General Santos International Airport

From Pasig City, we made it at 4:30am at NAIA Terminal 3 on time for our flight at 6:55am. I quickly checked our itinerary receipt and noticed that our estimated time of arrival in General Santos City (GenSan) would be at 8:45am. That's a total of 1 hour 50 minute flight to the southernmost city in the Philippines.

Dipolog City: Dipolog Airport

DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte - Touchdown Dipolog Airport, our 16th airport destination in the Philippines and 4th in Mindanao. We arrived at 12:10pm, 20 minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival. Since we did not have checked-in baggage, it only took us 10 minutes to deplane and to exit the terminal building.

The domestic airport is pretty basic but efficient. It is also secured with two x-ray machines installed, one before the check-in counters and another one before the departure area. There is no baggage carousel though, so arriving visitors will have to pick-up their baggage in a designated section of the arrival hall.

What we find fascinating about the airport is not the building but the airport's location. The airstrip lies right beside the sea, parallel to the coastline. At the southern end of the airstrip is the mouth of Dipolog River. Seated at the window seat will surely offer an exhilarating experience during landing or take-off.

Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 703 (Manila-Dipolog)

Airlines and Flight Services

Cebu Pacific Manila-Dipolog (Flight 5J 703) Dipolog-Manila (Flight 5J 704) Cebu-Dipolog (Flight 5J 863) Dipolog-Cebu (Flight 5J 864) *Check Flight Schedules

Philippine Airlines Manila-Dipolog (Flight PR 167) Dipolog-Manila (Flight PR 168) *Check Flight Schedules

Transportation to and from Downtown

Tricycles are the common mode of transportation within Dipolog City. Outside the airport terminal building, there are tricycles lined up to transport passengers to downtown. Standard fare is Php30.00 per person. Some drivers will try to overcharge you by asking for a flag down rate or special trip rate equivalent to the passanger capacity of the tricycle. It is very important that you agree on the fare with the driver before boarding the tricycle. If tricycle drivers try to overcharge you, just politely say no and walk away. If you don't have much baggage, you can walk a little further (about 30 meters from the gate) and wait for passing tricycles. From downtown, the standard fare going to the airport is Php20.00-30.00 per person, depending on the point of origin.

Free Shuttle Service from Airport to Downtown Laoag (Centro)

When we were about to board the plane in Manila for Laoag, I received a good news from Mr. Sam Blas of Balay da Blas via text message saying that there is a free shuttle service from the airport to hotels in Downtown Laoag.

Laoag International Airport

We're back in Ilocos Norte to attend the 2012 Empanada Festival in the neighboring city of Batac. During our first visit back in August 2011, we were not able to take photos of the airport since the flight was scheduled at night. This time, our flight was scheduled at noon time and we arrived at Laoag International Airport at 1:20pm. The clear sky also allowed us to take aerial shots of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, the town of Paoay and the Sand Dunes of Ilocos Norte.

Davao City: Francisco Bangoy International Airport

DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur - Touchdown 1:50pm. After a 1 hour and 50 minutes of flight, we finally arrived at Davao International Airport (officially called Francisco Bangoy International Airport) our 15th airport destination in the Philippines and 3rd in Mindanao. This was so far our longest flight within the Philippines.

We were very excited to reach Davao as this was our first visit to this city, considered as the international gateway to Mindanao and as the domestic gateway to southern Mindanao.

The Durian

First time visitors flying in to Davao City should not miss The Durian, a sculpture created by the famous Davaoeño artist, Kublai Millan. It is located along the driveway of the airport terminal's parking lot. Coming from the terminal building, it is located on the left side.

Zooz Wooz Café

Not having had lunch before the flight, we quickly searched for a restaurant as soon as we left the terminal building. Zooz Wooz Café is located right beside the taxi line. The restaurant serves coffee, sandwiches, pasta and all-day breakfast. We tried their breakfast meal (Php150.00) which already came with a drink (choice between iced tea or brewed coffee). Though food was on the expensive range, you get the value out of your money. Breakfast was delish, brewed coffee was perfect.