⌛ newbie here

i guess there are no beaches near dumaguete that would fit my preferences. kookoo's and artistic aren't in dumaguete :-)

pero, when i go to kookoo's i need to pass by dumaguete (from bacolod) so i think that would be nearer to dumaguete than artistic which is in sipalay. but i'm not sure, as i've never been anywhere near these places.

darn. im so excited just thinking of getting there.

hmm. i just noticed that my first post got deleted somehow. anyhoo. as i was saying, im down to two choices: kookoo's nest (i like its take on that jack nicholson starrer) and artistic diving. there's not much difference in their prices and each has its charms: kookoo's huts, artistic diving's swimming pool. so the final choice would have to be on: which of the two is quieter (assuming both beaches are clean)? pickled newt already vouched for kookoo's. so has anybody been to artistic diving?

 

i have no idea what im doing. this is the third time im posting here but every time i look, my post doesnt get posted.

sigh.

anyhoo. im down to 2 choices: kookoo's (i like its take on that jack nicholson starrer) and artistic diving. there's not much difference in their prices and each has its charms: kookoo's huts, artistic's swimming pool. if we assume that both beaches are clean (are they? they look clean in the sites) my final choice would have depend on which is quieter. pickled newt already vouched for kookoos. so has anyone been to or heard about artistic diving?

so both beaches are not in dumaguete :D

darn. im so excited just thinking of going there.

 

"clean", and "beach" are relative terms. Here most beaches are not the fabled white sand variety, clean, meaning no hypodermic needles or sewage, or free from seaweed and other flotsam? There are few swept and manicured beaches here.

The best expanse of sandy relatively clean true beach close to the city starts north at the airport region stretching North to approximately San Moritz resort. At low tide the beach is enourmous, expansive and mostly clean. At high tide it dissappears.

Stay out ofthe watr at the bolevard, sewage and surface waste water still dumps there, swimming is banned or should be.

In the San Moritz area, there are a plethora of small to largish day resorts where you canrent cabanas, tables chairs or what ever. 60- 800 peso a day.

Siaton has some nice coral beaches read not sandy, further south from Siaton there are wide expanses of white to brown true sand beaches that are basically deserted during the day. just local kids cavorting about.

Safety is a personal issue, if you mean from people, I would feel safe anywhere but keep an aware eye open.

 

RHB:
Thanks. But yes, by clean I meant I don't want to cavort in waters that have seen the inside of people's septic tanks or a city's sewers. So the color of the beach don't matter. I've only gone to the beach resorts with sites in them or those suggested by members of the forum, as I don't know how to look for the beaches anywhere in Negros island.

 

I did a quick google of some beaches in Siquijor and it looks like a promise. Any suggestion where to go to? Para I have choices between Sipalay, Siaton and Siquijor.

I wonder how these beaches are in November-December, aside from being cold.

 

If you have the time kfv,you can hop from one beach to another starting form Duma ,get a ferry to siquijor, stay for few days .Then back to dgte , head south where you hit siaton . After siaton , takes 3 hours to Sipalay with your own transport plus added time to get either to sugar beach or punta ballo .If time is short,you can delete siaton,then head straight to sipalay but heading north direction via Bais-mabinay-kabankalan route which has better roads than going south.

You have the bless there for having warm climate and sun all yr round,how nice. The eastern side of negros like sipalay will be more calmer this time of yr i guess ,and the sea is navigable.Diff than we were last august the sea out there so choppy and had the monsoon ,but still nice .

 

kfv

I did post some of our photos when in Kokoo's in 2004 but not in the Photo Board as i thought , must be somewhere caught in the maze of other threads and messages .

One reason why Kokoo's is quiet,it's harder to get there unless you have your own transport .Kokoos nest phone number 0919-695-8085 for query. If you have your own transport ,you can access the 9 km dirt road from Bonbonon ,(this is a village before you reach Siaton business centre) ,as u follow the 9km dirt tracks then suddenly it's end of the quite road you’ll hit their back yard with a bamboo garage looking like an old shed and weedy garden, confusing at first glance ,you'll never think it's Kokoos ,no person out there ready to greet you,lol,and you'll think you must be lost,just a warning.Another is it’s easy to miss this Bonbonon route to Kokoos as it’s not well sign posted .Rather when you fell lost you better hit the Siaton town proper and ask for directions to Tambobo,when you get there to Tambobo then arrange a local (for few pesos )to paddle you across with his banka to the other side of the river and across little empty beach then it’s Kokoo’s. If without your own transport, you can also find some habal-habal in Zamboangita ( a town before siaton )to get you straight to kokoos if not phone Kokoos nest to fetch you ,though bit more expensive by the look of it in the lonely planet .

 

i have inquired with nikki of kookoo's nest today. it seems that the cottage i want would be full during the time i intend to stay there. although she did suggest a great idea (tent). anyway, i am taking into consideration what you said, pn, regarding the 'how to get there'. i don't have my own transportation (will count on the kindness of people and whatever public transportation there to be had).
anyhoo. here's what i was thinking regarding this trip: i would like to hit two beaches, kookoo's and one other non-decided-yet in siquijor and a visit around dumaguete (what's the market day? i like market days, when any town is more alive than any other days) plus siliman university (although since im planning my trip around the holidays, it would be kind of quiet there, no?).

i have been surfing around for some siquijor resorts and i saw coral cay as a top choice somewhere. kind of steep, as they are in dollars. still surfing, although a suggestion from the forum who've hit or is familiar with siquijor is very much welcome.

 

This I do not know. I love beaches but I never like the water...so if you are referring to the water, no idea.

Are you a Filipino? I guess our waters have almost the same temperatures whole year round.

 

Kfv

The malatapay market is on every wenesdays of the week ,that's before you reach the Zamboangita town proper from Dgte.Easy to get there,just get a bus or jeepney from dumaguete and arrange with the driver or 'Kondoktor' the guy that hangs around collecting bus fares to drop you by at Malatapay.Don't miss it on Wenesday otherwise the place is as quiet as cemetery ,oh well not so coz it is point for connections to Apo esp with the locals.

It says here in our lonely planet book latest edition ( not impress of this book ,the 'rough guide' is better ) about this habal-habal ( a guy with his motorcycle to fetch to some destinations as kokoos ) whom you can arrange from zamboangita town ,haven't tried this though .From Zamboangita ,the route follows mostly by the coastline and villages ,then heading inland avoiding the direction to antulang beach resort .This route from Zamboangita is a bit of some distance compared to when you start at Siaton.I think in terms of cost ,to start from Siaton town , can be cheaper,because it has some normal tricycle routes going to Tambobo or even habal-habals or if lucky can hitch some rides ,Tambobo is a fishing village or what you call bonbonon (confusing ?) but Antulang is on the other side of the bonbonon lagoon .From tambobo you have to paddle across to the Antulang side . I know it is a bit of a hassle though to arrange a boat across the other side ,but for a fishing village,so many boats big and small, kids might be tempted to paddle you across and back for some pesos,a pocket money .