Had a great Christmas on Samal Isalnd near Davao City. It's 10 minutes on a ferry and costs 10 pesos to get there. I'm not aware of anywhere in South East Asia where you can take a ferry from a city and be on a paradise island within 10 minutes, ha.

Samal Island is very under developed and not touristy at all which makes it a great place to unwind. The clear water and rich coral gardens make it superior, compared to Thailand and the other parts of the Philippines, in my humble opinion and experience.

I managed to fly my drone and get some awesome pics from the air. We found a nice beach and I did some snorkeling and cliff jumping. The snorkeling was amazing but I had a serious scare, when I got caught in a rip current, (always swim parallel to the beach, if caught in a rip current). Luckily I was wearing fins otherwise I think I would have been swept out into the middle of the ocean. A group of Indians later disappeared while taking a small boat out by the current.

I will be back to Samal soon to explore more and other Islands, but will be a lot more cautious when swimming!