & Marine Park.

Spotted a few boats were already there and some of the passengers have gone diving already I assume since this is one of the spots to go to in Samal for divers.

You can go scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming or simply take a dip in the cool and rather deep water in this area.

That’s Jake aka Lucky Sketch as he took a dive into the water.

If you go island hopping in Samal, this is usually one of their stopovers or you will most likely pass by this area if you opt for another destination to stop over.

A groufie with the DDI momshies and ladies while in the waters of the marine park.

As we proceeded with our trip going to Talicud …

We spotted a familiar view as I remember them from our island hopping before.

Our group’s next stop was at Isla Cristina Beach Resort 2 just in time for lunch and this time I could not resist taking a dip as the beautiful and clear water seems to be calling to us. We’ve watched Moana and that animated movie makes me want to go to the beach every time I see the movie or the music video of its theme song. And yes our younger DDI members sang “How Far I’ll Go” as we were heading to Coral Garden.

Kaiser made sure we never got hungry the whole time of the tour like it was a foodtrip on our Samal trip. The food they prepared for our lunch was really for a beach trip.

Yes, a little shrimp overload! The perk of not being that allergic (no need for any antihistamine so far) to enjoy these delicious and juicy crustaceans. At one point going home to Davao during our Samal trip… Jake, Kissey and I were chatting while eating some of the left over shrimps. For the record, there were still some left after that. *wink*

Seaweed salad

Grilled tuna belly

For some reason, everytime I smell fish like milkfish (“bangus”) being grilled (“sinugba”) using charcoal (“uling”) it really makes our tummy hungry and makes me think of going and eating at the beach or seaside with our hands – not using fork and spoon like “kamayan” style. Oh the joys of simple life by the beach! The grilled bangus were good!

We even had 3 choices for dessert – yummy biko that everyone liked, brownies and revel bar.

Don’t ask this dessert lover how many pieces we ate while chatting and laughing with our #DDIBarkada during the whole trip! *wink*

Then we made a final stop at the so-called Wishing Island on our way back home to Davao City.

The last time I saw the Wishing Island, we just passed by it as it was closed to the public way back then around 4 years ago for some rehabilitation according to our island hopping tour guide that time. This time, only hubby went down with some of our friends. I was chatting with some of our friends who were left on the boat.

Here is a video of the Wishing Island made by hubby…

This islet is near Malipano Island and somewhere near Pearl Farm Resort shown below.

This scene has always been my favorite every single time I get to visit Samal going home to Davao. This serene and beautiful view always gives me a sense of calm, contentment and bliss. Each time we end a Samal island hopping tour, I would make it a point to enjoy this view as long as it lasts. We were on our way home to Davao City when I took this photo. Thank you #WayPH and #TeamDDI for bringing us back here! I hope we can come back here more often given this long summer vacation with my boys.

Hubby made the video below of the photos and videos he took with his phone during our Samal trip.

Here is also one of DDI’s beauty vloggers Karla Misa’s vlog which I enjoyed watching. 🙂

Take time to spend fun precious time and make more beautiful memories to cherish with your family and friends this summer. If you wanna travel outside of the city, WayPH also offers tour packages in the Philippines like for Palawan: El Nido, Puerto Princesa and Coron. They also have tour packages for Boracay aside from the island hopping tour for Samal here in Davao City in which they can cater food for your whole group, so you don’t have to worry about getting hungry or preparing for food to bring and eat in your Samal tour. Let them take care of it for you and there will be food for everybody in the tour based on what we have experienced.

Visit WayPH.com to make a quick and hassle-free booking of the tour package of your own choice online and pay for your favorite tour packages through online and by over-the-counter payment.