I'm posting this in response to a request by Lumiere. I lived in Davao from July-November of 2008 so some of the info may have changed but most of it is probably still accurate. Davao is probably what Medellin was 5-10 years ago, an up an coming place that's slowly become more touristy. When I was there, people would often ask me what I was doing in Davao.
Geography and Climate
Davao is sometimes listed at the largest city in the world, in terms of overall land size. But most of this is surrounding farmland. The actual city is much smaller and easy to navigate. Unlike other parts of the Philippines, Davao does not experience typhoons. The weather is quite hot and you DO NOT want to do much walking in Davao or you'll be drenched in sweat.
Safety
Davao is located on the island of Mindanao. There's a civil war on the island but there's no reason for you to experience that. The island is nearly 40,000 sq miles and the civil war does not take place near Davao.
Meanwhile, the city is VERY safe due to the efforts of long-term mayor Rodrigo Duterte. He recently had to step down due to term limits but no worries...he's serving as vice mayor while his daughter fills in as mayor (welcome to politics in the philippines!). Anyway, you should still follow normal safety precautions but I doubt you'll have any problems. Also, unlike other cities in the philippines, begging is not accepted and you will not have people coming up to you asking for money.
Transportation
Jeepneys are the primary means of getting around the city. They're dirt cheap and run on set routes, similar to buses. I never had to take more than 2 jeepneys to get from point a to point b. Jeepneys mostly run on the main roads. And remember, lots of cute college girls ride the jeepneys.....
The smaller roads are serviced by trikes which are basically a motorcycle with a side car.
Finally there are taxis which are metered.
Where to stay
If memory serves me correctly, there wasn't much in the way of mid-range hotels in Davao. Mostly high-end places or dumps. Maybe that's changed. Anyway, your best bet to find a place to stay is in a gated community called Rivera Village (it's across the street from Davao Medical Center, the large public hospital). They have about 5-6 apartelles where you can rent a studio or one-bedroom by the day, week or month with no long-term commitment. I stayed in two different ones and paid about $300 a month for a studio which included free internet, free AC (very important in the philippines) and maid service. It pays to check them all out as each apartelle has slightly different features. Rivera Village is only about 3 blocks by 3 blocks so the apartelles are easy to find. This is the webpage for one of the places I stayed at:
http://junanddellapartment.com/
If you want to rent a more traditional apartment, you'll likely have to sign a 6-12 month lease and put a 2 month deposit down.
Food
There are some decent international restaurants in davao - thai, indian, greek/middle eastern, vietnamese.
What to do
This being the philippines, shopping malls are quite popular. There were 5-6 malls when I left in Nov. 2008, with 2 more under construction. Davao has lots of nice American style coffee-shops with free wi-fi (and yes, it's safe to bring your laptop). There are also some nice American style gyms that cost about $30-40 a month - two of them are located on the same road as the Thai restaurant. Popular sports include badminton and ping pong. There are also a couple of bowling alleys. Oh, and there's a place where you can rent a booth to play WII.
Decent daytrips include Eden Nature Park, Philippine Eagle Center, and Crocodile Farm. There's also a wakeboarding park which was built after I left.
Oh and beaches, I have to mention beaches, right? Paradise Island is the most popular destination. About 15 minutes by boat from Davao and very cheap entrance fee. (btw, Paradise Island isn't actually an island...it's located on Samal Island). Quite popular. Pearl Farm is another nice one, though more expensive. There are other beaches as well....all located on Samal Island. But Paradise and Eden are the two I'd recommend.
Communication
You need a cell phone in the philippines. Everyone, even the poor people, send texts. Texts cost about 2 cents, whereas phone calls are about 20 cents a minute. That being said, you will quickly grow tired of texting. If you send a filipino a text and they don't reply within 5-10 minutes, they're probably dead. Seriously. And if you receive a text and don't reply within 5-10 minutes, you'll probably get a text that says "where are you? are you okay?". And no, I'm not making this up...this happened to me several times. I sometimes shut my cell phone off to escape the non-stop texts. Filipinos are amazingly fast at sending texts...if texting were an olympic event, they'd win hands down.
Nightlife
Filipinos don't drink much so there's not a huge bar scene in Davao. Matina town square is one place with bars. The Venue is the best nightclub in Davao. Filipinos love to sing (and they're quite good at it) so karaoke clubs are also popular. Just be prepared, they like to sing crappy, romantic stuff...Air Supply is still huge in the philippines.
Work
There aren't many job opportunities in the philippines for foreigners. You might be able to get a job teaching english but the pay will be very low and probably won't meet all your expenses (your students will be Koreans who come to the philippines cause it's cheaper than learning english in their own country). You might also be able to get a training position in a call center - pay is probably better but you may have to work 3rd shift. Otherwise you'll have to start your own business or have another source of income.
Visa Renewal
Don't really remember but you have to do this every month or two, depending on how long you're staying. The place to renew is on a main road though I'm blanking on the exact location. The process is fairly painless. Just make sure to wear long pants....if you show up in shorts, they'll turn you away.
Meeting women
This being the philippines, you're best off working day game in the malls and the street. Filipino Cupid is the main site for online dating. My Space is also very popular in the philippines (I used that to find my eventual girlfriend though the search function sucks - or at least it did back in 2008).
I'm not really a player so I can't tell you how easy the women are. But for those that have no experience in the philipines, I will tell you this...filipinas are some of the nicest girls you'll ever meet. I went out on dates with about 10-11 filipinas and all but one texted me afterwards to thank me for taking them out (I've gone out on hundreds of dates with American women and only one or two did the same thing). Filipinas will also NOT flake on you. If you make plans, they will show up. And if they're running late, they'll text you to let you know. They may want to bring a friend along the first time they meet you but they'll ask you ahead of time if it's okay (and your answer should be "yes"...it's just once, no big deal). BTW, most filipinos speak english but few speak it fluently so expect at least a few conversational struggles.
BTW, I shouldn't have to say this but based on a recent thread, I'm going to...always, always, always use condoms!!! The philippines is still a conservative country and the Catholic church wields lots of influence. It's one of two countries in the world where divorce is still illegal (Malta is the other). The last thing you want to do is get some girl pregnant whose not going to be able to get an abortion.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Geography and Climate
Davao is sometimes listed at the largest city in the world, in terms of overall land size. But most of this is surrounding farmland. The actual city is much smaller and easy to navigate. Unlike other parts of the Philippines, Davao does not experience typhoons. The weather is quite hot and you DO NOT want to do much walking in Davao or you'll be drenched in sweat.
Safety
Davao is located on the island of Mindanao. There's a civil war on the island but there's no reason for you to experience that. The island is nearly 40,000 sq miles and the civil war does not take place near Davao.
Meanwhile, the city is VERY safe due to the efforts of long-term mayor Rodrigo Duterte. He recently had to step down due to term limits but no worries...he's serving as vice mayor while his daughter fills in as mayor (welcome to politics in the philippines!). Anyway, you should still follow normal safety precautions but I doubt you'll have any problems. Also, unlike other cities in the philippines, begging is not accepted and you will not have people coming up to you asking for money.
Transportation
Jeepneys are the primary means of getting around the city. They're dirt cheap and run on set routes, similar to buses. I never had to take more than 2 jeepneys to get from point a to point b. Jeepneys mostly run on the main roads. And remember, lots of cute college girls ride the jeepneys.....
The smaller roads are serviced by trikes which are basically a motorcycle with a side car.
Finally there are taxis which are metered.
Where to stay
If memory serves me correctly, there wasn't much in the way of mid-range hotels in Davao. Mostly high-end places or dumps. Maybe that's changed. Anyway, your best bet to find a place to stay is in a gated community called Rivera Village (it's across the street from Davao Medical Center, the large public hospital). They have about 5-6 apartelles where you can rent a studio or one-bedroom by the day, week or month with no long-term commitment. I stayed in two different ones and paid about $300 a month for a studio which included free internet, free AC (very important in the philippines) and maid service. It pays to check them all out as each apartelle has slightly different features. Rivera Village is only about 3 blocks by 3 blocks so the apartelles are easy to find. This is the webpage for one of the places I stayed at:
http://junanddellapartment.com/
If you want to rent a more traditional apartment, you'll likely have to sign a 6-12 month lease and put a 2 month deposit down.
Food
There are some decent international restaurants in davao - thai, indian, greek/middle eastern, vietnamese.
What to do
This being the philippines, shopping malls are quite popular. There were 5-6 malls when I left in Nov. 2008, with 2 more under construction. Davao has lots of nice American style coffee-shops with free wi-fi (and yes, it's safe to bring your laptop). There are also some nice American style gyms that cost about $30-40 a month - two of them are located on the same road as the Thai restaurant. Popular sports include badminton and ping pong. There are also a couple of bowling alleys. Oh, and there's a place where you can rent a booth to play WII.
Decent daytrips include Eden Nature Park, Philippine Eagle Center, and Crocodile Farm. There's also a wakeboarding park which was built after I left.
Oh and beaches, I have to mention beaches, right? Paradise Island is the most popular destination. About 15 minutes by boat from Davao and very cheap entrance fee. (btw, Paradise Island isn't actually an island...it's located on Samal Island). Quite popular. Pearl Farm is another nice one, though more expensive. There are other beaches as well....all located on Samal Island. But Paradise and Eden are the two I'd recommend.
Communication
You need a cell phone in the philippines. Everyone, even the poor people, send texts. Texts cost about 2 cents, whereas phone calls are about 20 cents a minute. That being said, you will quickly grow tired of texting. If you send a filipino a text and they don't reply within 5-10 minutes, they're probably dead. Seriously. And if you receive a text and don't reply within 5-10 minutes, you'll probably get a text that says "where are you? are you okay?". And no, I'm not making this up...this happened to me several times. I sometimes shut my cell phone off to escape the non-stop texts. Filipinos are amazingly fast at sending texts...if texting were an olympic event, they'd win hands down.
Nightlife
Filipinos don't drink much so there's not a huge bar scene in Davao. Matina town square is one place with bars. The Venue is the best nightclub in Davao. Filipinos love to sing (and they're quite good at it) so karaoke clubs are also popular. Just be prepared, they like to sing crappy, romantic stuff...Air Supply is still huge in the philippines.
Work
There aren't many job opportunities in the philippines for foreigners. You might be able to get a job teaching english but the pay will be very low and probably won't meet all your expenses (your students will be Koreans who come to the philippines cause it's cheaper than learning english in their own country). You might also be able to get a training position in a call center - pay is probably better but you may have to work 3rd shift. Otherwise you'll have to start your own business or have another source of income.
Visa Renewal
Don't really remember but you have to do this every month or two, depending on how long you're staying. The place to renew is on a main road though I'm blanking on the exact location. The process is fairly painless. Just make sure to wear long pants....if you show up in shorts, they'll turn you away.
Meeting women
This being the philippines, you're best off working day game in the malls and the street. Filipino Cupid is the main site for online dating. My Space is also very popular in the philippines (I used that to find my eventual girlfriend though the search function sucks - or at least it did back in 2008).
I'm not really a player so I can't tell you how easy the women are. But for those that have no experience in the philipines, I will tell you this...filipinas are some of the nicest girls you'll ever meet. I went out on dates with about 10-11 filipinas and all but one texted me afterwards to thank me for taking them out (I've gone out on hundreds of dates with American women and only one or two did the same thing). Filipinas will also NOT flake on you. If you make plans, they will show up. And if they're running late, they'll text you to let you know. They may want to bring a friend along the first time they meet you but they'll ask you ahead of time if it's okay (and your answer should be "yes"...it's just once, no big deal). BTW, most filipinos speak english but few speak it fluently so expect at least a few conversational struggles.
BTW, I shouldn't have to say this but based on a recent thread, I'm going to...always, always, always use condoms!!! The philippines is still a conservative country and the Catholic church wields lots of influence. It's one of two countries in the world where divorce is still illegal (Malta is the other). The last thing you want to do is get some girl pregnant whose not going to be able to get an abortion.
If you have any questions, let me know.
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