Dauin (original) (raw)

Dauin is a small (about 25,000) seaside municipality south of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental. It is bordered on the east by the seashore, one the north by Bacong, on the south by Zamboanguita, and on the west by Santa Catalina.

Many visitors come for the fine scuba diving and snorkelling; the town is a diving resort in its own right and a jumping-off spot for boat trips to nearby Apo Island.

In addition to diving-related tourism, the town is also seeing quite a bit of residential real estate development, much of it upmarket. It is about 20 km from the regional center Dumaguete, close enough for commuting, and also gets quite a few retirees. It is said that Independencia St up the hill can offer rentals, but I did not check it myself.

There is a coastal highway connecting to Dumaguete to the north, and Zamboanguita and Siaton to the south, with bus and jeepney services to any of those. The bus that goes to Dauin is going to Saiton or Bayawan, there are also multicabs Duma-Dauin and jeepneys Duma-Zambo. Jeepneys and the bus are going from almost the same point in Duma. Minimal fare for jeepney is 15, from Duma to Dauin it's as of 23 Nov is 25 peso. Bus is 35-45 depending on a/c or not. The bus with a/c got wider seats.

Pro tip: to go off the jeepney or multicab use coin to make a sound.

Closer to 19-20 pm fishermans are hunting fish on the beach near Dauin Point

Dauin Cockpit Arena or near XYZ trading around 6 p.m.

People drinking and singing

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On the beach every weekend

The snorkeling off the beach is just a sandy sea-bed, few fish. Need a boat to reach good snorkeling here. However, some artificial reef just off the GRACEY Resort's beach, might be the best snorkel-zone if on foot. The main snorkel area is at the end of J. Basa St and is called Marina Sanctuary. Sometimes it's even possible to see occasional turtle. You might be charged for a fee of 50 pesos by Municipality for snorkeling in the sanctuary.

Or you can get hamac with you and go to the Dauin Point to just chill.

There's a gym in Pura Vida. You can play sport with locals.

Okay, byers guide will be to complex, you just need to walk around the area. Overall mostly things are being resold in Dauin. Here are some tips:

  1. Mostly people are selling the same stuff, except for D'Mart, Shalom and Pacific.
  2. You will NOT find western salty bread hier, trust me, just don't bother. Make it yourself, buy wrappers or travel to WhyNot in Duma's downtown
  3. Local products are limited to meat, fish and some vegetables. Stable-priced vegetables are: squash, eggplant, cabbage, string beans, cucumber (buy the white or yellow ones).
  4. During the weekend-trade on Capitan Ponso St might be smth local from farmers.
  5. Don't buy mangoes here, it's too expensive. Overall for fruits I suggest to check Buntis (Bacong area). Stable fruit here is only one - banana, in season lychee and rambutan.
  6. There's a Malatapay Livestock market in the area, never been there, but worth attention
  7. There's a flour being sold in DONGZ (in front of Dauin Market)
  8. There's red rice being sold in Pacific, a few places with spaghetti.
  9. There's no way to buy spices more complex than pepper and salt.
  10. You can buy milk and magnum ice cream. I suggest to be picky about yogurt though and check Shalom first.
  11. Top tier cookies are sold near Habal point ask for Silang or Half-moon. They are baked in Juvy's bakery nearby on the highway. It's still margarine but it's cookies.

Overall you can make without living this town:

With locals on the beach from the both sides of J. Basa during weekends.

Most of the accommodation in and around the town is dive resorts. These can be booked directly or through dive shops or travel agents in Dumaguete.

Mostly tourists are going to Siquijor after Apo