Dipolog

Dipolog is the capital city of the province of Zamboanga del Norte, the province that occupies the northern part of Zamboanga Peninsula in the Mindanao island of the Philippines. It is commonly known as the "Bottled Sardines Capital" due to its sardine production, and most popularly the "Gateway to Western Mindanao" being accessible from Dumaguete, Cebu, and Manila.

Understand
Dipolog is geographically a part of the Zamboanga Peninsula region, and must not be confused with Zamboanga City or anything else with Zamboanga in its name. Dipolog is geographically situated in northern Zamboanga del Norte, one of three provinces that make up the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

Talk
Cebuano (sometimes called Bisaya/Visayan) and English are the languages spoken in the city and most of the province of Zamboanga del Norte.

By plane


Cebu Pacific flies from Manila and Cebu daily., while Philippine Airlines has daily flights from Manila and Cebu. Royhle Air Way has charter flights from Dumaguete.

By bus


Rural Transit is the main bus company serving Dipolog and neighboring cities and municipalities, operating deluxe, air-conditioned, and non-AC ordinary buses.

Evergood Transit serves the Dipolog-Dapitan route. The bus plying the route departs every 20 min up to 7PM and takes 45 min. The cost is for ordinary, and  for air-conditioned buses.

By ferry
Frequent sailings to and from Cebu City and southern Cebu area are offered.

A comfortable way to reach Dipolog is on one of the better ferries. Ro-Ro's are also available; these are slower and cheaper ferries where cars can roll on and roll off.



Get around
Do as the locals do, and take a tricycle ride around the city.

Dipolog has no taxis unlike in mostly urbanized cities in the Philippines. There are some jeepneys going to nearby towns but, unlike other cities, there are no jeepneys with general-purpose downtown routes. Most in-town transit is by either motorcycle with sidecar rigs called tricycles, or passenger-type motorcycles locally called habal-habal.

Locals in the Philippines name a landmark or commercial establishment near their destinations, street names are rarely used or known. Many travelers will be able to get around knowing only the names of some few landmarks including Dipolog Boulevard, Lee Plaza, Plaza Magsaysay, and Dipolog Cathedral; most other places of interest are within easy walking distance of one of those.

See
The center of Dipolog at night during Christmas is a truly wonderful sight: the decorations and the small stalls and the sounds of people. It is truly captivating.

Do
In the morning: You can go to the bay walk to exercise for some energy around 4AM-6AM. Then, go shopping by which the locals call Okay Okay.

In the afternoon: You can get around by walking to Plaza Magsaysay, Bay walk, go swimming in the beach or just go shopping at Lee Plaza City Central, Dipolog Center Mall, Vallecer Plaza or SM SaveMore Dipolog. Or you can eat snacks from restaurants.

In the evening: Dipolog is sparkling when the night comes. You can go to bay walk which has so many events like concerts. Or go some disco clubs like FatCat or Zpol.



Financial services (Banks, ATMs & foreign exchange)
In need of cash, foreign exchange, or banking services? Here are some financial institutions that are visible in Dipolog.

Sleep
There are places in the city for travelers to take a break. Whether tight in budget or ready to splurge with luxury, Dipolog has a lot of hotel accommodations ready for travelers.

Stay safe
Dipolog is generally a safe city. There are enough beggars and touts to be annoying, but by Asian standards these problems are relatively mild. Police are quite visible, especially along Dipolog Boulevard.

You do see evidence that locals are concerned about security. Many of the larger old houses and more-or-less all the new luxury housing are in walled compounds, and barbed wire, spikes or broken glass to discourage people from climbing the walls are common, as are bars to keep burglars from entering windows. Most businesses have roll-down metal doors for protection when they are closed. Many businesses and some residential compounds have armed guards. Guards at the entrances to many department stores or malls use metal-detecting wands to scan customers before entry. All of this, however, is true in most areas of the Philippines, and much of it is common to most low-income countries.

Traffic can be distinctly hectic, especially in Quezon Avenue in Miputak during the day; there are few traffic lights and few stop signs in the city (mostly outside the downtown area,) and you only occasionally see traffic enforcers directing traffic. Most of the oddities of Asian driving are seen in Dipolog: running without lights at night is common, motorcycles fairly often do interesting things like going down the wrong side of the road or ignoring one-way traffic signs, and so on. On the positive side, the traffic is not remarkably fast, there are few traffic jams and, compared to some other Asian cities, Dipolog has fewer drivers who seem obviously insane to Western observers.

Pedestrians should be quite cautious in Dipolog. The traffic is dangerous, some roads lack sidewalks, and even if there is a sidewalk, it may be blocked by parked motorcycles. Both roads and sidewalks are often seriously uneven &mdash; some have holes that could easily break a leg, and many more could turn an ankle &mdash; so it is essential to watch your step.

As in any tropical area, there is risk of sunburn; it is quite important for newly arrived visitors to exercise caution.

Stay healthy
Health risks in Dipolog are not large but, as for most travel, it is worth checking with your doctor and possibly getting some vaccines before setting out. The area is tropical, so see also hot weather and tropical diseases.

The city has many health services — doctors, dentists, pharmacies, optometrists — and, as elsewhere in the Philippines and indeed most of Asia, these services are often much cheaper than in higher-income countries. There are exceptions when imported products, such as dental implants or certain drugs, are required for the treatment.

Dentists
These are the many dentists the local expatriates use. Implants are generally expensive, but most services are cheap by Western standards. Some of these dentists may or may not offer procedures under general anesthesia.

Hospitals, clinics, and other services
As of October 2020, the city has four hospitals, with a fifth under construction:

Pharmacies
Just like any Philippine city, Dipolog has a variety of pharmacies that offer medications of good quality, whether branded or generic.

Connect
Internet service is generally good; Dipolog is one of the hubs of the fiber optic network that connects the country. Most hotels and many restaurants offer free Wi-Fi; connection speed is good for text, photos and most graphics, but music or video streaming may be jerky oftentimes.

There are a number of fairly large Internet cafés; they cater mainly to people playing online games, so they provide reasonably powerful computers with decent screens and a fast connection.

Cell phone connections are fast and reliable anywhere in the city itself or in central areas of the major suburbs, but can be quite flaky in some outlying areas.

Government offices
In need of access to government services while on travel?

Smoking
Cigarette and electronic cigarette or vape smoking is not encouraged in Dipolog; a city ordinance prohibits smoking in public places, particularly in government-owned structures and offices, hospitals, gasoline stations, schools, and business establishments, and there are officers on scooters who give out tickets for this. Violators are penalized the amounts of for first offense,  for second offense,  for third offense, and imprisonment for 6 months or as determined by local courts for subsequent offences. However, a few bars have smoking areas where nicotine addicts can indulge.

Go next
Nearby cities are Dapitan, Pagadian, Ipil, Zamboanga City, Oroquieta, and Ozamiz; there are buses to and from Dipolog. The Dipolog-Zamboanga via Ipil bus route passes through several places that may be worth a stop.

Although the Pulauan Port in Dapitan is commonly used, Dipolog through the Galas Port can be reached to and from Dumaguete and Cebu through water transport.