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Road trip: Bacolod (Negros Occidental) to Dumaguete (Negros Oriental)

coastal view along Sibulan national road, on the way to Dumaguete City, Negros OrientalWe recently had a road trip to the “City of Gentle People”, Dumaguete, in the south-eastern part of the Negros Island. It’s my first time ever to visit this capital city of Negros Oriental and so I really didn’t know what to expect. I was thinking that Dumaguete is just like Bacolod or Iloilo or some of the capital cities in the Visayan region.

We had to attend a community event in the afternoon so we left Bacolod City at about 5:00AM. We’re thankful that we started out early as we didn’t encounter any traffic delays despite some of the roads being repaired along Bago City. Over all, the road trip was great, especially with well-paved roads going to Dumaguete, even as we passed by the winding and mountainous roads along the municipality of Mabinay. We were also treated to refreshing sights along the way as we passed by tree-lined roads, beautiful mountain scenery along Mabinay and the coastal views of Sibulan.

coastal view along Sibulan national road, on the way to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
Coastal view along Sibulan national highway, few more kilometers to go before we reach Dumaguete City

coastal view along Sibulan national road, on the way to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
Look at the coconut trees by the roadside, they serve as good advertisement spots for the upcoming national and local elections

coastal view along Sibulan national road, on the way to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
That’s the island of Cebu…looking so close, yet so far.


Bacolod to Dumaguete via Mabinay route

We followed the Mabinay route, as this is the shortest route from Bacolod to Dumaguete crossing through the mountains from the north-western part to the south-eastern part of the Negros Island:

Bacolod City (capital of Negros Occidental)
Bago City
Valladolid
San Enrique
Pontevedra
Hinigaran
Binalbagan
Himamaylan City
Kabankalan City
—–
Mabinay
Bais City
Tanjay City
Amlan
San Jose
Sibulan
Dumaguete City (capital of Negros Oriental)

The cities and municipalities from Bacolod to Kabankalan belong to the province of Negros Occidental, while those from Mabinay until Dumaguete are part of Negros Oriental.

intersection at Sibulan national road, on the way to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Travel time is about 2 hours from Bacolod to Kabankalan, and 3 hours from Kabankalan to Dumaguete, a total travel time of approximately 5 hours if you’re driving your own vehicle or taking the Ceres Bus liner. Some of the event participants took the air-conditioned Ceres bus from Bacolod to Dumaguete which left the terminal at about 5:20AM and arrived in Dumaguete at 10:30AM. Not bad for a bus trip which would usually stop along the way to pick up passengers.

Tip: You can have a stopover in Kabankalan City at the Petron Gasoline Station to gas up and check your vehicle before proceeding with the long trip. They have a convenience store and there’s a Jollibee branch across the street as well.

Best Hotel Deals for DUMAGUETE and BACOLOD

Visiting Dumaguete, the City of Gentle People, and Bacolod, the City of Smiles? Pay less for your hotel room and spend your savings on native accessories, local delicacies and sweets, chicken inasal, pasalubongs and other travel expenses.

Grab the best hotel deals in Dumaguete and Bacolod using the easy-to-use search tool below.

Just input your check-in and check-out dates, the number of guests and rooms you need and click Search, and you will be instantly taken to a page of listed Dumaguete hotels (e.g. Dumaguete Springs Resort, Honeycomb Tourist Inn, Santa Monica Beach Resort, Atmosphere Resort, etc.) and Bacolod hotels (Luxur Place, L Fisher Hotel, Palmas Del Mar Resort, Mo2 Westown Hotel, etc.). You can also sort results by name, popularity, stars, price and distance from the city center. Have fun!

Up next: Dumaguete famous landmarks and tourist attractions

18 Comments

  1. mak

    what about calatrava and bayawan?

    Reply
    • glexx

      hola…hmmm from dumaguete going bacolod my mga sign or arrow board nka lagay ..san ba maganda dumaan pa puntang bacolod? dumgiete via guihulngan or dumaguete via kabangkalan?tnx ..

      Reply
  2. happysteps

    Hi Mak, Calatrava is in the northern part of Negros Occidental… and we were not able to pass by Bayawan which is in the southernmost part of Negros Oriental. The route we took was the shortest from Bacolod to Dumaguete.

    Reply
  3. Pinoy Forum

    I am going to dumaguete and your pics look great!

    Reply
  4. JustHangOn

    this one’s an eye-opener for me! i never bothered myself to even take a look at a philippine map and see where bacolod and dumaguete are located. i’m planning to go the other way, from dumaguete to bacolod. i thought i can go to bacolod and navigate it in a day! haaays. i’m from manila, but i’m going to dumaguete for a business trip. i thought i can catch the famous masskara festival on the 17th! any suggestions, happy steps? like cheap decent inns/pension houses in bacolod where i can stay overnight? thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • ryan

      Hi im from bacolod.. here are some cheap pension but nice.. royal amrei 850 two single beds this is my choice good location and nice room.. 2nd check inn 650 but not as nice as royal amrei.. you bettter have it reserve asap hehe p.s just an advise dont stay at pleasant pension the service sucks the room quite freaky no soap and a single towel for each room.. (and last thing there is a child that you might see a ghost one.)peace

      Reply
    • happysteps

      Ryan, thanks for the tip! 🙂

      Reply
  5. happysteps

    Hello JustHangOn, you can try Westown Hotel, it’s a new one and not so pricey. I stayed there for two nights with a friend from Manila and OK naman ang accommodation, just the basics with ref at about P1100 yata. Enjoy your stay in Bacolod and feel free to share your Masskara experience here. sorry this is kinda late reply, am out of town kasi and just opened my blog.

    Reply
  6. Renato Sio

    Any nice place to stay overnight in Kabangkalan??

    Reply
    • happysteps

      Hello Renato, you can stay in Zaycoland Resort and Hotel in Kabankalan. I really am not familiar with the city though, but my guess is you can easily find other places to stay there, just inquire from the locals. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Renato Sio

    Or Bais overnight preferably beach front??

    Reply
    • happysteps

      Try La Planta hotel (www.laplanta.com.ph) in Bais.

      Reply
  8. delna

    hi, may i inquire of fares from bacolod to dumaguete? ty

    Reply
  9. toto

    ilang oras po ba ang byahi mabinay to dumaguete?

    Reply
    • happysteps

      Hi, about 2-2.5 hours travel.

      Reply
  10. Mitch

    Is it safe to travel at night from Bacolod to Dumaguete by car?

    Reply
  11. May

    Ilang oras ang byahe mabinay to dumagute?

    Reply
  12. Mori

    how much is the fare bacolod to dumaguete via bus?

    Reply

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  1. Dumaguete famous landmarks and tourist attractions | Happy Steps travel blog - [...] Road trip: Bacolod (Negros Occidental) to Dumaguete (Negros Oriental) [...]
  2. Backpacking Itinerary Bacolod-Dumaguete-Oslob-Moalboal-Cebu, May 2013 - [...] Day 2 Optional Tours (via Bacolod City Govt) Depart for Dumaguete via Mabinay (via Bacolod City Govt. and Happy…

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