I found one of my favorite new bars in the world yesterday…and I’ve been in A LOT of bars! Called Finbar, it’s just a tiny little simple place, practically in the middle of the jungle in a hidden-paradise of a place.
But for some of us who live or travel abroad, a bar means so much more, like the place you go to get away from it all, to disconnect from the stress and work and politics and complexities of modern, “civilized ” life – the place where you’d want to sit and drink with friends if the world was ending.
And Finbar is the perfect end-of-the-world bar.
If you ever want to get away from it all and just sit and BE, I’ll write you a quick treasure map now. In my next review, I’ll also do a more conventional review of Finbar, itself.
Finbar is located along the National Highway (don’t be too impressed – that just means the one paved, two-lane road in the jungle) at the south end of a town called Dauin. Of course, you’ve never heard of Dauin, but it’s a pretty amazing place, with some of the best SCUBA diving in the world. In fact, Dauin runs along the coast of Negros Island (the closest small city, where I live, is Dumaguete about 20 minutes away). The island and the terrain around Dauin is truly a paradise, with rush jungle leading up to green rolling hills and then cloud-covered peaks, all spilling into groves of palm trees and then the open sea. But the beach in Dauin is black volcanic sand, so it’s not attractive to most vacationers and beach-goers.
But for SCUBA divers, Dauin is well-known, as there are amazing reefs right off of Dauin and also a short boat ride away at neighboring Apo Island, famous for its venerable sea turtles and marine sanctuary. In fact, the Philippines is one of the
So, up and down the coast of Dauin sits a row of guesthouses, resorts, and dive shops, all catering to family vacationers, those who truly want to get away from it all, or serious divers. Some of these places are so charming and peaceful, and you can go to El Dorado, Pura Vida, (not to be confused with slang Costa Rica) or Mike’s Resort just for a day to use their pool or oceanfront and chill in nature.
But, it gets slow in Dauin at night. REALLY slow. Like 6 PM there ain’t a damn thing to do but sit outside at your resort and drink a beer slowly. Luckily, that’s where Finbar comes in.
Right across the “highway” from El Dorado and Pura Vida resorts sits Finbar. Don’t blink because you might miss it, but that’s also what makes it one of the coolest little spots to drink and eat in the world.
About Norm Schriever
Norm Schriever is a blogger, Amazon best-sellling author, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. His work appears in the Huffington Post, Business.com, Good Morning America, The Anderson Cooper Show on CNN, NBC, MSN, Yahoo, Hotels.com, and media all around the world.
Norm grew up in Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he was never accused of overstudying. After expatriating to Costa Rica in 2011, he started traveling the world and documenting what he saw. He now lives in Southeast Asia, writing his heart out and working with local charities.
