Zamboanga Peninsula

Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao, Region IX, consists of three provinces, namely: Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay. This region has five cities and we visited three: Pagadian City of Zamboanga del Sur, Dapitan City, and Dipolog City of Zamboanga del Norte.

Bobby and I were supposed to visit Zamboanga del Norte only. I booked our flights two months in advance but googling before our travel led us to have a side trip to Pagadian City. Upon arrival at the airport, we proceeded to the integrated bus terminal and boarded the first bus bound for Pagadian City. It was a regular bus trip that took us four hours on the road (120 km) with passenger pickups and stops at every town bus terminal. 

Pagadian City is known as the "Little Hongkong of the South" because of its terrain. The city is the provincial capital and regional center of the Zamboanga Peninsula. We dropped by the provincial capitol, the city hall, and the city plaza; and strolled at the boulevard before having our early dinner in one of the restaurants in the area and headed back to our hotel.  That was a breeze! We left the following day for our return trip after breakfast.

The earliest trip we caught was a regular bus trip again, so after four hours we arrived at the Dipolog City bus terminal. After a quick lunch, we boarded a van for our trip to Dapitan City 20 km away. We were supposed to stay in our hotel for a night and stay for our last night in Dipolog City but we agreed to stay for two nights because of the homey feel of our hotel. Besides the city has a relaxed atmosphere unlike the other cities. We rested for two hours and had Korean corndogs by the boulevard for snacks while waiting for the sunset. At the boulevard is the landing site of Rizal when he was exiled in Dapitan. People started to occupy the area as we watched the sunset by the bay. Our dinner was at the recommended restaurant for chicken and pork barbeque. We also had grilled fish.  One more cup of rice, please. Yummy!

The next day, we went to Dakak Park and Beach Resort for a half-day tour. We were glad we arrived early to have our selfies minus the crowd. The resort is in a mini cove hence ideal for swimming. We left after two hours and headed to the Rizal Shrine. A ceremony commemorating the 122nd death anniversary of Josephine Bracken just ended so there were many visitors at the shrine. We had our guided tour of the museum and the various replicas of structures present during Jose Rizal's exile in the area. A visit to the shrine is a must because of its historical significance.

Before heading to the airport in Dipolog for our return flight to Manila, we toured the provincial capitol, city hall, plaza, and Sunset Boulevard.  We had a yummy seafood lunch in a grill restaurant by the boulevard.

We hope to visit the third province of the peninsula, Zamboanga Sibugay, next time. Puhon!