I am in the process of planning my second trip to the Philippines. We want to do a little bit of traveling this trip. I want to take her to Boracay for a few days then to Dumaguete. What's the best way to get from Boracay to Dumaguete? Is it worth the time by bus for the site seeing since neither one of us have ever been there or are we just better off flying into Dumaguete? Thank You
After you have finished your stay on Boracay , get the boat back to Cataclan , then get the plane to Cebu city , and then the bus to Dumaguete , if it is clear weather you will have a good view from the plane and the bus trip is also good along the coast from Cebu to Dumaguete .
I would suggest getting a bus from Caticlan to Iloilo and staying at Smallville (no, superman didn't grow up there) for a couple nights if you have time. They have good shopping and nice nightlife there. Iloilo is a different place and worth a visit. From Iloilo take the ferry to Bacolod and hop a bus to Dumaguete. Just another option to consider.
Smallville is good.. has a few nice resto and bars in there as well..and a *REAL* Thai resto..lol.. BUT.. if they consider hopping past IloIlo see if there isnt a bus that goes to Bacolod..as the ro ro ferry is a good 30 minutes north of IloIlo and will never go down into it.. If he uses a private driver to get him to Bacolod the same deal..or a POV.. 3 mall of size in Ilo Ilo.. 5 in Bacolod but that should not really be of tourist interest. There is a decent import beer place just on the left as you enter the main road in Smallville.. ( thats important to ME!! heheh ) oh the Thia restor faces the main road..you can actually walk up to the SM mall from there oh..2 city blocks..give or take I do make an effort to always stop in Gunthers Tyrol resto there in Bacolod...same owner as Casablanca here in Duma.. but my favorite place to eat is a Chinese restaurant down the south end of town..called Golden of Fortune.. yes bad engrish..lol but excellent food and prices.. really good for family style as all their dining tables sport that big lazy susan in the middle and you buy food by serviing sizes.. 1-2 3-4 6-8..like that. They also sell fresh food..ie live you can pick..but then you loose your pocket as they tend to very over price the live seafood. I say try starting with the Hot & Sour soup..from there is a 2 minute taxi..yes they have taxi there to the govt gambling casino in the same area..And that casino faces a bar that has at least 30 different beer/ales.. ( yes also important to me)..hehe
Boracay is OK in my opinion, had a great time there; but Bohol has so much more to offer as far as things to do other than the beach. Hotels, excursions and just general transportation were much easier. Since it s your 2nd trip, I would recommend Bohol over Boracay. Everything can be booked on-line, which saves a lot of aggravation. Shawn
Fast craft out of the port in IloIlo going to Bacolod. You only have to go up the road if you need a roro.
going via Iliolo and Bacolod, is a spectacularly silly idea UNLESS you want to specifically go to either Iliolo or Bacolod, or both. It will take days this way even if you tried to get there as quickly as you could. it is a pity that there isn't an earlier flight, but if you take the 11.40am flight from Caticlan to Cebu, and then a taxi to the south bus station and take a bus to Santander you will be in Dumaguete by around 6-7pm. If you wanted to stagger the journey a little by overnighting somewhere on the east side of Cebu, stay in somewhere like Argao, Alcoy, or Oslob on the way down
