New Israel Eco-Adventure Tourism Park

New Israel Eco-Adventure Tourism Park is located at Barangay New Israel in Makilala and is now one of the top destinations in the province. So if you are looking for an adventure in a noise free place, this is the right place to go as the main attraction of the place is their 2.3 kilometer zipline perfect for adventure seekers. The ziplines are divided into 2 stations (1st station - 1.0 km, 2nd station - 1.3 km). There are also tamed Macaque monkeys around the area that already became part of the community.

How to get there:

From Davao City bus terminal, ride a bus going to North Cotabato - New Israel Makilala. Upon arriving at the Makilala town proper, you can take a 15 minute motorcycle ride going to the village.

Here are some of our photos with my adventure seeker friends around the area.

Just woke up groupie pic. Luckily our friend has a mini house nearby where we stayed the night. Many thanks for his generosity. 

Loading Station 1 (1.km zipline). From the village, you have to climb several steps just to get to station 1. Tiring but once you get there, you'll gonna enjoy the view of the whole Cotabato area.

safdafa

Of course we have to avail ourselves for the picture taking before the adventure begins.

Gearing up and so excited for our turns.

All SET!!! Our friends above are trying to capture their ride by a video. Best of luck on that as the wind pressure is so strong. If you really want to, better use a go pro not a phone as too risky it may fall --oohh

And now ready to try the 1.0 km zipline

Heading to the loading station 2 for the 1.3km zipline. We didn't expect the distance will be that far with all the stuffs we carry on, but the view getting there is rewarding as there are lots of plants planted by the locals and also the way getting there is not that muddy and steep. Just make your legs ready for a long walk!!

Loading Station 2 (1.3km zipline)

New Israel has been a home for the tamed Macaques Monkeys and is already part of the place since decades ago. The monkeys will be visible in the area at their feeding time.

Lucky for us as we arrived on time and spotted the monkeys. We feed them and as usual, keep snapping pictures with them. It's kinda scary at first as we don't know how would they react but they said that the monkeys are already used to people feeding them as long as they would not hurt them or display actions that would threaten them.

The obligatory selfie post with the monkey signage.

Snapping out photos of some area of the place. The picture above is the end point of the second station zipline.

Not that far in the area is an open man made river that costs Php10 each if you wanna dive in. Of course we avail, it's not everyday we are there anyway. There are also open cottages where you can rent in case you'll bring food that cost Php 100/cottage.

The villagers living on the area belong to a religious group known as "Moncadista". As they said, they believed that Dr. Jose Rizal (Philippine National Hero) is a prophet, thus they really worship every word from Jose Rizal's book. Also, as observed in the area, there are lots of stone monuments that relates to the story of Jose Rizal.

The place is definitely perfect for backpackers as it is accessible, cheap and safe. There are souvenir shop in the area and canteen in case you get hungry.  As of today, there are already lots of local tourist visiting the place and the Department of Tourism is fond to promote the place.

New Israel Eco-Adventure Tourism Park is definitely a place to consider for adventure seekers out there. Also, the park has been the source of living of the locals in the community. You'll definitely enjoy the adventure and aside from that you are helping the locals as well.

Read More

MATIN-AO Inland Resort - Pool Overload

With a much needed cheap get-away from the city, consider Matin-ao Inland Resort as a perfect place to go to. At a very affordable entrance fee of Php 30, you can already enjoy there 7 amazing pools just right for kids and adults.

Matin-ao Inland Resort is located at New Cortez, New Corella, Davao del Norte. It is at most 2 hour bus ride from Davao City to Tagum City bus terminal. Another at most 30 minute jeepney ride from Tagum jeepney terminal to New Corella. And lastly, a 15 minute tricycle ride from New Corella to Matin-ao Inland Resort.

Even a little bit far and in secluded area, the Resort is one of the most visited resort in New Corella. Due to its cheap entrance fee, 7 pools and clean facilities, a lot of people will really rush to the place specially on weekends and holidays. The place has already been considered as local tourist spot perfect for friends and family bonding.

Sharing you some photos of the place:

Get ready to experience a quite dusty, bumpy and rocky road going to the resort if you will ride a motorcycle 

At the entrance. This was taken when we were leaving thus you cannot see anymore the long line on the entrance area earlier since we got there on a weekend and without reservation. We still managed to get inside and have a cottage though so not bad.

A heart size 3 feet kiddie pool. One of the 4 indoor pools in the area.

The combination of the kiddie and adult pool

The 5-7 feet adult pool

The 10 feet pool and the deepest of all the pools in the Resort. If you don't know how to swim but still want to dip on the 10 ft pool, you can rent a floaters/lifepreserver/salbabida though.

The sun is so bright but still nothing can stop us from taking photos. Here's to a view of the outdoor pool area with the cottages.

The 3D wall art the you can't just resist to post and have your pictures taken.

The artsy rocky design wall that looks like a bleachers at far but actually just a slant stone design.

Rocker Post!!!

Since we got there on a weekend, the place was too crowded. As you can see on the pictures, all the pools are crowded with both kiddos and adults. It's not really a bad thing since this is a public resort open for anyone with such an affordable price. But if you really want to get here in a not so crowded state, find time to set your visit here on weekdays. The place has rooms too for overnight stay in case you want to extend the fun. They also have a restaurant area, open cottages, and full functional comfort and shower rooms.

Here are the Resort's amenities and fees:

Entrance Fee:

• 35 per head (3 years above) free use of 7 pools

Cottages:

• Kubo - Php350.00 (15 persons - consumable for 12 hours)
• Concrete Table - Php250.00 (6 persons - consumable for 12 hours)

Rooms:

• Super Big Room - Php3,500.00 (24 hours) Php3,000.00 (12 hours) Unlimited Person
• Big Rooms - Php1,700.00 (24 hours) Php1,500.00 (12 hours) Unlimited Person
• Regular Rooms - Php1,500.00 (24 hours) Php1,200.00 (12 hours) Unlimited Person
• Small Rooms - Php1,200.00 (24 hours) Php1,000.00 (12 hours) Unlimited Person
• Family Rooms - Php 3,500 (24 hours) Php 3,000 (12 hours) Unlimited Person

Function Hall:

• Mess Hall - Php6,000.00 (12 hours) Maximum of 200 person
• Old Canteen - Php5,000.00 (12 hours) Maximum of 120 Person
• Front Canteen - Php4,500.00 (12 hours) Maximum of 100 Person
• Function Aircon - Php5,000.00 (12 hours) Maximum of 35 Person

Corkage:

• Lechon - Php200.00 per case
• Softdrinks - Php40.00 per case
• Hard drinks - Php40.00 per case

Read More

Golden Gate Adventure Resorts

Golden Gate Adventure Resort formerly Yellow Gate Adventure Resort is a perfect getaway for summer. Located at Davao-Bukidnon (Buda) National Highway (Langub, Katipunan), which is just a 1.5-2 hour ride from the City. You can have that feeling of summer up the hill.

My friends' officemates opted to spend a mini vacation for this summer. I, despite of the super busy schedule, still hopped-in and join the ride. Well, the ride getting there was quite draining but the ride we had back to Davao was super exciting and my first time ever!!

How to get there:
We ride the L300 PUV via Calinan at the Bangkerohan terminal that cost us Php40 each. The ride took us about 50 mins. Upon arriving at Calinan, we looked for a jeepney to get us to Golden Gate. After haggling the price fro Php60 each, we finally had a ride that took us about 2 hours to our destination. Making us the last passenger of the jeep though. The place was far distant from the boundary of the jeep route, gladly the driver agreed to take us at the main gate of the resort. 

We arrived around 6.30 pm, and its quite dark already. The caretaker of the place received us a warm welcome. After talking to them, we proceed to assembling our tents and prepared for dinner. They have a kitchen where you can cook with a complete kitchen utensils ready to use. Really perfect for a get-away since the necessities you need are all in there. You don't need to carry heavy stuffs to enjoy the vacation.

Here are the photos of our crazy exciting vacay.

Since there's not much to do for the night, we decided to have an early sleep to prepare for tomorrow's activities.

We didn't get much sleep since it was really very freaking cold!!! The wind is so strong and our tents were full of mist. Well, a price to endure for choosing to camp outside though-lol. We just woke up at dawn and have some coffee since we just find it hard to get some sleep. So if you have plans to go here, pls bring thick clothes and socks. Or you can just avail their villas for a much comfortable sleep. Nevertheless, camping was still a great experience, it's part of the adventure anyway.

The signs welcoming you as you enter the place. Very perfect for group pictorials. And whats more amazing is that the entrance is FREE!! You can enter the place anytime and just have sightseeing, chilling or picture taking.

The welcoming dwarfs

The Main house

The Sto. Nino of the Woods.

Our tents

The playground.

The mini pool around 5ft. deep. The water from the pool came from the spring.

My crazy travel buddies.

The back portrait are collage of pictures taken for guests availing activities provided by the resort.

They have these fire place to keep the place warm. It's just very foreign since we can't usually have this on our regular homes.

On our way to caving!

This bamboo bridge almost cracked coz we all stepped into it "sabay-sabay". It should be one person at a time though.

Gearing up before entering "Okloy Cave". The entrance of the cave is very narrow. You have squeezed yourself to get in.

The beautiful nature carved inside the cave. The cave is quite muddy so make sure you have slippers or shoes that can hold your feet on the surface. Professional cavers will guide you all the way.

The cave is just small that you can finish the tour for 30 minutes. But its magnificent stalactite and stalagmite can really catch your attention.

Pictorials inside the cave.

Photo with our guides.

On our way to trekking.

At the top of the hill where there's a statue of Mama Mary.

They also have a canopy walk. The distance is too short thus we didn't tried. But its perfect for kids. They also have a two-way zipline which we haven't tried thus no photo from it.

Crazy pictorials around the area.

On our way back. Jump shot it is!!

Our ride back!! Hitched Ride!! Since we commute to get there, we find it hard to commute back to the City. So while waiting for a jeep or bus to arrive, we tried our best to hitched a ride to save transportation - lol. After so many attempts on so many vehicles, luckily there was a truck on its way to Davao and let us hitched. Thankfully!!! 

Overall, this adventure was super duper crazy one! Such an unforgettable moment. Now looking forward for more adventure ahead of us.

For inquiries and reservation you can call the following numbers:
+63920-304-1722 (Smart)
+63917-627-4008 (Globe)
+63922-876-5798 (Sun)

Hotel Rooms
Suite - Php 1,500
Annex Suites - Php 1,500
Regular Room - Php 750
Attic - Php 300/head
Pavilion - Php 1,000

Outdoor Activities
Ziplines - Php 300
Cathedral Cave - Php 150
Pool - Php 30
Rain Forest - Php 50
Mountain Trekking - Php 100 w/guide
Tent - Php 150/head

Read More