Dumaguete

Another day another bus/boat journey! This time from Cebu down to Dumaguete on the south east tip of Negros Oriental. A long journey, almost 6 hours in total. The hotel we were staying at was really cute and quaint, lots of different seating areas and clashing prints and colours. It also had a lovely resident dog with soft fluffy fur who was named Bailey 😂 so funny when everyone was calling the dogs name and confusing Bailey. We got changed and headed to Rizal Blvd in central Dumaguete, it's a University town so lots of young people and live music - some of it really good and some of it really bad! The next day we had slightly sore heads and spent the day chilling by the pool, only downside was no loungers in the sun. Dumaguete was very cheap, rum and cokes £1 for a double and meals for £2-4 in restaurants.

We took the bus out to Zambougita, a half hour south of Dumaguete and close to the port for Apo Island. Feeling like we had been on the move forever we settled at Kav's resort for a couple of nights. Beachfront, nice pool with water slide, clean and good food with lovely staff 👌🏻 one of the nicer places we have stayed in the Philippines.

Apo Island is a half hour by boat from Dumaguete and famed for its snorkelling and abundance of turtles. We had to hang around at the port for a while to find some people to share a boat with. The island is very dramatic as you approach, lots of dark jagged cliffs and reminded me of something a Bond villain would be living on. There's some accommodation on the island but I scared myself with tripadvisor reviews and the only electricity being available 6-10pm (therefore no fan or air con). We headed out snorkelling with a guide and were met by turtles almost immediately. The marine life was amazing and our guide was really good pointing things out and taking photos of us underwater. We spent the rest of the time chilling in hammocks and enjoying the food available on the beach.Read more