Multi-layered Cambugahay Falls
Last Feb 19-25, 2009, 3 friends and I toured Dapitan, Dipolog, Siquijor and Dumaguete. When we reviewed our total expenses, the total, including the air fare from/to Manila just costs under P10K. To find out how we did these, read on.
Preparation:
After our trip in CDO last October, we immediately planned our next destination. Japanesecake saw Dumaguete in LivingAsia channel and thought that it might be a good place to tour. Since Dipolog is just under Dumaguete, and since Dakak is in Dipolog (we saw the DAKAK commercial played nth times in Eat Bulaga, so that paved way for curiosity about the place), we decided that we can tour Dumaguete and Dipolog using an ARUNK flight. (ARUNK is a travel-industry term short for arrival unknown. Our flight is MNL-DPL and DGT-MNL, but going to DIPOLOG-DUMAGUETE is “unknown”, that’s where the term ARUNK comes in).
When Cebu Pacific 0 fare promo is offered to the public, we immediately decided our travel dates and booked a MNL-DPL and DGT-MNL flight. Our first step of preparation is complete.
Though we only booked hotels during trips, one week before departure, we opted to book for Dakak’s barkada package which is good for 4pax. The cost is only P2800, fair enough I guess. A few days before our tour, we finalized our itinerary. Our initial itinerary was:
Day 1: Dakak
Day 2: Tour Dapitan
Day 3: Tour Dipolog
Day 4: Tour Apo island, Dumaguete
Day 5: Tour Siquijor
Day 6: Tour Dumaguete
Day 7: Tour Dumaguete and head back to MNL
Due to some unexpected little mishaps, we changed our itinerary during the tour. It’s good that our itinerary is flexible enough to be changed abruptly and that we didn’t make any hotel reservations prior to our trip (except for Dakak). Here is our final list of itinerary.
Day 1: Tour Dakak, Dapitan (Dakak andDapitan Itinerary)
Day 2: Tour Dapitan and Dipolog (Dipolog Itinerary)
Day 3: Tour Liboton Cave, Dipolog (Dipolog Itinerary)
Day 4: Tour Siquijor island
Day 5: Tour Dumaguete
Day 6: Tour Apo island, Dumaguete
Day 7: Tour Dumaguete, head back to Manila
Here is the list of expenses per day of our travel. Breakdown of expenses will be shown per day in other posts.
| Description | Total as a Group | Breakdown per person |
| Airfare (MNL-DPL) | 2912 | 728 |
| Airfare (DGT-MNL) | 2912 | 728 |
| Underwater camera /groceries | 1085 | 271.25 |
| Dakak barkada package | 2800 | 700 |
| Day 1 expenses | 1690 | 422.50 |
| Day 2 expenses | 3104 | 776 |
| Day 3 expenses | 5508.50 | 1377.125 |
| Day 4 expenses | 4585.50 | 1146.375 |
| Day 5 expenses | 4585.50 | 1146.375 |
| Day 6 expenses | 3429 | 857.25 |
| Day 7 expenses | 2662.20 | 665.55 |
| Total | PHP 35273.70 | PHP 8818.425 |
Being able to experience a 7-day trip across 4 destinations for just under P9000 is a feat. Not only did we enjoy the tourist spots of the provinces, but we were able to prove a lot of things. One of them is Siquijor as a paradise, and not as the “aswang-infested” island we were used to hear.
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- Multi-layered Cambugahay Falls
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- Rock formations of Apo island
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- Stalactites at Liboton Cave
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- Lazi Church
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- Top view of Dakak beach resort
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- Rizal house replica
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- Lazi convent
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- Dipolog sunset
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- hundred-year old balete tree
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- St. james church
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- yummy fried ice cream!
“…we decided that we can tour Dumaguete and Dipolog using an ARUNK flight. (ARUNK is a travel-industry term short for arrival unknown. Our flight is MNL-DPL and DGT-MNL, but going to DIPOLOG-DUMAGUETE is “unknown”, that’s where the term ARUNK comes in).”
You mean, OPEN JAW? I think ARUNK isn’t the appropriate term for this type of flight
hahaha.
actually, OPEN JAW is also appropriate, medyo nakalimutan ko lang din yung term nung pinost ko to.hehe But considering the logic, how would you get to Dumaguete from Dipolog, so it can also be called ARUNK.. hehehe
naks.. travel industry jargons… hahaha
@catnap03
ang lupet namang viewer netong si batangisip. Parang nde ka batangisip magisip ah. haha
hahaha. oo nga ang lupet! hehehe
@batangisp,
thanks!
suggest ka naman ng gusto mong makita dito sa site
Hi,
possible ba ang 4 days ang Dapitan-Dipolog-Siquijor-Dumaguete? and paano po kayo nakapunta from dipolog to dumaguete?
hello po. mahirap po yung 4 days na Dapitan-Dipolog-Siquijor kc mauubos yung time mo kaka-travel from one point to another. 7 days po yung inallot namin for that, natour namin yung mga known n tourist spots sa area.
For Dipolog-Dumaguete, from dipolog, punta ka muna sa Dapitan port, andun kc yung mga ferries. yung nasakyan namin 5am yung boat, pero may bandang 4pm n ferry din dun.
may suggestion po ba ikaw kung ano ang worth it puntahan at hindi worth it puntahan para makasave kami ng time…di kasi naman kaya 7 days =( itataon lang namin sa long weekend
@juliane021681
hello po..san po ba kayo manggagaling? kasi kung 4 days lang.. i sugguest mag dumaguete-siquijor na lang po kayo.. mas maraming makikita sa dumaguete at siquijor compared to dapitan and dipolog
Hi, thanks for sharing this. 7 days, 4 destinations under 10k is really amazing. I hope I can do one next summer. Have friends in Dapitan and Dumaguete so hopefully di ko kelangan magstay sa hotel or resort.
@Isis
Ayus..much better talaga pag may kakilala ka sa pupuntahan mo e no? Sana makapunta ka na dun
O nga e…sana magtugma mga sked namin. Thanks for dropping by on my blog.
@batangisip
PLS. ADD ME ladymoondane_23@yahoo.com
im from new horizon travel ilgan city
Hi there,
We are planning to tour Dumaguete and Siquijor this coming June 18-21. However, I am having a hard time deciding which to go first and how many days to spend for each day. Are there more places to explore in Dumaguete? I was planning just a day tour in Siquijor then go back to Dumaguete in the afternoon. Will that be enough?
Thanks,
Cathy
Hi there,
We are planning to tour Dumaguete and Siquijor this coming June 18-21. However, I am having a hard time deciding which to go first and how many days to spend for each day. Are there more places to explore in Dumaguete? I was planning just a day tour in Siquijor then go back to Dumaguete in the afternoon. Will that be enough?
Thanks,
Cathy
hi cathy,
i fyou’d like to just experience the beach in Siquijor, a day tour would be enough. But there are lots of tourist spots that you can explore there. I recommend that you stay 1 night there.
apo island is in the southern part of dumaguete, this is a first class diving site visited by foreign tourists. i strongly recommend for you to go there. getting there is a bit expensive though. you can also try dolphin watching in Bais.
maybe you can go to siquijor on june 19.
Hi!me and family will be in Dipolog next month – a 4 days trip. pede ka bang magsuggest na maganda puntahan. or I’ll just follow yung 1st 4 days ng intinerary mo? Parang mahal kase kung magstay kami sa Dakak ng 4 days. thanks
Yep. mahal kung mag sstay lang kayo sa Dakak ng 4 days. And although malaki ang Dakak, baka magsawa rin kayo na puro beach and yung mga amenities lang nila yung makikita nyo.
Siguro kung mahilig kayo sa beach, 2 days in Dakak is ok na. May viewing deck din sila dun, kailngan mong umakat ng roughly 300 steps. But the view is worth it..check it out.
Dapitan and Dipolog are laid-back provinces. Some things to do are –
(Dapitan):
- visit Sunset Boulevard in Dapitan City
- visit Gloria de Dapitan at night
- visit Rizal Park (lots of historicl stuff here)
- visit and marvel at the interior of St. James Church
- visit the Relief map of Mindanao made by Dr. Rizal (this is quite small)
- visit Dapitan bay
- visit Ilihan hill
ey hi..
paano yon biyahe from dipolog to siquijor?
anong ferry.how much?
thanks =)
wow!!! i salute you! ang galing! my & my friends are going to Dumaguete next week. i’m still working on the itinerary..good thing i read your blog.. napaisip ako dun sa Siquijor- Dapitan ninyo ah.. you gave me an idea. thanks for doing this.. keep it up!
Hello! Please help me to work on my itinerary going to dumaguete. I booked a flight mnl-dgt then dgt-mnl, 4 days kmi. We were planing to go to antulang lng sana since wla kmi mashado alam sa dumaguete. Then when i saw ur post pwede din pala punta ng dakak. Could u help me or suggest ka ng pwede nmin mging itinerary. Thank you.:)
hi mau,
unfortunately yung dakak ay nasa dipolog, kulang na yung 4daay-trip nyo. if you want to go there, book kayo next time to dipolog naman. kailangan pa kasing magferry dumaguete-dipolog if ever. I suggest punta kayo sa apo island (pag hindi maulan na araw ah). kasi maalon at maliit ung mga boats papuntang apo island, at luma pa yung mga life vests nila. snorkel and world-class dive po siya, kaya yung bawat kilos nyo yata dun kailngan bayaran.hehe.. i mean boat, entrance, life vest lahat may bayad. pero worth it naman cya kung hindi maalon..may turtles ding nakikita dito.
-OR-
pwede rin kayong mag siquijor. 1hour ferry ride lang cya from dumaguete. maganda po yung beach nila at hindi naman nakakatakot sa siquijor.
enjoy!! hope my answer helped in some way.
hello! nice read of your travels… i was particularly interested with your posts of Dipolog and Dumaguete (+Siquijor and Dapitan) as i have a booked flight to Mla-Dumaguete/Dipolog-Manila this coming holy week. Could you recommend hotels in Dapitan and Dumaguete please? i cannot find any feedback of the grand pensionne hotel you stayed in at dumaguete.. so i;m wondering if the place is ok or what… also i haven’t researched/inquired much yet on how to do dakak so one option is to stay in dapitan. can you recommend a good accommodation in dapitan? thank you so much for your help. i would appreciate it much also if you can suggest a 5-day itinerary for dumaguete-dipolog adventure where i can maximize my tour. am not much of a beach lover so im ok with the trekking and really discovering the place… thanks so much
we weren’t able to book any hotels. we just looked at a clean, centrally-located and affordable hotel when we got there. dapitan and dipolog is about an hour’s and a jeep-ride away from each other, so it’s convenient. Yung dapitan, malilibot nyo ung historical places dun kahit 1-day lang.
If you’re adventurous, I would suggest na i-try nyo yung caving sa dipolog. maraming caves dun na pwedeng i explore.. pero punta kaso sa city hall nila para mgtanong on how to book the cave tours. sinuwerte lang kasi kami kaya kami nakapag caving.
kung 5-day trip, mas magfocus kayo sa dumaguete, there are more things to do there. Kahit hindi ka beach person, I would suggest na puntahan nyo yung Apo island, world-class diving site kasi yun.. yun nga lang mejo pricey..ultimo entrace at souvenirs, parang tinataga ka.hehehe. allot one day for that. message ka na lng ulit if you need further details. enjoy!
maraming salamat catnapo3 : )