General Santos – Mindanao
General Santos or “Gen San” is positioned on the edge of Sarangani Bay in southern Mindanao southwest of Davao. It is a world famous fish port where a majority of yellowfin tuna are auctioned off. It’s worth an experience to watch that sale but I didn’t make it this trip.
This picture is at the entrance to the city beach.
One of the main draws for tourists is to scuba dive Sarangani and experience something different from the dive factories of Cebu and Bohol.
Cambridge Dive – formerly Tuna City Dive and Partridges further down the coast are the only two dive shops that I am familiar with.
I am not really an active diver but did make two quick dives at Maharlika beach where there are sometimes some rare rhinopias hanging around the sponges.
There is a small expat community that has chosen to live in Gen San for various reasons, most have spouses from the area. Some just prefer a smaller city to Davao where there is a fast growing group of immigrant settlers. The Philippines has a lot to offer to a retiree.
Gen San has a mix of Muslim and Catholic groups and peace seems to be a priority for both of them. Most foreigners would feel quite comfortable in this small but growing small city.
I found it particularly interesting to see banners hanging on a local mosque pushing non violence and a political solution to things rather than the violence you can find around Cotobato City.
Notre Dame.
Cambridge Dive formerly Tuna City Scuba Center
General Santos is easily reached by bus from Davao, Cagayan de Oro, or Surigao using Rural Transit Bus lines. The T’Boli Hotel is located right next to the bus terminal.
Cambridge Farms Hotel and Restaurant, where scuba divers often stay, is in Purok Malakas. It’s a short tricycle ride of maybe 2 kilometers.
The Super Ferry does a run to Zamboanga every week. The promo fare is 980 pesos right now. It’s the easiest way to get between the two cities.
The drive from Gen San to Surigao is long (around 600k) but it’s really a beautiful run.
Lake Sebu is a day trip from Gen San. Mt Apo can be climbed from Kidapawan. Its a good weekend climb.
The pig waves good bye as you leave town towards Digos.
These blue USAID signs are a common sight in southern Mindanao. The USA, for whatever reason, has done a huge amount of projects in the area. Dams, footbridges, airports, roads, market buildings etc – someone familiar with the project told me that there were aprox 800 aid projects completed.
General Santos isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but I rather like the place. If you are not into scuba diving you might prefer Davao.
General Santos
Climbing Mount Apo
Growing Orchids
Judy's Resto Bar
Logging with Motorcycles
Mount Mayon
Balabac Island
Biri Island
Calbiga Cave
Capul Island
Mangrove Swamp Palawan
Mikes's Resort
Another informative page DP sounds like this could be our next trip. Always wanted to get down there for some diving and also climb Mount Apo. I checked out the web site for Cambridge Farms and looks very impressive.
Apparently the owner is involved in conservation work and spent a fortune for reconstructing some of the reefs there. I admire his drive and determination.
Would be interested in knowing how big is his operation as I read he is also retailing gear, sound like quite a big shop. Does one need to book in for a dive?
We would probably come from Dapitan so thats quite a long drive.
Hi Bruce,
General Santos is definitely off the beaten track for scuba diving but Chris just loves to dive. If divers happen to show up they are welcome to join.
Sarangani Bay slopes down to depths of 2000 meters and really has some unique critters.
Tuna City Dive is definitely not the dive factory you find in tourist areas. (PS the city recently had them change the name to Cambridge Dive – apparently over an issue with the use of “Tuna City”) ridiculous but….
The shop is small and does not actively go after divers even though the potential is there to go big if one chose to.
Chris and a local tuna buyer, “John”, had teamed up to do an amazing reef building project in the bay. The hugest impact has been right at the beach in downtown General Santos. The beach there is relatively clean and swimable when it used to be just a great big cess pool.
They installed a total of 5,000 concrete domes in various locations around the bay (at their own expense). They were just trying to improve the bay , because it is their backyard and they dive all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CLa8yvBeJM
Bruce, I think you would really enjoy a week down there. Most of the diving is shore dives, there is a narrow plateau before you get to the wall where you can dive at whatever depth you like.
Check Chris’ site to see some really good pictures of unusual fish. Chris doesn’t take pictures but some of the photographers that dive with him, sent him a few to post.
Chris is low key, very experienced diver and a pleasure to have a few beers with at the end of the day.
His wife runs the hotel – there is a variety of accommodations and price ranges.
There is a Dunkin Donuts down the street by the market – What more could you ask for?
dp
Hi DP, have you dived at this artificial reef? I’ve heard about this dome project as early as 2005 happening around there and I’m assuming it must have be teeming with life right now. I’d like to check it out at some point. If only we can persuade many people to do this for the other over-fished parts of the country.Sigh.
Hi Leng,
The domes were spread out in areas that were in the worst condition. For example – many were put right at the beach in General Santos itself.
That was at one time basically a sewer, but now life has returned and the beach is undergoing a major facelift.
Sarangani Bay is huge and bottoms out at over 2000 feet. That makes for interesting wall diving.
One of the most bizarre dive sites in the world has to be at Maharlika Beach. Years back there were about 50 karaoke machines set up in nipa huts along the shore of this “resort”. You could walk into the water with the blaring music blasting away and slip into the quiet underwater world and be greeted by leafy rhinopias and other really weird stuff that you just don’t see very often.
Mercifully, the salt air has taken it’s toll on these machines and there are only two left.
I am not really a diver and have switched to snorkeling because it’s less hassle and its also a dollar stretching strategy.
Try to take a look at Chris’ website and see some of Stan de la Cruz’s pictures. He is a great photographer and got some interesting shots of these fish.
There is a lot of rare macro clinging the the wall and it’s worth a look if you are interested in trying something different.
As far as the artificial reefs – it looks to me that coral is starting to take some of the domes over. I saw one lionfish quite happy with “his” dome and didn’t seem in any hurry to leave. (Took a few pictures).
where can i buy tuna and dried fish in gensan?
i need a supplier of tuna and dried fish
Hello hazel,
All the tuna is sold at auction
http://www.dutchpickle.com/philippines/mindanao/tuna-port-in-general-santos.html
Buyers bid on whole fish – this is an art so it might be best to work with a fish broker.
I don’t recall seeing much dried fish in General Santos but it is the tuna capital of the Philippines.
dp
DP any tips on finding the cambridge farms after reaching gen san
Hello Bruce,
Nice to hear from you !
Cambridge Farms Hotel and Restaurant, where scuba divers often stay, is in Purok Malakas. Just ask people where Purok Malakas is. It is pretty easy to get there but I don’t remember street names. The scuba instructor owner’s name is Cris. Purok Malakas is a suburb of General Santos and is not on the water.
Cris really is a cool guy! He and John put in 5,000 concrete domes in the Sarangani Bay to stimulate the coral growth. Big project that they primarily financed on their own because they love the ocean and marine life so much. John is an amazing guy too – does tuna exporting to Japan and the US. You and Lindsay would enjoy checking out his place!
happy travels !
pd
ps I plan to be back in Ormoc City the first week of Nov. MG from Palawan has invited me on a trip to Sabah – not sure yet if if I will be able to make that segment of the trip. You might want to try a few dives in Sarangani Bay when you are down there in General Santos – beautiful !
Scuba diving Sarangani Bay
basic info also check out
cambridgefarm.com
contact – dvgensan @ yahoo.com.ph
Hello Everyone,
I have been going to the Philippines for many years now and love it. I spent most of my time in Dumaguete, Negros but on the recommendation of a friend who lives there, I first visited General Santos, 3 years ago and fell in love with the city and the area.
As a keen cyclist, I really enjoy cycling along the coast to Ladol (a fishing village) and further on to Malapatan, as the road is good and mainly flat. When down there, I have a daily routine of cycling to Ladol and swimming there. The locals are really friendly and it is fascinating watching the boats, chatting with the people, etc.
I am retiring in June, this year and intend to go down to Gen San to live, in peace and quiet but with all of the conveniences of a modern city.
I thoroughly recommend both Gen San and the surrounding area. The absence of girly bars and sex tourism, makes it such a nice place to pass ones senior years and I can’t wait to get back there.
David
I have not yet been to the east side of the Sagangani Bay but now you me interested in having a look over there.
thanks for your post
dp
…gptta love the Philippines !
about dp
http://www.dutchpickle.com/about
I also had some fantastic memories of diving with Wayne of Freeflow Diving there in Dili, Timor Leste back in 2006.
It wasn’t just that the diving was so great but exploring dive sites with the likes of a guy like Wayne was an adventure in itself !
thanks !
dp
google search of Sarangani Bay depth on researchgate.net
It is a fairly deep body of water. The southern half is about 1,800 m deep. The deepest part is near the mouth at 2,800 m. Only a thin strip near the shoreline is shallow, with a depth of less than 100 m, where mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs may still exist.
It would be good to have an understanding about down currents if you did wall diving here
dp
remember – bubbles are not supposed to go down
also keep in mind the Tonoto currents are brisk !
some of the diving here is past my level, Chris mentioned to me that he once chased a diver down to 70 meter to stop his decent but that was his limit (he was not going to go deeper) it was a successful save :)