This was supposed to be the first destination in my 1-day Baganga tour but when we first dropped here from Mahoc Beach, it was high tide and locals advised us that it would be best to go back after lunch to witness the sandbar at its full glory.
It was such a pain in the ass to go back here after an invigorating time at San Victor Island as it meant retracing our steps for roughly 4 kilometers. My hired driver was patient so I didn't have reasons not to.
My hired driver is famous in this part of Davao Oriental. He has friends everywhere; we didn't have problems looking for a boat that would take us to the sandbar. Take note that there are no regular trips from Baganga proper to Poo Sandbar so one has to hire an entire boat and if like me, you are traveling solo, it can be expensive than usual. During weekends tho, when most of the tourists flock here, you can ask favor from the Tourism Office to group you with other solo or small groups going to the island.
Most of the boats I spotted were small so manage your expectation well. Given the good weather, it took us less than 1 hour to reach the sandbar.
Even a few meters away from the sandbar, I could see the glimmering white sand and the heavenly light it reflected back to the sky; it's like diamonds unapologetically shining. Not to mention the crystal clear water surrounding the islet in varying hues of blue depending on how deep the area is. Why go to Maldives when we have this here?
I could still clearly remember how amazed I was when our little boat docked in the southern part of the sandbar. I couldn't believe my eyes!
"How come no one, literally no one, ever told me about this place in Davao?"
"Why did I took more five year since I started my backpacking journey in my country to find out about this place?"
"This place is hilariously stunning!"
I've been to a few sandbard or islets all over the country. One thing that made Poo Sandbar different and special is its size. IT IS MASSIVE! You can run from end to end and prolly cover at least 1 kilometer per way. During my visit, I didnt even bother to check the other side of the sandbar at it looked too far away. The sun's up and shining; I don't want to end up toasted. 😂
As usual, no other tourist was around during my visit. It's a weekday and normally, tourists and locals come here on weekend. Thankfully, I have two awesome guides who never ran out of things to talk about.
I was enjoying my limited time in the sandbar when I spotted that both my motorcyle driver and the boat's owner made their way in the boat and were catching up like old friends seeing each other for the first time in a long time. 😅 I found myself joining them.
In the next few moments, we just sat there in the boat, while it stayed afloat, gently swaying side by side. It was the perfect time to sleep If you ask me but of course, I didn't. I just sat there and allowed things to make sense.
Afterall, the locals were right. A little over lunchtime was indeed the best time to visit the island. That's just in my case since I still have two more destinations on my list which are both located on the southern part of Baganga. Spending sunset here would be a briliant idea.
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