Dumaguete has to be one of the most comfortable places to live in the Philippines for the expat. It is a well organized, clean college town with a low cost of living.
One of the nicest features of this city is the walkway alongside the seawall where food vendors set up tables and chairs every night and cook fresh food.
It's peaceful to be able sit there watching the waves or just strolling by in the cool evening.
There is a small mall with a great bakery in the lower level. A big city market has all kinds of local produce and fish.
Pizza shops, Jolibee, McDonalds and other fast food places abound for those addicts that need a fix.
Scooby's has two fast food places with reasonably fast internet upstairs.
The ferrys leave from the dock right in town.
Many hotels are available in all price ranges. The Vintage Inn by the city market is my choice because you can get a good clean room for 252 pesos.
The mini buses that go to Sibulan leave from the lot right across the street. The ride costs 9 pesos. Sibulan is the port where the pump boat and the fast ferry leave for Cebu which is where you will want to go if heading to Moalboal.
If you are going direct to Cebu City the best bet is to take the Ceres Liner from the bus terminal about a kilometer past the bell tower.
For 250 pesos you will get transported directly to Cebu City in about 4 hours. The fare includes a quick boat ride between the island of Negros and Cebu.
It's a landing craft type boat and the bus will drive up the ramp onto the boat with several other buses for the trip across. You will ride across the ferry on the upper deck.
A monument to 7 Catholic sisters that arrived in Dumaguette in Oct of 1904 looks pretty cool out there on the boardwalk.
They were the beginning of the St. Paul Acadamy now the St Paul College. I think that early pioneers like these had a lot to do with the present day sucess of this city.
Motorbikes are available for rent for 250 pesos a day.
Adventure Dive has a colorful dive shop / Mexican Restaurant right on the main street. I find the owner to be quite friendly and accommodating. They leave from Dauin where the dive boat is kept.
Most dive shops are based in Dauin around 12 kilometers from Dumaguete but it is nice to be be based in town so there is more to do at night.
4 bell watchtowers were originally built in the 1760's and one was rebuilt in the original location 1876. They were an early warning system set up warn the locals when they were getting attacked by pirates so they could get an organized defense to resist the invaders.
Negros itself is a beautiful island with waterfalls and caves and great diving.
For people looking to relocate to Negros this would be worth investigating.
Some people might feel that there are already too many foreigners in the area and they might have a point.
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