Any recommendations on small towns in Cebu to live in?

Can't blame you for wanting to stay away from Cebu City. That said, it's where the better schools are. So I put up with it, with 3 kids and my girlfriend in private schools. They are all doing well now. Most of the province public schools are so underfunded and way overcrowded. The kids just can't learn much.

If you want to stay out of Cebu City, I would probably suggest Tagbilaran, on Bohol. A couple of hours from Cebu on a fast craft. There are a couple of decent private grade schools there, also one on Panglao I believe.

Thanks for the reply. That's funny because we 1st spoke of moving to Bohol Panglao /Baclayon area. About 5 years ago We stayed in the Tagbilarin area for a few months and fell in love with it. They have good private schools too. I was just trying to get a feel on Cebu though . My wife is from Cebu City but believe it not, she really doesn't know alot about the rest of Cebu island, lol. I think you told me what I already knew, haha. Again thanks for the reply. Audie

You're most welcome. And welcome also to the forum.

It´s really not nice to live in the City center but you should not go to far.
There are not good doctors in the province and no hospitals anyway. So for my opinion it is ok to reach the next hospital not longer than a half day trip, especially when you have family. But Bohol is not to far and it´s nice there. I like it too.

Its nice (for retired person only) to live outside the city when you don't need it. But I think you will not find a good school outside City for your son which need to study, and it will not be beneficial to him. And there is no 100% safety in Philippines, but better stay in Condo or Subdivision with guards.

OP, I lived in Cebu City for a year got sick of it. Moved to Argao, about 2 hrs south and lived there 5 years. Liked it, small but not too small and not many foreigners. But, like you, we have a child and there are no suitable schools there and that's going to pretty  much be the case everywhere except CC. Looked at Dumaguete, it has some decent schools but ended up moving back to the US for the benefit of the child.

Moving to the phils and away from the 1st world with a small child is really something to consider carefully. I didn't look at the schools in the city because I could never live there again but I looked at a lot of others (private) and found them to be extremely lacking in one way or another. Our child looks 100% caucasian so he would always stand out, like me.  He's doing a lot better here so I have no regrets. We all have to do what we feel is right for our kids. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. We've been doing a lot of research. We will be in Philippines this winter. Dumaguete is at the top of our list so far. Good luck to you and your family!

Thanks for the reply. I agree. Bohol is very beautiful. I stayed there for 3 months, in Bool, between tagbilaran and Panglao.

AudieB wrote:

Thanks for the reply. We've been doing a lot of research. We will be in Philippines this winter. Dumaguete is at the top of our list so far. Good luck to you and your family!

Good on you for taking the time and expending the small effort to acknowledge and thank the people who tried to answer your question. I have found that to be the exception on forums, most of the time people ask questions and never bother to acknowledge those who try to help them.

Dumaguete was really the only option if we would have stayed in the phils, the large cities are unlivable for me. Besides schools there are a few hospitals there, not the greatest but far better than anything you'll find in the province. Valencia is a small town up the hill from Duma so elevation is slightly higher. They say it's a little cooler; never really noticed much difference, but that's where I would probably live. Best to you.

Check out Roxas City Capiz, has a beach its a quite town has colleges 3 malls modern hospitals for larger town try Iloilo

Thanks for the reply. I have never visited that island. Part of the fun is visiting the different islands. I will research the cities you mentioned. Salamat

Ive been to the Phillipines i think 10 time by now, spent 6months as the longest since im not that old, If i should throw in my 10 swedish bucks in the deal i should say Bohol Moalboal or Oslob, Then youre in a descent way from the Cebu city but you also can get some of the tourists around you if you get home sick :-)

I've visited Moalboal and spent a few months in Bohol. Both are very nice places. I've yet to visit Oslob though it's on my list of places to visit. I've heard a lot about Dumaguete too. Thank you for the reply

Dumaguete an Dauin especially is one of my favourite places. Tbh i think Dumaguete is one of the most popular cities to spend the rest of your days when retired, Totally forgot about Negros Oriental

I've been told Valencia, right outside of Dumaguete is very nice too