If you’re looking to spend time away from the bustling city of Davao and just lounge around the beach but don’t want the hassle of booking over a flight to Philippine beach destinations like Siargao, Boracay or in Palawan then Club Samal Resort is a great alternative for that.

“Tambal sa ibog,” as the Bisaya saying goes that roughly translates to a cure to satisfy the craving; Club Samal Resort offers a good plot of white sands which is not the real thing but is enough to keep you relax. It offers a beautiful white lacquered hotel building that is quite exquisite to the eyes, and a nice large pool to cool you off from the sun. And just for a 15 to 20 minutes boat ride from the city, you can enjoy a quiet and no-stress “you” time at Club Samal.

The place has a restaurant and bar you can purchase Filipino food and snacks from. They also offer decent cocktails and other alcoholic beverages.

They have a free boat ride from Gardens Bay and Resort, their dock station, on weekends from the following time schedules:

• 7:30 AM – First trip for Fridays
• 4:00 PM – Last trip for Fridays
• 8:00 AM – First trip for Saturday, Sundays
• 11:30 AM – Second trip for Saturday, Sundays
• 4:00 PM – Last Trip for Saturday, Sundays

Free boat ride back to the city (on Saturdays and Sundays):

• 7:30 AM – First trip
• 10:30 AM – Second trip
• 4:00 PM – Last trip

Pricing

We booked our stay at Agoda.com. The total cost for our room for one night was P7,878.03 but I had some discount so I paid only around P6,000. We booked the Deluxe room and we were given a room on the third floor. The place was quite expensive especially for the food. Since there are no options and no restaurants nearby, you’ll be forced to purchase food from their restaurant.

Although the food is great, it is quite expensive and you are quite restricted to Filipino cuisines. Their food is really delicious but they only have a few options to select from. They also don’t have snack selections like chips so if you are going there, I would highly recommend bringing in some snacks to munch on.

Their beverages are expensive as well. I do remember their Chuckie drink costing twice it’s normal price at the mall.

Review

We went to Garden Bay and Resort (their docking station) to avail the 11:30 AM free boat ride. We pre-booked our boat ride via the Agoda message function. Upon arrival, you’d have to inform security that you’re going to take the ride to Club Samal so they’ll let you enter and guide you. There would be a concierge who will list your name and instruct to wait for the boat’s arrival.

We arrived early so we spent some time to enjoy breakfast at Gardens Bay and Resort. I do recommend eating breakfast at the restaurant by the docks. They have a make-your-own breakfast for P299 inclusive of choice of meat, two options of either carbs or sides, and drink.

By 11:30 AM, on time, we started to embark the boat. They do offer wheelchairs for people with disability but not all areas going to the boat have ramps. Upon arrival at Club Samal, you’ll be welcomed by their staff and provided with refreshments. The standard check-in time is 2:00PM so you’ll have to spend some time taking pictures, getting lunch, lounging by the beach or taking a dip at the pool before they provide you a room.

Truthfully, other than going to the beach and taking a swim at the pool, there is not much activity to do at the place. Unlike other resorts that have activities for you like boat rides, water activities, and facilities like billiard pools and karaoke, Club Samal Resort is just a really laid back resort. It’s a really cozy place for people just wanting to relax and unplug. However, if you are a person who enjoys filling up their day with several activities – then you may have to avail extra to join some adventure trips. They also offer day trips all around Samal.

If you are spending time relaxing and also working at some parts of the day, you may want to bring your own portable wifi as they don’t have wifi installed on rooms. You may need to go to the public areas like the hotel lounge or pool area to avail their free wifi.

Rooms are very decent, well-maintained, and clean however they do need to improve the cleanliness of their bathrooms. My only gripe on the room is that they installed their sockets pretty far from the bed side. You have to stand up to reach your phone when you’re charging. You can’t use your phone and charge on bed because it’s very far.

I do appreciate how quiet the place is and far from a lot of distractions. They serve decent cocktails and good food. The breakfast buffet is also decent with good Filipino selections. Though, not a lot of options but still decent. We enjoyed fried danggit so much and they serve a good amount of bacon.

Overall, experience was good but I do find it expensive and a bit lackluster.

To know more about their latest promo, kindly visit Club Samal Resorts Facebook page here at https://www.facebook.com/clubsamalresort or visit them on your booking app like Agoda.