Dumaguete City

Dumaguete is home to the coconut crab or curacha. The curacha is a cross between a crab and a lobster. Lovely Dumaguete is a peaceful university town where life centers around the Siliman campus and its students. It’s magnificent seaside boulevard, a landmark that has survived the years, reminds a Manilenyo like me that we once had a boulevard as wonderful as that in the days when Roxas Boulevard was still called Dewey Boulevard. Dumaguete is a small city where everything is within walking distance and has tricycles easily available for reaching distant places. It has many beaches intended for relaxation and day picnics.

Dumaguete is a small city, but a city none the less, with rush hours and lots of congestion at various times of the day. If you want a relaxing drive through the city, travel at night.

The name Dumaguete is actually derived from the local term dumaguet, meaning to swoop, because centuries ago the town was constantly attacked by pirates. Today, the term refers to the many visitors who are lured by the city’s quaint charms and hospitable people. What I loved about the food in Dumaguete is that everything is so affordable. Even the fancy looking restaurants have unbelievably cheap prices.

While Dumaguete is obviously taking steps towards urban development, it still seems to be taking a leisurely stroll than rather than major leaps. No big-named department store has come in yet to break the sales of the various mom and pop stores around town.

One problem with Dumaguete is that it really spoiled us: vegetarian food was abundant (we even found a vegetable Siopao - not a simple matter at all), our hotel was cheap but still offered a hot shower, cable TV (we even caught House MD), a very helpful and informative owner, internet for 10PHP per hour and a motorcycle for 15PHP per hour. That's very little money even here - less than a can of coke in a supermarket!

Although Dumaguete is the capital of Negros Oriental province, its feel is that of a tight-knit university town. It's home to Silliman University, one of the finest academic institutions in the Visayas. Dumaguete is a very clean city for Philippine standard. You can reach it from Cebu with the fast ferry via Tagbilaran, Bohol, in about 3 1/2 hours, or even by land trip, if the ferry is not running because of any reason. Dumaguete is not too big and not too small, it’s just about right. Just ask the 4,000 or so foreigners who call Dumaguete home.

Dumaguete is accessible by air, land, and sea from major cities in the country. Two airlines provide three daily flights to and from Manila. As a tourist destination, Dumaguete is as good as it gets.