Samal Dreaming
Sometimes I find myself dreaming about my future life on Samal. Sometimes I go through periods when I am not sure I will end up living in Samal, but most of the time, my heart tells me that I want to live there.
In my video, I talk about our Samal dreams, what we are thinking about when it comes to living, and such.
We would really like to move to Samal right away, but unfortunately, it is not practical for us right now. We have kids who are still young. Our youngest is just 9 years old right now. Unfortunately, there are no schools on Samal Island at this time that are up the quality standards that we want for our kids.
While Samal is not far from the City, the commute is long enough, that it is not practical for our kids to commute to school in the City either.
But, we will make it to Samal, and it won’t be that long! For now, it’s good that we can visit the Island regularly, and also dream about life there!
When we make it over there permanently, will we see you there? I hope so!
About the Author: Bob Martin is an American who lives in Davao City, and has been a resident of the Philippines since the year 2000. Bob is an Internet Entrepreneur and owns and operates many websites on the Internet ranging from Informational sites to eCommerce sites.
Bob
I know I see you in Samal Bob, if it’s not today, I know in the future pohon. I hope this recession in the labor market would be over soon so I can start paying my rest house in samal soon..( big dreams) hehehe.
I hope so too, Ann! Maybe we will be neighbors!
I’m an american, can i buy a property in samal?
Hi sabir – An American cannot legally own land in the Philippines. Now, you didn’t give me enough information, though, to give a good answer. If you are a former Philippine Citizen, or if you have a Philippine wife, then you could purchase property.
My wife (who is from Davao) and I are planning a move to Samal in the next few months. We hope to find property within about 15 minuets of the roll on roll off ferry to Davao. I see there is satellite TV all over Phili. but can anyone tell me if there is a cable TV company for Samal??? and if yes the web page, number of channels. Thank You, Gary american living in Honduras with my Phili wife..
Hi Gary – I am currently unaware of any cable TV on the Island. As you say, there are Satellite TV signals available, with the direct to home small dishes (like DirecTV in the States). You can get that for like P600 per month or less (depending on the package you choose). As of now, though, I do not believe that there is cable on the island.
Bob,
I enjoyed reading your blog. Currently, we are living in the USA. I am a naturalized American citizen married to an American. We have a daughter who is 10years of age. Our plan is to settle in the Philippines after she finishes her high school here. We have plans to enrol her to a private Philippine college, however we have lots of concerns as to where to start. Our number one concern is the language barrier. My daughter does not speak Tagalog, and I know that Pilipino subject is one of the requirements during the first and the second years in college. I this still required that you know of ? We are not planning to enroll her in one of the international school due to outrageously high tuition fees. Your input will greatly be appreciated, it might make the transition of living there easier. We would like to meet with you when we visit next year in Davao. Thank you so much. Dine
Hi Dine – I wonder, if you are planning that your child will attend college here in the Philippines, why not just move here now and let her attend high school here too? At age 10, it will be very easy for her to learn to speak Tagalog, or Bisaya, much easier than later in life. If you come at this age, in 6 months she can already be good in conversational skills, probably in 3 languages. Anyway, it is something to consider. We moved here when our kids were 8, 3 and 1 month. Now, all 3 of our boys are very good with English, Cebuano and Tagalog, no problems.
Dear Bob,
Thank you so much for your response. To be frank with you , we are not quite ready financially. We wanted to relocate there last 2006 but our plans was affected when the real estate market went down. Hopefully, our plans to retire in the Philippines will be 7 years from now. By that time , our daughter will graduate from high school. I don’t like the thought of moving there without being prepared financially. May I ask you where do you recommend our daughter to go college in PI? Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
Dine
Hi Dine – If you plan to live in Davao, or Samal, then probably Ateneo de Davao would be the best. But, it’s a personal choice, and also depends on what your daughter will be studying.
He BOB,
I am filipina married to an american guy.I grew up in North Cotabato . I’ve been reading your blog, just trying to get some more info about samal Island. We been there twice and stayed in paradise island resort and that was about it. I think the island is spectacular very nice view but we dont know much about the Island . We ended up buying a beach lot there in barangay KANAAN,KAPUTIAN DISTRICT . We haven’t seen the lot yet but the price was cheap for a beach lot and my husband love beach so we took it. We are looking forward retiring there in a year or 2 if things will go well. We still have a little doubt about the safety of the island but we are excited to see the place… so here we are planning to retire in an Island where we don’t know anybody and dont know much about the place….Hope to meet you a Feyma someday…
Hi Gemma – It would be nice to meet you and your husband! I am sure we will all meet someday.
You do not need to worry about safety on Samal… it is a very safe place!
Hi Bob,
Your video brought back memories. I am an American from the Seattle area married to a Filipina who was raised in Penaplata and we have been coming to visit Samal for the last 24 years. My wife owns a farm up in Tagluno, Samal and a beach lot in Benoling (outskirts of Penaplata). We plan to build a house someday and have a permit approved recently but don’t know how long the permit is good for. Do you know how long they are good for?
We hope to be back in May 2011 and would sure like to me up if possible. Congrats on an excellent web site and forum, very informative and fun to read. My favorite place in all of Samal is Ondanao Beach. Have you been there yet? You have to know the locals to find it, Its on the back side. It has deep water right off the beach and soooo clean!
By the way, my user name to LiP is “Samal Is. Bliss”
Take care, Brian
Hi Brian – Thank you for your comment. I am sorry, I am not sure how long a building permit is good for, I just have no idea on that. Give me a shout when you are in town, I’d be happy to get together with you!
I have never been to “Ondanao Beach” but I have been to “Andanao Beach” I wonder if we are talking about the same place.
Hi sir Bob,my husband is interested and hoping he can afford to have a place there .Please ask ate feyma to send me info about acquiring a piece of land in samal. we would love to be ur neighbor in the near future.