⌛ Greetings All!

JJ,

I have no first hand knowledge of Dumaguete but I do have some perspective of traveling to many countries.
General rule of thumb, treating people with a little bit of respect goes a long way.

Safer than Mexico.. Probably.

But as with any place you travel, be aware of your surroundings. If your by yourself, play it cool, don't get so drunk that you drop your awareness and bad people try to take advantage of you.

 

Yeah, this was in the news recently:
"The US National Guard will be deploying about 1,200 soldiers along the Mexico border on August 1 in an attempt to tackle two burning issues – illegal immigration and drug smuggling. The deployments should last about a year."

Over 7,000 people killed this year in drug-related violence... Shame, I really like visiting Mexico.

One of the reasons Dumaguete sounded appealing is it's popularity with Euro tourists. I've been to Playa Del Carmen Mexico twice recently and it's also a popular spot for Europeans. It's a blast meeting and going out with people from all over the world!

 

Absolutely, I'm a big proponent of the golden rule. My lets-get-belligerent days are well behind me fortunately. Many of the stories of crime from Dumaguete seem to be related to late night drunkenness, I'll definitely be diligent about not falling victim in that regard.