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Component city in Negros Oriental, Philippines
Photo: Singapore.Alice, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Bais City is one of the cleanest and safest cities of the Philippines in Negros Oriental province. The main tourist draw is whale and dolphin watching in the Tañon Strait between Bais and the neighbouring island of Cebu.
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Just inside the southern boundary of Bais with Tanjay, this church is often overlooked because drivers' attentions are concentrated on the blind curve in the road. The inside, with its gracefully curving screens and woodwork and finely carved mahogany altar pieces, is prettier than the outside. Next door are some fine, large colonial houses sheltering beneath a canopy of mature trees with epiphytes growing on them.
Dolphin & whale watching tour guide.
A spotlessly clean and well maintained two-story house in nicely kept gardens built by a Spaniard quite a while ago and featuring four spacious guest bedrooms with polished teak floors and air-con. This is a well-kept secret since there is no sign outside and most locals will know it as "Aunty Teves' place".
A two-story house on the left hand (east) side of the National Highway as you enter Bais from the north and with 9 rather small rooms. Free Wi-Fi. En suite rooms have nice shower rooms (unusual for accommodation of this price range in the Philippines) and small cable TVs (usual for accommodation of this price range in the Philippines)
Purpose built, two-story hotel in an attractive Spanish colonial style with a dark green and white colour scheme throughout. Seventeen medium size double rooms with individual air-con and hot showers, cable TV. Well kept, chlorinated outside swimming pool accessible by non residents for a daily charge of ₱50 per child. A surprisingly stylish and atmospheric restaurant in the former power plant generating house has a very high ceiling and gallery with a mediocre and badly cooked menu; powerful fans but no air-con. Secure parking with night watchman is separated from the rooms by a garden.
BPI
Two external ATMs accept Visa, UnionPay, JCB, Plusnet, Cirrus, Maestro and MasterCards 24/7, charging a fee of ₱200 for each withdrawal. Users of Australian debit cards might want to try the "Savings" option if "Current" does not work. Maximum withdrawal in any one transaction is ₱20000.
A small, usually crowded shop with weak air-conditioning and poorly treated staff that accepts Visa and MasterCard.
By boat
Into Dumaguete from Metro Manila, Cebu City, Tagbilaran, Dapitan or Cagayan de Oro and then by Ceres Bus every half hour to Bais.
By bus
Bais is on the main long distance bus route between Bacolod, Kabankalan City and Dumaguete.
Moto-tricycles are rather confusingly termed pedicabs in Negros Oriental, and are usually underpowered by 200cc motorcycles considering that they often carry more than 8 people and sometimes up to 15!
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Dumaguete City · Regional · DGT
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