- Dumaguete Vs. Tagbilaran -- A Comparison of Two Popular Cities in the Visayas

 (The following comparison is my opinion only after having lived in both Dumaguete and Tagbilaran before and during the pandemic. I published a shorter comparison of the two cities on November 19, 2019 when we first moved to Bohol. This one is more complete.)

Standing in the middle of "The Boulevard"
in Dumaguete at sunrise

Dumaguete and Tagbilaran, are two smaller but significant cities in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. They are on distinct islands, Dumaguete on the island of Negros and Tagbilaran on the island of Bohol, separated only by the island of Cebu. Both are thriving cities, and are well known for being tourist hot spots and retirement destinations for expats from around the world.

They are similar in size, Dumaguete with about 134,000 residents and Tagbilaran with about 105,000. Each is the provincial capital, Dumaguete of the province of Negros Oriental and Tagbilaran of the province of Bohol; and each is the largest city in the province (Tagbilaran being the only municipality in the providence classified as a city). For both cities and both provinces, the native language is Bisaya or Cebuano.

Beaches

Both are coastal cities with beaches nearby, however, the beaches near Dumaguete are not beautiful pristine beaches like some of the beautiful beaches near Tagbilaran. The beaches in Bohol are mostly on the island of Panglao in the towns of Dauis and Panglao and are easily drivable from Tagbilaran over two (soon to be three) different bridges connecting the islands of Bohol and Panglao. At least nine different beaches surround the island of Panglao, the most famous of which is Alona Beach, one of the most highly regarded beaches in the Philippines. There are also lovely beaches in the town of Anda a couple of hours drive away from Tagbilaran.

Panglao Island off the tip of Bohol Island

Alona Beach

What Dumaguete has is really nice spring-fed swimming pools, some hot pools and some cool pools, most of them near the town of Valencia on the edge of the mountains. We really enjoyed swimming in six or eight different pool resorts often for 100 pesos ($2) or less.

This particular swimming resort has six
hot or cold pools and cost only 50 pesos

Dumaguete is also close to the tiny beautiful Apo Island famous for snorkeling and scuba diving. It is also near Siquijor Island which is a little larger and has the reputation (I think, undeserved) of a voodoo island. Siquijor is also a beautiful island with great white sand beaches. Both these islands are only accessible by boat.

Tourism

Tagbilaran and Dumaguete are both well known tourist destinations inviting people from all over the world. Dumaguete is known as a college town with over a dozen colleges and four universities, the most famous of which is Silliman University, the first American-started university and Protestant university in the Philippines. It is still considered one of the top universities in the Philippines. Dumaguete is also well known for “The Boulevard” (Roxas Blvd) by the sea, in the early morning a great place to walk and exercise, and in the evening a famous nightspot. Most nights find Roxas Boulevard full of people eating in nice restaurants or on the boardwalk, drinking in the pubs, talking, walking, and relaxing. Dumaguete is known for a good variety of restaurants. One of the better known is Sans Rival Restaurant and Bakery, home of the sans rival layered cake and butter or chocolate flavored silvanas, some of the best pastries I have enjoyed in the Philippines.

An excercise group on the boardwalk of The Boulevard
at 5:45am

Tagbilaran, actually all of Bohol, is known for many tourist attractions. Two of the most famous are the Chocolate Hills of Central Bohol and the tarsiers, one of the smallest primates in the world. On Panglao are dozens and dozens of vacation resorts, beautiful beaches, Bohol Bee Farm and the original Buzzz of Bohol Bee Farm Restaurant (there are a number of Buzzz restaurants throughout the Visayas.) And there are many dive sites for snorkeling, scuba, and free diving. Lyn and her sister Wendie took lessons with Blue Freedom Apnea – Free Diving Club. Bohol is also the home of Danao Adventure Park with glass cliff walking, rappelling, sky rides, Sui-slide, The Plunge, kayaking, cliff diving, and spelunking (caving). The are many caves and beautiful waterfalls in Bohol.

Chocolate Hills

Tarsier

This Buzzz restaurant is actually in Cebu
but there are 5 or 6 in Bohol
including the flagship restaurant in Panglao

We very much enjoyed visiting exciting
Danao Adventure Park

Many love the Loboc River Cruise where one can cruise a scenic river while enjoying a native Filipino buffet watching live music onboard, and on the river bank, indigenous music and dancing.

One of my favorite tourist attractions in Bohol is in the smallest town in Bohol: Sikatuna. It is called the Mirror of the World where you can see representations of the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Singapore Merlion, the Statue of Liberty, Christ the Redeemer statue, the Golden Gate Bridge, and many other worldwide historical sites.

Another of my favorite places in Bohol is Sagbayan Peak in central Bohol. If one were to take the normal tourist route to view the Chocolate Hills in Carmen, it would take about half a day and involve climbing over 200 steps to the top of a hill to see a panoramic view of the Hills and another half day at a tarsier sanctuary to see the tiny primates with the huge eyes. But at Sagbayan Peak one can see both the Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers along with a butterfly dome and a beautiful swimming pool and enjoy a nice Filipino lunch without the crowds associated with the normal tourist attractions.

While both cities and provinces are attractive for tourists, I would give the edge for tourism to Tagbilaran, Panglao Island, and Bohol.

Expat living

Both Negros Oriental and Bohol are great places for expats to live. From the coastal city of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental heading up into the mountains about twenty minutes is the municipality of Valencia where many of the expats live. It is not really a high mountain, but it is a little cooler there, and many expats from around the world love it there away from the hustle and bustle of the city. In Bohol the Island of Panglao is where many expats choose to live. It is a short drive by car or bus from Tagbilaran; no need to hire a boat. There expats can be close to the dagat (beach) and also close to the city.

Festival in downtown Valencia
in the mountains of Negros Oriental

Tourism Vs. Retirement

To sum up the difference between the two cities in this area, Tagbilaran would have the edge in tourist points of interest, and the Dumaguete area would be considered more suitable for retirement living. As a matter of fact several years ago Dumaguete was named by Forbes magazine as one of the seven best places in the world to retire.

Traffic

The traffic during the day in Dumaguete is horrific given the lack of traffic lights and stop signs even though a few intersections will have traffic officers for some of the busiest times of the day. It often takes much longer than expected to travel through town. There is usually no problem with traffic in Valencia.

The traffic in Tagbilaran is usually much better. The most crowded intersections have traffic lights, and many of the streets are wider. It makes a big difference! Also throughout Bohol the highways are generally in good shape and more fun to drive on.

Cost of living – Food

The cost of food is significantly less expensive in Dumaguete than in Tagbilaran. In the grocery stores, it seemed that prices in Dumaguete were approximately 70% of what they were in Tagbilaran, and in the market the cost of fruits and vegetables and meats were about 60% of what they were in Tagbilaran. Actually the best prices for produce we found in Dumaguete were in the “morning market” that ran from about 4:30am to 6:00am every day near the main market in downtown Dumaguete.

A small section of the
morning market
downtown Dumaguete

Cost of living – Housing

Although I did not specifically compare housing costs when we lived there, it seemed to me that the cost of renting and of buying property were comparable in Tagbilaran and Dumaguete. And as is normal, the costs of renting and buying are significantly less outside the cities.

Malls

Dumaguete has two primary malls. Robinsons Place is the largest and most popular mall. It is a decent mall, but sometimes there are no parking spaces available, and often some or most of the escalators do not work. CityMall is a much smaller mall, but there is always plenty of parking on the roof of the mall, and it is a great place to hang out and chat with friends.

Tagbilaran has four main malls. The oldest mall with an aura of grandeur from the past is BQ (Bohol Quality) Mall downtown. It is a proud mall, but it has seen better days. The largest and most popular mall in Tagbilaran and the only mall that is not downtown is Island City Mall. It is a nice mall with pretty much every thing you need right there. It is also right next to the Dao Market, the biggest market in town. The other two malls are newer malls and they are both downtown. Alturas is five stories tall, and the newest mall, Alta Citta, is quite small.

ICM in Tagbilaran

Utilities

Both cities have a few power outages a month, but the difference is the length of the outages. In Dumaguete a short outage would be 1 – 3 hours and a long outage would be 8 – 12 hours. In Tagbilaran a short one would be 10 – 15 minutes and a long one would be 2 – 3 hours.

Dumaguete would also occasionally have water outages, but I do not think we experienced any water outages in Tagbilaran.

Health care

While both cities have several hospitals and quite a few doctors including a number of specialists, the level of health care is not the same. After Manila and Cebu, Dumaguete has some of the best health care in the nation, especially at Silliman University Medical Center. Medical treatment is cheaper in Dumaguete in my experience too. I have been to a number of doctors there, and they always charge between $4 and $12 USD per visit, even specialists. I have been treated by a number of doctors in Tagbilaran too, but have not found there the same quality of care. And they often charge more too. I have been charged up to $20 for one visit. However they are building a new provincial hospital in Cortes near Tagbilaran. Perhaps it will raise the quality of care and attract better doctors to Bohol.