If anyone asks from a Dabawenyo where to go when in Davao, one of the quickest response they will give you is Malagos Garden Resort. Although there are many new tourist spots in Davao City, Malagos Garden Resort owns a special place for locals in Davao.
Malagos Garden Resort is a twelve-hectare nature theme park in Davao that provides more than twenty attractions and fun-filled activities. It is also the home of the first Chocolate Museum in the Philippines.
It is a one-stop destination for adventure seekers, nature lovers, science enthusiasts, and chocoholics. Malagos Garden Resort also provides recreational activities, shows, and buffet lunches for the family.
So, what does Malagos Garden Resort offers that Dabawenyos love it so much?
There are many attractions in Malagos Garden Resort but here are the few that has a lasting impression on locals and tourists alike.
Chocolate Museum
Malagos’ Chocolate Museum makes history since their opening last March 8, 2017. It is the first and the only chocolate museum in the entire Philippine archipelago.
Malagos is renowned for bagging international and prestigious awards from all over the globe with their delectable chocolates. Since there are a lot of patrons asking how their chocolates are made, the management decided to create a tree to bar experience for their patrons through their Chocolate Museum.
Malagos Garden offers a tour of their cacao farms to educate enthusiasts on how cacaos are harvested and present more chocolate fun facts inside their chocolate museum. The chocolate museum is divided into four sections – the museum proper, the interactive area, the chocolate bar, and the chocolate laboratory.
The museum proper is an area where it displays facts regarding chocolate’s history, the chemistry of it, and amazing facts about cacao. The museum proper offers infographics, audio, and video lectures.
The interactive area is a place where kids and kids at heart can play games about chocolates. If you’re not into playing, you can at least take hundreds of selfies because the entire museum is aesthetically beautiful.
The chocolate bar is where you can buy Malagos’ renowned chocolate and order chocolate drinks, ice cream or other food.
The chocolate laboratory is an area where you can have a first-hand experience of creating your own chocolate with your preferred ingredient and design. It is a place where you can fulfill your chocolatier dreams at a price of P450.
Malagos Bird Show and its Bird Feeding Dome
Malagos is the right place for bird loving humans. Why?
They offer one of the best places for humans and birds to interact. There are at least four areas in Malagos Garden that are dedicated to birds – House of Birds, Bird Park, Bird Feeding Dome, and their famous Bird Show.
Malagos’ aviary houses different birds in all colors and sizes. Some of the birds in Malagos Garden are birds undergoing rehabilitation and are saved from poaching.
Tourists will go home learning more about these majestic beings and will know how humans can help protect their homes.
Malagos Garden Resort, throughout time, has been consistent with providing a great way to educate people about birds through their amazing Bird Show. The Bird Show is held in their beautiful amphitheater that can seat a hundred or more audiences.
It is a show both children and adults can enjoy because it is informative, the storyline is witty, it is filled with fun interactive activities with the birds, and it serves its purpose to educate the importance of protecting our birds and nature.
Malagos Bird Show is hosted by Dr. Bo Puentespina, the resident vet of Malagos Garden Resort. After the show, prepare your cameras as you can take pictures with the birds or feed them. They will perch on your shoulders or stand on your head.
Malagos Bird Show is only available on Sundays.
You can go to the Bird Feeding Dome after the show if you want to have more fun with the birds. You can buy a bag of seeds at not more than P30.
Butterfly Sanctuary and Mariposa Museum
There’s more to Malagos Garden Resort than just chocolate and birds. Malagos Garden Resort also offers serenity for butterfly lovers. There are different butterflies in Malagos’ Butterfly Sanctuary. Not only is it a sanctuary for butterflies but for humans too.
There, tourists can find serenity and enjoy seeing butterflies freely flapping their wings over one flower to another.
Beyond the butterfly sanctuary, anyone can stop over at their Mariposa Museum. It is a museum dedicated to butterflies. There are interactive areas where you can play games that are filled with fun facts. There are also encased glasses with butterflies from all over the Philippines.
There are other activities you can enjoy at Malagos Garden Resort. You can have an overnight stay with your friends and family, have buffet lunches, enjoy a stroll at their botanical gardens, play at their adventure sports, bike the area, swim at their pool, play at their treehouse or just chill.
Your stay is definitely worth it.
How to Get There
Malagos Garden Resort is an hour away from the city proper of Davao. You can go there by taking a jeepney ride at Bankerohan Terminal or opt to take a taxi ride (which is costly) or drive there if you own a car or you’re going with someone who owns a car or rent a van.
If you opt for public transport and you’re on a tight budget then take a jeepney ride with a route going to Calinan. Upon arriving at Calinan terminal, take a tricycle ride to Malagos Garden Resort. The fare from Bankerohan to Calinan is approximately P40. The tricycle ride is in a minimum of P20.
How Much Will You Spend
Malagos Garden Resort offers two types of packages for their entrance. You can opt for an entrance package with buffet lunch or without.
If you opt to enjoy their buffet lunch you can pay for P550 per person on Saturdays and Sundays. If you opt to enjoy the day tour without the buffet lunch, you can pay P200 per person or P225 if you want to avail of the bird show.
There are additional activities that will let you pay extra for the use of their swimming pool and the guided shuttle tour which starts at 10:00AM, 1:00PM and 3:00PM only.
Swimming pool is P100 for adults and P80 for kids. For the guided shuttle tour, each person needs to pay P100.
| Basic Expenses | |
| Fare, Bankerohan to Calinan Terminal | PHP 40 |
| Tricycle Fare, Calinan Terminal to Malagos Garden Resort | PHP 20 |
| Entrance Fee with Lunch Buffet | PHP 550 |
| Tricycle Fare, Malagos to Calinan Terminal | PHP 20 |
| Fare, Calinan to Bankerohan | PHP 40 |
| Total | PHP 670 |
| Personal Expenses | |
| Popcorn (estimate only) | PHP 50 |
| Bottle of Water (estimate only) | PHP 50 |
| Packet of Bird seeds | PHP 30 |
| Total | PHP 130 |
| Grand Total | PHP 800 |
