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Weekly note

Best time to visit Dumaguete

Philippines · Southeast Asia

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Dumaguete

Tap a month for its page

  1. Dumaguete in January: ok
  2. Dumaguete in February: ok, busy
  3. Dumaguete in March: ok, busy
  4. Dumaguete in April: sweet spot
  5. Dumaguete in May: ok
  6. Dumaguete in June: avoid
  7. Dumaguete in July: avoid
  8. Dumaguete in August: avoid
  9. Dumaguete in September: avoid
  10. Dumaguete in October: avoid
  11. Dumaguete in November: avoid
  12. Dumaguete in December: avoid
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Good for
Go in Apr — 30C max, 6 rainy days. Mar is the next best.

Dry season: Apr, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.

Things to do in Dumaguete

  • Siquijor An island province with good beaches and many tales of witches and sorcerers, visible from the Dumaguete boulevard and accessible via frequent ferries.
  • Bais A city on the coast to the north, known for dolphin and whale watching
  • Apo Island A small island somewhat south of Dumaguete with excellent diving
  • Mt. Talinis The second-highest mountain in Negros Oriental at 1903 m, a dormant volcano, one of a group called the Cuernos de Negros (Horns of Negros).
  • Cathedral of Santa Catalina Roman Catholic cathedral in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, Philippines
  • Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park A large protected forest area centered on two volcanic crater lakes.

Tours and tickets in Dumaguete

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Dumaguete), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 28° 15d 86% 8.8h ok 28C max, 15 rainy days
Feb 28° 13d 85% 9.6h okbusy busier than usual
Mar 29° 10d 85% 10.8h okbusy busier than usual
Apr 30° 6d 83% 11.1h sweet spot 30C max, 6 rainy days
May 30° 14d 85% 10.7h ok 30C max, 14 rainy days
Jun 30° 18d 86% 10.3h avoid monsoon: 18 rainy days, 384mm
Jul 30° 20d 86% 9.4h avoid monsoon: 20 rainy days, 501mm
Aug 30° 18d 84% 9.9h avoid monsoon: 18 rainy days, 443mm
Sep 30° 18d 85% 9.7h avoid monsoon: 18 rainy days, 418mm
Oct 29° 20d 87% 8.9h avoid monsoon: 20 rainy days, 392mm
Nov 29° 19d 87% 9.2h avoid monsoon: 19 rainy days, 283mm
Dec 29° 18d 87% 8.9h avoid monsoon: 18 rainy days, 292mm

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at Rizal Boulevard: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in February and March; quietest in September and October.

Then and now

Dumaguete's August days now average 30.2°C, 1.1°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 6 of 12 months are clearly warmer, 2 clearly cooler.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–9027.6°28.1°29.2°30.2°30.4°29.5°28.9°29.1°29.0°28.8°28.6°28.0°
2017–2628.2°28.1°28.6°29.5°30.0°29.9°29.8°30.2°30.1°29.4°29.1°28.6°
Change+0.5°+0.0°-0.5°-0.7°-0.4°+0.4°+0.9°+1.1°+1.1°+0.6°+0.6°+0.6°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Dumaguete is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B and C plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Philippine peso. UK Foreign Office: avoid all travel to parts. Everything for Philippines: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — Cards work in malls, hotels and bigger restaurants; small shops, jeepneys and taxis mostly want cash. QR Ph codes (GCash, Maya) are common, and Alipay+ wallets usually work where GCash is taken.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — Restaurants usually add a service charge, so a tip is optional. In taxis, round up or add 20–50 pesos; Grab lets you tip in the app.

Getting around Dumaguete

  • Apps — Rides: Angkas, Grab, JoyRide, Move It. Maps: Google Maps. Messages: Messenger, Viber. Grab is the main app for cars and metered taxis; Angkas, JoyRide and Move It are mostly motorbike taxis.

Dumaguete has few taxis and almost none of the jeepneys you'll see in other cities in the Philippines. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Dumaguete, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (14)

Dumaguete in pictures

Dumaguete May 2020 3
i

Dumaguete City Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dumaguete City from air (Negros Oriental; 10 17 2023)
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Patrickroque01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Dumaguete is like

Dumaguete is the capital city and main port of Negros Oriental, the province that occupies the south-eastern part of Negros Island, in the Philippines. It is sometimes called the "City of Gentle People". More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing
Bell Tower (Campanario de Dumaguete). This is the oldest surviving structure in the city, a relic of the long Spanish occupation of Negros Island. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing
The free public urban beach is Silliman Beach, just south of the airport (3 km north of downtown). More on Wikivoyage
Getting in
The country's two largest cities, and its main hubs for international flights, are Metro Manila and Metro Cebu; from either, there are flights, ferries, and buses (which ride ferries for part of the route) to Dumaguete. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe
Dumaguete is generally a safe city. There are enough beggars and touts to be annoying, but by Asian standards these problems are relatively mild. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy
Health risks in Dumaguete are not large but, as for most travel, it is worth checking with your doctor and possibly getting some vaccines before setting out. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Dumaguete, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Dumaguete

Also in Philippines

Nearby

Kind of place

Dumaguete is in Philippines, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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