Backpacking Dumaguete & Siquijor + Cebu City for Sinulog 2023

When In Siquijor Nix Jasmin February 02, 2023

Dumaguete City, also known as the City of Gentle People, is more than just a travel hub to the surrounding tourist attractions and scuba-dive destinations. It is a vibrant city which makes its way into the heart of each visitor. While Siquijor being one of the best islands to visit in the Philippines. With its white sandy beaches, laid-back vibe, friendly locals, Gatorade blue waterfalls -- you name it.  These two locations would really surprise you as they are packed with epic things to do and stunning tourist spots to visit.

If you are looking for a quick getaway or a long weekend excursion with your family and friends, Dumaguete and Siquijor are the perfect places to visit. With just about an hour away from each other via ferry ride, you can hit two destinations in one go - like what we did. 😊

Booked our entry and exit flights via Sibulan Airport in Dumaguete City. From the airport there are vehicles waiting to take you to your destination. For a cheaper option, you may walk outside the airport and flag down a tricycle where you can pay the regular rate. In our case, it was raining when we arrived, so we decided to take the tricycle from the airport to bring us to Dumaguete Port. However, the next trip is still for 2pm so we decided to head over to Jo's Inato to grab something to eat. 



A famous restaurant in Dumaguete that is known for their grilled charcoal chicken legs. We tried it as recommended on the reviews I've read. Pretty good and affordable too as it already comes with rice :)


Every day, Monte Negro Lines offer voyages from Dumaguete to Siquijor and vice versa. The ports for this route are Siquijor Pier in Siquijor Island and Dumaguete City Port. We paid Php250 for the ticket and Php15 for the terminal fee per head.



Schedule from here. Feel free to double check as there might be changes with the schedule.


It was a smooth 1 hour ferry ride to Siquijor, there was a store inside the ferry where you can buy some food and cold drinks (soda and alcohol :p). Upon reaching Siquijor Port, we took a tricycle going to our accommodation, Tori's Backpacker. Rested a bit, washed up and went out to rent a motorbike which by the way is the common mode of transportation in Siquijor, there are tricycles in Siquijor but we prefer to rent a motorbike. We're able to rent one for Php350/24 hour gas not yet included. Read more about my trip to Siquijor here.



Decided to do a side trip to Cebu City just in time for Sinulog! From its two-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cebuano's are back on celebrating Sinulog and I'm glad to be there as it was also my first time to visit Cebu.


Cebu was just a 6 hour bus ride from Dumaguete, Php500/head for one way, that already includes the bus and ferry fare. We took the night bus and arrived early morning in Cebu and since the parade starts after lunch, we decided to attend mass and stroll a bit before heading to SM Seaside where the parade will take place. 


We literally just spent 18 hours in Cebu and head back to Dumaguete! It was quick, tiring but definitely a lot of fun! I would love to go back and stay longer and explore more of Cebu. We took advantage of the 6 hour bus ride back to Dumaguete to sleep as we will head straight to Apo Island to snorkel. More about our Apo Island experience on a separate blog.

Ticking off Dumaguete & Siquijor on my #82ProjectPH list, but would definitely be back to Cebu to explore more of what this province can offer. I can say that I liked Siquijor the most, it maybe be a small island but it has a lot to offer and it was peaceful and not too crowded which I like. 

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