Howdy folks! I'm Larry(American)....my wife is Joy(Filipina). We will be retiring and moving to the Phils sometime around July of next year. Haven't really made our mind up as to where we will call home exactly yet, but Dumaguete is certainly on the list of areas we will be exploring. Other areas we are considering are Bohol, Mactan Island, Iloilo. Currently, we live in Mianyang, Sichuan, China. I work as a college business/english teacher. Joy works as a college english teacher. Our "plan" is for my wife to come to Dumaguete around May of next year, find us a temporary apartment/house that we can call home base for a short time while we look around. Eventually (shortly), we think we should find a more suitable home that we can call home for whatever time(to start with, a target time of 6 months) we are there. If we decide to call Dumaguete "home" (permanently), then we obviously would want a permanent home; whether it would be bought or rented is still up for debate. Joy is of course, more concerned with shopping and conveniences. I am more concerned with good roads (motorcycles), easy life, and fewer hassles. (Fewer hassles than what?, they ask! I dunno..just fewer!) We haven't ever been to Dumaguete, only heard many nice things about it....so here's YOUR chance! Vent, rage, praise, brag....whatever you have to say, we'll listen. Looking forward to your pearls of wisdom, stories of dumb luck, or even ah crap! why'd I do that? Larry & Joy
Welcome to the forum. The only way for you to accurately gauge if you want to live here, or anywhere, is to check it out personally. One person may like somethings you don't and vice versa. Also some may give accurate opinions and others not so accurate. Feel free to use the search function, or even better do a search of Dumaguete Info using Google. There is a wealth of information here. Check it out.
Thanks for the welcome, Knowda... We have done a lot of research on the net about Duma, but still...being there gives a more accurate view. That why I said, 6 months to start out, then....who knows! Of course, again, any words of wisdom from the members would be helpful and appreciated!
Larry, I think your plan is a good one and checking it out and even giving it 6 months will give you and Joy time to see if the plusses and minuses will work for both of you. I would not put too much weight into what others like or dislike about the Dumaguete area. As the saying goes, one man's passion is another man's poison. Personally, I am from the U.S. west coast and like it here, and having been to China I can say it is much more livable here. Good luck.
We lived in Manila prior to moving permanently to Dumaguete. If she is a "city" girl, she will not like it here. We have only one mall but lots of other shopping venues are all around town. Plenty of shopping to be done while walking around town If you like hustle and bustle, lots of traffic/people/noise, then right downtown will be for you. There are plenty of other, quieter places that are within 15 minutes of downtown. We live in Candau-ay, which is far enough to be quieter, but we can be downtown in 10-15 minutes. The farther out from town you get is when you will need your own transportation, as getting rides out here is sometimes hit or miss, especially in the evenings. We have our own car, so no problems. Another consideration is healthcare. It isn't the best here. There are some doctors who are pretty good and knowledgable, but the medical facilities are not up to par. If you need real medical care, you need to be in Manila or Cebu. Just my 2 centavos worth......
We like peace and quiet. She's not a city girl, but has lived and worked in cities and enjoys the convenience. Don't need constant healthcare now, but who knows the future... We will be buying a small truck and motorcycle as soon as practical after we arrive, so out of town a bit is fine. We understand that roosters and dogs do not wear watches and have no idea how annoying they are at the wee hours, but we'll adjust (since they won't). Crowing roosters and barking dogs in the neighborhood are a lot like living next to the airport and putting up with jet engine noise. Sooner or later...it just becomes part of the daily din and you miss it when its not there. We really have no plan per se. Its just...let's try Dumaguete..see how we like it...if so, we stay..if not, we try someplace else. Pros and cons to every place...our passion may be your poison...or vice versa... So, for those that are living there full-time, what is there to do...(not a diver) to keep oneselves semi-occupied during those many relaxing years of retirement. Personally, I've been a biker my whole life. I know there is a chapter of Outsiders MC there, and of course, my wife will get to know EVERY sales clerk in Robinsons Mall .....what else? What is NOT in the advertisments, websites, tour pamphlets...?
Hi, Larry, welcome to the forum. What is good here is the weather. Much less rains and storms during the rain season. Also this area is rarely being attacked by typhoons and hurricanes which I personally consider to be a huge advantage. "Quiet place"-hmmm. As I know now it depends a lot upon how you define it. We stayed in Dauin- it was noisy few evenings a week because of few resorts near by having a disco. We stayed in Candau-ay and the Palinpinon road was too busy, also construction started on the next lot didn't do any good to my hear. We stayed in Bacong and the reason you mentioned (roosters and dogs, also chain saw and neighbours's kids) didn't let us stay here longer. Just couldn't get used to it though I understand that all this is a part of "countryside" life. On the same time met many ppl who were happy in all the 3 locations and considered their areas to be the most quiet places on Earth. So-who knows. My advise is: don't hurry looking 4 a permanent place to stay. Chek it all with great attention: neighbours, location, any rooster farms near by, videokee (oh, no!), resorts and so on. Take care
I agree with most of what you said above. We have lived here for a tad over 3 years and we are in our 4th house much for the same reasons, too much noise and in one case in upper Daro really bad neighbors, all foreigners to. We are in the quietest by far now but it still has it's days and nights. The holidays are horrible, they start Christmas is September and it continues until mid January. We know a fair amount of people and I don't know a single one that says it is quiet where they live. Of course a local has a totally different idea of quiet. Weather-wise I take it you were not here during Sendong ? We lived in Valencia at that time and finally moved after going with any water for 4 months. No place is perfect , but compared to the Manila area we surely get less storms. Anyhow, good look to Larry, spend some time and choose carefully.
Charlie, you are right I wasn't here by that time during Sedong. I'm sure this was a nightmare and the flood in 2011 too. But my point speaking about weather was if to compare with many other Pilipino islands and cities. Manila for example-yes. Poor ppl there had 3 or 4 floods since spring I think. Even Bacolod is much worse- usually too cloudy there and rainy too. As far as I know Dumaguete was listed as one of the safiest cities in this case because of it's geografical location. Noise drives me crazy. By now the most quiet place I've ever been to here on Negros is Tambobo Bay. Absolutely no noise there. But has several disadvantages too, I think.
