Philippines Guide
For Travelers, Expats and Pinoys
Dumaguete Travel Guide
Travelling around the Philippines without having a clue where you are going or what you can possibly see is a little frustrating and without a good travel guide, you will get literally nowhere. If you are planning to go the this small city in the Philippines called Dumaguete, then you are on the right spot right here because we are going to provide you with our own Dumaguete Travel Guide that will take you to place in and out of this city in the Philippines.
The first spot of the Dumaguete Travel Guide is the Japanese Shrine that is located all the way on the mountaintop of the hills of Valencia. The Japanese Shrine is a three sided pillar which was erected to show that this was the spot where American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers fought a surprising hilltop battle during World War II. The Shrine was erected in the 1970s and it overlooks the city and its neighboring areas. This site is neighboring another Dumaguete Travel Guide site of the Philippines which is the waterfall called Casaroro. A beautiful single waterfall is soaring down into a basin where you can relax, meditate or swim on. This site is a perfect family spot.
A spot that the Dumaguete Travel Guide wants to take you is a site in the heart of the city of gentle people. This site is known all over the Philippines as Sidlakang Negros and is the little town of Negros. This attraction exhibits all the specialties of each city and town in Negros Oriental and is compacted into a large space that also includes a stage. The Sidlakang Negros was built in accordance with the Buglasan Festival that was to be held in the little town for the future Buglasan festivals so that every town and city already has a predesigned space without spending money year in and year out to construct an entirely new hut.
Another place in the Dumaguete Travel Guide is the pier located at the DUCOMI coconut oil milling company in Bacong, Philippines. The pier of this company happens to be the best dive spot within the Negros Island and you will have your hands and your eyes full of corals, critters, cuttlefish, seahorses, nudibranchs, stonefish, anglerfish and many more rare marine species. This is one of the highlights of the Dumaguete Travel Guide, because there is no dive spot like the pier in the entire Philippines.
The Dumaguete Travel Guide took you to different places to experience the nature, the festivals and the marine life in Dumaguete, Philippines. We hope that the Dumaguete Travel Guide inspired you to plan your trip to the capital city of the Negros Oriental region and experience all these places.
Dumaguete Sightseeing Guide
Welcome to the Dumaguete sightseeing guide that will show you around this sleepy town and the so called gentle city of the Philippines. Let this Dumaguete sightseeing guide take you to the crevices of Dumaguete art, architecture, culture and nature, because Dumaguete City is a small city with a lot of little wonders of the Philippines.
The first place that we are going to visit in the Dumaguete sightseeing guide in the Philippines is the Dumaguete Belfry Tower. This Belfry is the most popular landmark in Dumaguete City and is located at the extension of the Perdices Street right beside the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandra. The Dumaguete Belfry was built in the 1760s and its use was to warn the town people of attacks from pirates which was common during that time in all over the Philippines and which is how the city got its name.
A spot that is right next to the Dumaguete Belfry in our Dumaguete sightseeing guide is the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandra. This cathedral was built during the Spanish occupation and has an open interior. You could sit in this cathedral all day and marvel at the painted ceiling that glistens with golden angels, saints and ornaments. The Dumaguete cathedral is a catholic church and can still be booked for weddings, funerals and other events.
The next spot in our Dumaguete sightseeing guide will be the first protestant university in the Philippines as well as the oldest American established university in the Philippines. This university in the Dumaguete sightseeing guide is called Silliman University. Established on August 28, 1901, this university has been around for over 107 years. The university is not only known for its education, but also for its green and open campus as well as its museums, its library, its bird and mammal conservatory, its farm, and its marine laboratory.
The best place for our Dumaguete sightseeing guide is the Silliman Anthropology Museum located in the second floor of the historical Silliman Hall building that used to be the old Silliman Church in the war times. Another interesting fact about Silliman University is that it used to be captured in the Japanese occupation of the Philippines which unfortunately left many innocent people killed and raped. All these events happened on the campus and what is now a dorm for ladies called Channon Hall, used to be the Japanese’s torture chamber. Silliman at night turns into a popular ghost hunting spot.
Dumaguete City is a great spot to rediscover the history of the Philippines and it is a great city to just be yourself and enjoy a coffee or tea at the Silliman University coffee shop, or be enlightened at the cathedral. Enjoy your Dumaguete sightseeing guide and visit all these places once you get there.
Dumaguete Restaurant Guide
Dumaguete City has a couple of gourmet surprises for the unknowing visitor which we took into our Dumaguete Restaurant Guide so that you know which restaurant is hot and which is not. Dumaguete is not the hottest place in the Philippines when it comes to five-star dining, but it definitely has some innovative cooking which we will be introducing to you in this Dumaguete Restaurant Guide.
The first place that the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide will take you to is a fairly new place to wine and dine, but it definitely has the chic and the style of a European restaurant. We are talking about the Casablanca restaurant, which is located on Cervantes Street. This restaurant slash sushi bar slash delicatessen shop has everything a European food lover or Japanese food lover needs. The dishes are rich, savory and huge so that your hunger will definitely be satisfied. The deli shop offers wines, cheese, cold cuts, pastries and European delicacies depending on the season. The Japanese food here is great and the sushi is probably the largest and most savory that you can find in the entire Philippines.
Let us move to the next place of the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide. This place has been a long established restaurant that serves quality food with a view towards the ocean. The Don Atilano restaurant is often visited by celebrities and known people of the Philippines whenever they happen to visit Dumaguete. Don Atilano has a steak house and a Japanese restaurant. The Japanese food is a little stingy with the servings, but the taste is still great. The specialties of Don Atilano are the steaks which they get fresh from their own steak shop.
Another restaurant that has to be part of the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide of the Philippines is Gaby’s Bistro. Gaby’s Bistro is the newest addition in the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide because it just finished in the summer of 2008. This restaurant has some of the best chicken in the entire Philippines and not even fast food restaurants can compare with this chicken. Gaby’s Bistro serves an array of international foods such as Mexican, Italian, Filipino, Thai, and Japanese and so on. Try the delicious Spaghetti with Meat Balls or the Japanese Fish Teriyaki. The apple crumble pie is one of the best pastries you have ever tried in the entire country.
These three restaurants make up the crème de la crème of the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide and you can dine in them from breakfast to dinner. Visit the best the Philippine has to offer within the Dumaguete Restaurant Guide.
Dumaguete Hotel Guide
Hotels are not necessarily what Dumaguete City is famous for in the Philippines, but there are indeed places that are definitely cockroach free, that we promise you. We are going to help you find a great hotel with the help of our Dumaguete Hotel Guide. Let us start the show of the best that Dumaguete has to offer to those who visit the Philippines.
One of the best hotels in the Dumaguete Hotel Guide is the Coco Grande Hotel. This hotel is located on the Hibbard Avenue. The Coco Grande Hotel has its own little Spanish flair and it has numerous guest rooms available for you. They have their own restaurant that serves great food held in the international cuisine and you can buy cakes and pastries in their bakeshop. Another great hotel in the Dumaguete Hotel Guide is the La Residencia Almar which is located on the Rizal Boulevard with a beautiful look out to the ocean. Both Residencia Almar and Coco Grande are favorite spots for celebrities of the Philippines and those who want to be seen.
The next place the Dumaguete Hotel Guide will take you is the Bethel Guest House. This hotel is also directly by the Rizal Boulevard which promises the ocean view. You will have a choice of smaller and bigger rooms with or without ocean view and you can make use of the indoor restaurant and buffet. The Bethel Guest House is often host to events from companies or organizations in the Philippines. Bethel Guest House may also be the most colorful hotel in the Philippines.
A hotel in the Dumaguete Hotel Guide that is situated just a step away from the domestic airport is the Negros Inn. The Negros Inn is a large hotel that has luxurious rooms and spacious amenities and one of their amenities is the Karaoke Lounge. You will notice that karaoke is very popular in the Philippines and it doesn’t exclude this little city. There are many places in the Philippines where you can visit a 24 hour karaoke lounge, but there is only one in this city of Negros Oriental and that is at the Negros Inn. You can also get a special sauna treatment in this hotel.
The last hotel on the Dumaguete Hotel Guide is going to be the Check Inn hotel. Professionals from all over the Philippines have to visit the city for appointments, seminars and more and the Check Inn hotel is the perfect business hotel with large rooms as it is situated right in the heart of the downtown area. They also have a great restaurant that will wow you with its international cuisine.
The Dumaguete Hotel Guide hopefully showed you where you could possibly stay for a vacation over at Dumaguete City, Philippines. Choose a hotel from this guide and do not opt for something less, because you might soon find a cockroach crawling over your sleeping face. Did you know that cockroaches in the Philippines bite?
Dumaguete Beach Guide
The Philippines is famous for white sand beaches and broken coral beaches and you will find plenty wherever you go in the Philippines. If your destination happens to be Dumaguete, you will not initially see much of the white sand, but you rather have to go off and find it. Let us help you finding the nice beaches around this city with the Dumaguete Beach Guide.
Let us take you to the first Dumaguete Beach Guide Destination called Silliman Beach. Silliman Beach is located at the Silliman Farm and Marine Lab Campus and is part of the first American founded University in the Philippines. The beach used to be the best beach in town, but now unfortunately degraded due to lack of care. Despite of the slackness of the towns’ people, the sand remains a bright yellow and you can certainly lie around on the beach and try to do sunbathing.
The second beach in our Dumaguete Beach Guide of the Philippines is the Cangmating Beach. This beach is popular with the youth of this city because it is here where you can go skim boarding on the low tide. Skim boarding is an ever growing trend in the beaches of the Philippines and especially Dumaguete which is the use of a small flat skim board that only floats like a surf board for short shallow water distances.
A beach in the Dumaguete Beach Guide that has broken white corals is located in Antulang which is in close proximity to Siaton, Philippines. The Antulang beach is owned by a beach resort of the same name and has beautiful coral sand that stretches along a couple of kilometers. This beach is ideal for relaxing and tanning and the azure blue ocean is ideal for taking a dip or a dive.
The Dumaguete Beach Guide also guides you to beaches that can be accessed without going through a resort such as the Banilad Beach. The Banilad Beach is one of many public beaches in the Philippines decorated with huts to relax in or have a picnic in and with sandbars that appear on low tide and sometimes high tide as well. The Banilad Beach is one to take your family to because of its large space and huts.
The last beach in the Dumaguete Beach Guide is going to be the Dauin Beach. The Dauin Beach is more known in the Philippines for its dive sites, but the beach itself is also great. Relax at one of many beach resorts in Dauin that offer benches to lie in or huts to have a little get together with friends or family.
The Dumaguete Beach Guide ends here, but your beach travel destinations could still go on and on in other parts of the Philippines. You could also experience the beaches in Boracay or Palawan and take a little paradise back home with you.
Dumaguete’s Famous University: Silliman
Located in the Negros Oriental province of the Philippines, Dumaguete is home to several universities and colleges in the southern part of the country, earning the city the title “university town.” Dumaguete is also the largest city in the province.
The city draws tourists and students alike. No wonder one of the top attractions in the city is an educational institution, the Protestant-founded Silliman University.
The university was established in August 1901 by American missionaries belonging to the Presbyterian Church, led by Dr. Horace B. Silliman, from whom the university got its name. It was Dr. Silliman who funded the building of the institution.
Other universities in the area include the Foundation University, Negros Oriental State University and St. Paul Dumaguete, one of the many schools run by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in the Philippines.
Known as the Silliman Institute until 1938, Silliman University has the distinction of being the first Protestant school in this predominantly Catholic country, and the oldest American university in Asia.
Silliman is famed not only for its history, but for its academic excellence as well. It offers a wide range of courses, from engineering to law to nursing. It also has education in music, fine arts and business administration courses, among others. There is a Graduate School as well.
The school prides itself on its science courses, particularly on marine biology and agriculture. The university is supported by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and is recognized as one of the Centers of Excellence by the country’s Commission on Higher Education.
Former Philippine president Carlos P. Garcia, who led the country from 1957 to 1961, was an alumnus of the university. Garcia was a lawyer and teacher before entering politics in 1926 as a congressman. He also became a governor, a senator and vice-president before his presidency.
Silliman University is also one of the biggest universities in the Philippines, currently resting on a 610,000 square meter land area—a far cry from its humble beginnings. It started out as an elementary school with less than twenty students and basic school facilities. At present, each college has its own building. The campus also has sporting facilities like an Olympic-size swimming pool, football field, archery range and tennis court. It also boasts of a three-storey library that was built in 1978, which is considered as one of the biggest libraries in the country.
A solid testament of the university’s status as one of the main tourist attractions of Dumaguete City is its power to draw large crowds in its annual Founder’s Day celebration every August 28. Dumaguete locals and even outsiders take part in the week-long celebrations in the campus grounds.
Truly, it is simply hard to think of Dumaguete City without having Silliman university in mind as well.
Heidelberg of the East - Dumaguete City
Who could have ever imagined that in a far-flung island in Southeast Asia lies a competitor of the famous Heidelberg of Europe? Located in the rich and vast seas of the Philippine Archipelago, Dumaguete City is one of the fast-emerging cities gaining tourism and educational acclaims. Tagged as the “City of Gentle People”, Dumaguete indeed, is a very promising city of the south.
From its historic accounts alone, the City of Dumaguete is already known to be unique. Because of its territory surrounded by the vast seas, the island is prone to marauding pirates. Luckily, the attackers of the island, finding the place attractive were enchanted to live in the place permanently. Hence, the place was soon christened with the name Dumaguete, from the native word “dumaguet” which means to catch or to swoop.
As the capital city of Negros Oriental, Dumaguete City is the largest city and industrial and educational capital of the province. Because of its naturally blessed territory, the city is known to have two of the best diving sites in the world namely Apo and Sumilon Islands. Not only that, the island itself is a package full of wonders and awe because this place is considered as one of the worlds most diverse marine ecosystems which serves as a haven to thousands of marine species. One famous destination of the tourists is the Bais Bay, where many converge to sightsee the whales and dolphins. The thought of the city itself makes you feel refreshed and calm.
More than the marvels of nature, Dumaguete is also endowed with educational feats which make it the “University Town”. The City is home to several historic universities and educational institutions which made great contributions to the country’s abounding history. Silliman University, the first American University outside Manila and the first Protestant School in the country, is seated at this very city. Gaining more than a couple of billion annually, the academe attraction of the city made a really huge impact in both internal and external economic aspects. Perhaps it is the city’s modest and relaxing environment which makes it so conducive for studies.
No wonder why many tourists from around the globe are being drawn by the exquisite attraction of Dumaguete. If Europe has Heidelberg, Asia has Dumaguete. A striking tandem of educational and tourist attraction plus the warm and kind natives, the city, indeed can compete with the famous historical city.
So that’s Dumaguete!
I thought Dumaguete was a province in Mindanao. I was wrong. Dumaguete City is the capital of Negros Oriental which is in Region VII in Visayas.
I thought that Dumaguete was a far-fetched and uninhabited island. Wrong again! Dumaguete is just a ferry-ride away from bustling Cebu and it is even tagged as “The City of Gentle People”.
History has it that its name came from the local word “daggit” which means “to snatch”. Dumaguete has this powerful charm to attract visitors and keep them for good. Its beauty had lured pirates to frequently attack the coastal town.
Recently, Dumaguete was dubbed as “the most child-friendly city”. That, for me, is a major asset. It is also known as a university town because of the many colleges and universities in this city which are open even for foreign students. And yes, business is booming in this area.
The tourism department of Dumaguete claims that this beautiful city is for the weary traveler, seeker of knowledge and nature lover, and the residents can speak English well and can understand Spanish.
That’s probably why most tourists are Westerners and Europeans.
Dumaguete is for the people who long for water and land adventures.
There’s a lot of beach resorts and dive sites there where you can also go dolphin and whale watching and scuba diving. If you’re into conquering the heights and the caves, you’ll be happy to learn that you are free to do spelunking and mountain trekking also.
But if your main objective of going there is to just chill and take in the view and relax, you can never run out of hotels to stay in and restaurants to dine in. You can request a tour guide from the tourism department if you want to go around the city.
What are the places that make this city famous? Since the inhabitants are dominantly Catholic, the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral Park is considered a century-old landmark. That gives a religious aura.
The Bell Tower is the oldest city landmark; it has remained the city’s watch tower since the Spanish times. The Siliman Veach is for the youth. It is where they unwind, especially on Sundays.
Rizal Boulevard is a seafront boulevard that has become the most popular promenade and jogging track for the health-conscious people. The rendezvous of most people there is the Quezon Park. It is lined with trees and it has a playground for kids.
With all the good things said about Dumaguete and the nice spots to visit there, it won’t take long before it becomes a favorite among tourists. So let’s go to Dumaguete!
Dumaguete City Travel Information
If you’re traveling to the Philippines, you will not want to miss Dumaguete, the City of Gentle People. Europeans and Japanese love the place, and after making that vacation trip, you’re going to love Dumaguete too.
Dumaguete City is the center of education in the region. The large number of universities and colleges in Dumaguete has made the city a favorite converging point for students from nearby provinces who wish to pursue a college degree. Silliman University, named after philanthropist and Presbyterian layman Horace Brinsmade Silliman of New York, was established in 1901 and is the first Protestant school in the Philippines; it is also Asia’s oldest American university. So don’t be surprised if you bump into someone who can fluently talk about marine biology when you visit Dumaguete.
Dumaguete offers sea lovers easy access to nearby water havens. A favorite stop is Bais Bay, where one can watch whales and dolphins frolic in their sea paradise. There are also many beach resorts to get a good tan and several dive sites to explore. Among the best beach resorts to go to in Dumaguete are Atlantis, El Dorado, and Antulang. If you plan to dive, go check out Sumilon and Apo Islands and experience the diversity of the sites’ marine ecosystems. Incidentally, Silliman University has its Marine Preserve in Apo Island.
If you would rather scale heights and go on a trek that will take you 1,864 meters above sea level, you can opt to hike to Mount Talinis. Also called Cuernos de Negros (Horns of Negros), Mount Talinis is adorned with rare flora and fauna. If you’re lucky enough, you can get a glimpse of the Visayan Hornbill (Penelopides Panini), a critically endangered avian species. Once you’re reached the top of Mount Talinis, you won’t regret having made the whole-day trip. The orchids, lakes, and virgin forests are eye candy to the nature lover. Don’t forget to bring a camera or you’ll regret it.
Travelers who need a cyber fix or simply want to e-mail messages and photos to loved ones back home can choose from several Internet cafes in Dumaguete.
There are also several food stops with the traveler in mind. Persian Palate serves hummus, kababs, and curry dishes. If you’re a Chinese food lover, you can drop by the air-conditioned Chin Loong; just make sure to come in early because it won’t be easy to find an empty table at night. If you fancy pizza and pasta, Buonissimo Pizza Flight 2000 is the place for you; it’s an open café that offers large servings to the hungry traveler. You may also want to end your day by checking out the bars and restaurants along Rizal Boulevard.
Travel to Dumaguete and spend an activity-filled vacation. Meet its warm, friendly and educated people or check out the sorcery and witchcraft of Siquijor. Enjoy the cool waters and dive your heart out. Climb scenic Mount Talinis. Surf the Internet. Savor the flavor of international cuisine. Go for that nightcap. Experience Dumaguete.
