I had never heard of the city of Dumaguete before coming to the Philippines, and barely knew how to pronounce the name when I first came across it. I usually tend to avoid cities when I’m in Southeast Asia – why breathe in motorbike exhaust when the island life was calling? But then I found out a friend I had met through Couchsurfing was living there, and by chance I happened to be at that end of the archipelago.
I found transportation to be a huge challenge in the Philippines (it was due to poor transportation that I ended up leaving behind all of my luggage). As fortune would have it, I was in Oslob on Cebu island which is just a short bus ride and 30 minute boat transfer to Dumaguete. So with a hostel friend in tow, armed with the blissful lack of knowledge and plans, we were on our way.
Dumaguete proved all of my expectations wrong. It was a small city that mixed laid-back island vibes with a cool, underground culture typical of a youthful university town. It was the gateway to many famous islands, but also held its own with beautiful natural sites spitting distance from the city.
We rented a scooter for a day and hunted down some local waterfalls. The great thing about Dumaguete was that it was off the tourist map, so we had most of these places to ourselves.
Casaroro Falls was probably my favorite. You had to hike over rocks and wade through streams to get there, but the end is definitely worth it. My friend and I were the only two people there, because most locals don’t bother with difficult hikes. I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls throughout my travels, but I was definitely impressed by this one. Due to the falls’ height, the water hit the pool fast and hard and created waves that I had never experienced before while swimming in a waterfall. So thrilling and refreshing!
We also biked to Pulangbato Falls, known for its mineral red rocks. There’s another waterfall to the right, which you can take a narrow trail up to a smaller waterfall with a little wade pool. Afterwards we visited Red Rock Hot Springs and bathed in the pool of 36degrees sulfur water. Dumaguete is full of hot pockets, which you’ll notice on the drive over from the steam vents on the side of the motorway. It started raining but that made the experience all the better – nothing like soaking in hot mineral water under a tropical drizzle. Make sure to grab some sticky BBQ chicken wings while there.
