Hi Ricky, that's a very good question. I will will try to answer that concisely, without being overly negative. Davao is much cleaner than Cebu, is MUCH safer from a crime point of view, the taxi drivers are honest, beggars are rarely to be seen and the traffic is a little less suicidal (only a little though). Both cities have great malls and a huge choice of pretty much everything. I think the cost of living in both is very similar, so on the high end for the RP.Originally Posted by RickyR
Davao is a big ugly commercial city, tourism has had no impact on amenities like bars and restaurants with any kind of a view. We have only found one waterfront bar of reasonable quality and the view over brown sand to murky sea (no WAY I would swim in there!) is nothing special. There are plenty of western style bars & restaurants in the city and a fairly large expat population lives here. Samal Island is immediately opposite and just a 10 min ferry ride away. There are white sand beaches there and the water is suitable for swimming. However the lack of a bridge means that, unlike Mactan, getting back and forth is a bit of a chore and there are no medical facilities there, so living on the island is for the fit and healthy types. Having a medical problem while staying on the island after the last ferry leaves at 6pm could leave you in a tricky position. I doubt that there are any good schools over there.
There are several upscale housing subdivisions in Davao - the very noticeable difference with similar ones found in Cebu, is that here most houses do not have steel bars on windows! Streets are quite wide and all seems quiet and orderly. break-ins are rare. I have never seen that in any of the other cities I have visited in the RP. The mayor here has a reputation for taking no **** from criminals and they have been dealt with swiftly and severely - they seem to have got the message by now!
Because of typhoons I ruled Luzon "out of bounds", also the east coast of the Visayas. I visited Bacolod, Tagbilaran, Dumaguete, Puerto Princesa and Cagayan de Oro and evaluated them all for living long term. There are pros and cons with all of them, I guess it depends on each individual's criteria. Having no kids to worry about does mean we are free to move around and Davao will not be a long term place for us. Too many un-ticked boxes for me. While Cebu DOES have some nice up-scale bars with views across the water or hills, I just don't feel safe there and the taxi drivers are dishonest - I would not dream of driving a car in Cebu.
So, that's my quick sketch and only my opinion of course, others may disagree.
Cheers
Adrian
