Dauin is excellent for muck diving and macro photography. It is less than an hour drive from Dumaguete airport which has direct flights from Manila and Cebu. Apo island is about forty minutes boat ride from Dauin and has nice walls with healthy coral and rich marine life including schools of jacks, barracuda and other fish as well as good macro. There is also plenty to explore on land around Dauin – waterfalls, hot springs and picturesque mountain views.
What to see
Logistics
Dauin is a small town located on southern coast of Negros island near the city of Dumaguete. There are multiple daily flights from Manila and Cebu to Dumaguete. One can take a bus, a jeepney, a tricycle or a taxi from the airport to Dauin. Without traffic the trip takes less than 30 minutes by taxi but with regular traffic it is good to give it an hour. Dumaguete is well connected with neighboring islands by ferry. If combining the trip to Dauin with a trip to Moalboal it is possible to take a ferry from Liloan on Cebu island to Sibulan port near Dumaguete. There is also a ferry going to Siquijor, Tagbilaran (Bohol) and Cebu.
There are several dive resorts scattered along the beach from Dumaguete to Zamboanguita with higher concentration around Dauin. We stayed and dove with Thalatta resort in Zamboanguita and Bongo Bongo Divers in Dauin – both had excellent diving operations. Thalatta is more of an upmarket option with a big pool and a superb restaurant. Bong Bongo is a lower cost option located in Dauin right next to the beach – though not on the beach. It has more of a backpacker vibe.
Dauin is becoming more popular with tourists. In 2017 there were more operators with more and bigger boats running trips to Apo island and diving along Dauin compared to our first trip in 2014. One could say that Apo island is getting crowded under water during high season. Dauin itself it seems aspires to become a party destination. When we were there the town was organizing a concert on the beach with a huge stage and deafening sound system – which they started testing from 5am on the day of the concert. For now though it is still a small village with a few resorts and fantastic diving.
When not diving there are waterfalls and hot springs around Dauin to explore. The easiest way to get around is to hire a motorbike. There are two waterfalls in the area Casaroro and Pulangbato (Red rocks) falls. Casaroro falls require a bit of a hike along the river bed with sizable boulders. The waterfall is very tall and you cannot really swim at the bottom of it. Since it takes a bit of an effort to get to it there are few people around and we had it pretty much to ourselves.
Pulangbato falls are more easily accessible – parking lot is right next to the falls. The waterfall has a large pool and has been more developed for tourism with a bunch of cabanas that one can rent for a picnic. We made a strategic mistake of going to the falls on the weekend which also happened to be a public holiday The waterfalls were packed with people – mostly locals escaping the heat of Dumaguete and cooling in the waterfall pool.
Hotsprings are along the same road as Pulangbato falls and given the weekend situation hotsprings were also packed with people so we did not manage to enjoy a soak in the hotsprings. The drive to Pulangbato falls is along a nicely paved road winding through the hills and offering nice views. All in all there is a nice combination of diving and topside activities around Dauin. Falls and hotsprings thought are probably better during the week and definitely not during public holidays!