DAYANG BEACH RESORT

 DAYANG BEACH RESORT

Since I arrived Davao City 3 days earlier for the Kadayawan Festival 2012, I decided to have a side trip and explore the beauty of Samal Island and Talicud Island, and made my last stop in Talicud island before I headed back to Davao city.

But before I made my plans for the Kadayawan Festival I already inquire and use the search engine of google about the Talicud Island and the best beaches they have where it is affordable,not too crowded , unexploited and only few people been there.

That is the Dayang Beach Resort,I was so fascinated about the place so I called the resort from the number I found on the photo taken on the resort print adds, and made a reservation right away.Perfect to my taste,perfect to my choice and most importantly perfect for my budget.

From St. Ana wharf of Davao city,a ferry boat travel daily to Dadatan wharf of talicud island with a 60 pesos fare for about 45 minutes of boat travel.In Dadatan wharf a number of "Habal-habal"(local term for motor cycle) are available for hire just instruct the driver that you are heading to dayang beach Resort, a 100 pesos fare for the ride if you are traveling alone or a 50 pesos if someone is traveling with you,just be patient on the 15 minutes ride on rough and bumpy roads, wit and rocky terrains going to the resort since the location is hidden enough to have a little extreme adventure on the way.

From the entrance of the resort a walking distance of 20 feet you will be welcome to a vast white sand and clear blue water with a deferent cloud formation in the sky and to the far side of the island is the beautiful view of Mt. Apo.The resort is rich with a coconut trees that creates a shades from the heat of the sun, a kubo style cottages in front of the beach with a warm tropical ambience's around.

Kubo 

This "Kubo" a local name for Nipa hut is 700 pesos rent per night,it has a single bed with clean linens spacious enough for 2 persons with wall fan, a small balcony for the guest to set and relax while pondering on the white beach and the view of the tallest mountain in the Philippines which is the Mt Apo.Very simple, very laid back,quite,clean beach sand and again no TV and music that will disturb you while you are in the resort.The electricity in the island will be on at 2 PM in the afternoon and it will be off at 2am early in the morning.You cannot find any electrical socket for charging of cellphone in the "kubo" but you can ask for a little favor to have your cellphone batteries to be charge in their bank house for free.

In between the kubo's is a young coconut tree set for picnicking since the resort doesn't require any corkage that brought by the guest outside,you can even request the resort caretaker to cook the food you bought with a little charge of course,their kitchen cook are very good.Though the resort do not have a Restaurant for their guest,the menu they have is a freshly catch fish everyday,fresh pork meats and dressed native chicken packed in half kilo that you can order and cook according to your choice of Filipino dish.

While waiting for the food to be serve you can relax and chilling to this area of the resort while enjoying the fresh breeze of air that touches your body.

Native Chicken Tinola

 I requested for my lunch was a half kilo of chicken native cooked in a tinola style with papaya, malonggay leaves and chili pepper leaves on it,a lemon grass and some herbs added to make it more flavorful to taste,this is a local filipino dish that is perfect for a native chicken to cook.The other half kilo of it was for a visayan chicken native adobo style(dry souce) for my dinner afterward.

 A very sumptuous and pleasant lunch I got since I choose to have my lunch at the table facing the beach right beside a wide shade of a coconut tree,watching the beauty of the beach and the motor boats of deferent colors passing by while I'm enjoying my meal.

Indeed as the name of the resort derives,Dayang a maranaw word which means "Prencess".I was treated like a royal on that time as all the request I got from the utensils,extra towels and even cleaning  my left overs without a charge. In their simplest way and a touch of a little heaven, though its not like other high end beach resorts but then the people of Dayang made my stay perfect.

Since I arrive at the resort, I was warned by the caretaker that the sand was not fine as I expected and the beach was not clean and there was several floating garbage on the sea shore that day.According to them it was because of the "habagat" season, meaning the wind were strong enough that makes the sea current carry along broken corrals and other sea stone to the shore that make it rocky and the sand was not so fine as compare to other beaches I had been,although they had workers who maintain the resort and rake out all the big pebbles in the shore and the floating garbage I do still enjoy the beach.

The owner of the resort is a Filipina married to a foreigner,the beach was offered to them and got interested and bought it.At first it was just a private vacation beach as the couple made their yearly vacation in the Philippines,the wife thought of making it an investment and make a money out of it.As their income grow and more tourist got interest on the place so they decided to make an improvement by adding extra cottages and started receiving guest, but maintain the resort as a being private,simple and laid back experience.Security of the guest is their first priority so a 24 hour guard is on duty.

This part of the beach was an touch,unexploited and undeveloped waiting for you to discover and enjoy the beauty hidden when you were there.

This ruin structure was an old port that was destroy many years ago only this big boulders being lift today and its add to the attraction of the resort, taking picture on this site was the only things to do for the adventurers an enthusiast though it is very unique by itself that only to be found in talicud island.

After my lunch  I continue taking photos to the object and scene that makes me amaze.Then I took a little nap in my kubo before the sun heat down enough for me to took a swim and enjoy the beach.

Note that aside from scheduled operation of their electricity there is also no fresh water to drink so its advisable to bring your own bottled drinking water supply,they use sea water for washing and bathing,a gallons of fresh water for 15 pesos is for sale if you wanted it.A small sari-sari store (mini store)also available in the resort for toiletries,soda's, alcohols and a several    souvenir items.

Walking along the beach is a good exercise while collecting rare sea shell and stones along the away.

The View of Mt. Apo from the resort

HOW TO GET THERE:

From Sta Ana wharf in Davao city you can ride a boat daily  on their schedule just ask the MBCA Pacific about their boat trip, just be there morning to make sure that you can make it to Dayang beach resort before lunch.
From  Sta Ana wharf to Dadatan wharf the travel will took you for about 45 minutes for 60 pesos fare.
In Dadatan,a lot of "habal-habal" local names for a motor bikes are available for hire going to the resort,the trip will cost you about 100 pesos if you are traveling alone while much lesser into half if  someone is with you.In about 15 minute time you will be at the resort.Don't worry about the safety and tourist security,the poeple of talicud island are very warm and friendly,they know each other since the island is very small with a few population. 

If you are the kind of traveler seeking for solemnity and self discovery, Dayang beach Resort is the place for you and I guarantee you a 100 percent satisfaction...Enjoy!