I knew that I had completely blown my typical Southeast Asia budget when traveling through the Philippines. I tried to mentally tally each day, quietly ignoring the fact that yes, I was over-spending way past my first year of traveling’s goal of $30/day (which I did pretty well at!). When I finally added up all that I had spent, despite searching for cheap accommodation and cheap eats, I was a little horrified.
My average daily expenditure was…wait for it… USD $78/day. OUCH.
Just to clarify, without SCUBA diving, it would have been closer to $45/day, which is much less scary but, to me, diving was a big reason to visit the Philippines in the first place.
Why was it so expensive?
The reason is threefold: First off, the Philippines is an island chain that isn’t easy to get around. Unlike just hopping on a cheap bus like the rest of Southeast Asian countries, one must take ferries or planes. This ups the cost quite a bit, especially since I was there during the holidays, which leads me to reason number two. The hostel I stayed at in Boracay was $20/night just for a dorm bed since I was a there on the days surrounding New Year’s Eve. My flights cost more due to this as well. Overall, there were far fewer dorm options which led me to shoulder the cost of private rooms on my own everywhere but in Boracay. Thankfully, as more and more backpackers flock their way to the island paradise, finding affordable accommodation is no longer a challenge in most parts of the Philippines now, though they are still generally more expensive than everywhere else in Southeast Asia. Here’s the complete breakdown:
Accommodation:
I spent closer to $10 or sometimes even $20 per night on accommodation, making it the most expensive place in Southeast Asia for finding a place to lay my head, following Java in Indonesia. Hostels are still quite rare on the islands, so if you are traveling solo, you might want to find someone to split a room to save money.
Hostels in Cebu: $5-$10 (book your hostel in Cebu here)
Hostels in El Nido: $11 – $15 (book your hostel in El Nido here)
Hostels in Siargao Island: $7-$11 (book your hostel on Siargao Island here)
Transportation:
Getting around on the islands via buses, jeepneys, tricycles or even on a rented bike are all fantastically cheap, but the ferries between islands tend to cost a bare minimum of $20 per trip. Moving around much at all in the Philippines is going to be costly as things are farther apart and harder to access than they seem. If you are trying to see the Philippines on a shoestring budget, you’d want to plan your move pretty well. Here’s an itinerary to help you decide.
Food and Drink:
Eating local food didn’t typically cost much. I was able to eat some street BBQ chicken with rice for around $1 in Jagna on Bohol while waiting for a ferry, making that my cheapest meal.
In places like Boracay, cheaper non-western food wasn’t as simple to find, but still available and delicious. Chicken Adobo (a sauce of vinegar and spices), Tapa (fried beef strips), and Bulalo (a soup made by cooking bones until the marrow becomes a broth and the beef becomes super tender) are my favorite local dishes.
Drinks are also not bad with a bottle of San Miguel, the local brew, running at $1-2.
Cheap vs. Expensive places in the Philippines:
Jagna in Bohol was the cheapest place I visited. I ended up stuck there overnight due to the Christmas rush to travel to Camiguin. While I can’t imagine any tourists would normally spend any time there (there’s not much to do or see), it cost me the least to stay and eat there.
Boracay cost me the most but I’ll blame time of year and inflated tourist prices on food and drinks. Cagayan de Oro came in second simply because there aren’t really backpacker budget options since this town in Mindanao receives very few of such travelers.
Other Incidentals:
Get a Globe rather than Smart SIM card if you want a data plan for your smartphone while in the Philippines. My data kept running out quickly with the Smart SIM but apparently Globe had an unlimited option for way cheaper.
Keep in mind that the Philippines is a wonderful place to visit, but it simply isn’t as cheap as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam – all of which can be done on an extreme budget.
Sam says
This is surprising! I found the Philippines to be extremely cheap…though now I think about it, I only travelled on Luzon island (the largest) so I didn’t take any flights or ferries and could get everywhere by bus, which surely made a difference.
Catherine says
Thanks for the tips, hadn’t realized that Philippines was more expensive than other areas of SE Asia!
Kristin says
I think it had a lot to do with the holidays but yes, it definitely is!
Hec says
An interesting read. Unfortunately traveling between islands can be a little expensive and a bit of a hassle. Depending on how much time you have you may have to backtrack to Manila to travel to your next destination. I’d definitely suggest that if you can to plan your trip ahead and take advantage of the numerous sales that the airlines have.
I was surprised how much you paid to get from Boracay to Coron. A cheap option could have been to fly from Kalibo to Manila and then catch the overnight ferry to Coron.
Kristin says
Unfortunately I was low on time and it was right after New Years. It was also a last minute ticket. Completely my bad. It was a rookie mistake but I’m not a rookie so I have no excuse!
Jenny says
We were also surprised by how expensive the Philippines were. We loved it so much though that even the blown budget could not deter us and we have been trying to think of a time that we can go back ever since we left in December!
Kristin says
I liked it a lot too! Similar feelings.
Sun Sea Adventures says
That first photo is STUNNING! Though you exceeded your daily budget I’m sure it was worth it!
Kristin says
Thank you and yes it was!
Jingerbread says
Hi Kristin!
I was also an investment banker, lost my job so im planning to travel cross country in SEA this May. I envy you because I can’t afford to travel for 6 months (or more)! You really had done a great job for this blog. You’ve traveled the best islands in the Philippines.
Im very amazed with your website esp the budget cost travel in SEA.
Kristin says
Thank you 🙂 Happy travels!
Rachael says
I think you probably could have done the Philippines much cheaper! I stayed there for 7 weeks at one time, and not including airfare to get there from America or a place to sleep at night, I only spent $400. for SEVEN weeks. ferries are expensive, so you need to know how to get on the local’s boats. trust me, it’s much cheaper that way 😉
Kristin says
Tell us how to take the local’s boats. $400 frankly sounds impossible but I know I paid MUCH more for being there during the holidays
Rachael says
I definitely can’t account for the cost of holiday travel. I usually go in January/February after Christmas. I’m sure that really inflated the cost of travel there for you during whatever holiday time you were there for. Taking local boats is fairly easy. I suggest making local friends you can trust. They usually know someone with a boat who can (for a fee) take you where you need to go provided they are familiar with the area. If you don’t know any locals just go hang out at a boat dock area and ask around where certain boats are going. A lot of times there will be smaller boats locals take from the smaller islands to get to the major ones and vice versa to get to and from work. These generally aren’t advertised for tourists, but if you’re paying Filipinos won’t turn you away. Please remember my $400 figure did NOT include sleeping accommodations or airfare. It does, however, include literally everything else for 7 weeks. food, transportation, etc. Haggling helps, so does knowing some of the local language. I’m also a huge minimalist. I have my own ocean gear, no paying for rentals. I ate a LOT of white rice, which is cheap and abundant, walked when I could, and took cheap public transportation when necessary. No cell phone, no alcoholic beverages, etc.
I hope this helped! 🙂 Also, sorry about this huge-ass paragraph. haha 😛
Pie Rivera says
Traveling around the Philippines can really be quite costly, specially when heading from one region to the next (Luzon to Visayas then Mindanao) … but I’m pretty sure you could have saved much more if it weren’t for the holiday season … the airfare from Boracay to Coron was a shock! That is why many Filipinos wait for Seat Sales – I was able to buy tickets (Manila-Boracay-Manila) for a trip in June and it only costs Php2,500 (US$58) and that’s for two persons … but the ticket I bought was 8 months away from the travel period… nevertheless, I hope you had an awesome time in the Philippines and hope you would consider coming back. Thanks for visiting our country, Kristin! 🙂
Tristan says
Traveling from one island to another, is kinda expensive and hassle. But, if you’re looking for a real adventure, Philippines is the place for you.
Allison Wolf says
I totally agree! Haha I did a cave tour in Sagada that ended up being one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.
Warren says
I find the Philippines expensive compared to the other SE Asian countries in that things are often of lesser quality for the same money. Hotel quality is often far below what the same money buys elsewhere and the food in the Philippines is undeniably poor quality too so I end up spending a lot more on both these items.
Kristin says
I found it more expensive, too. It was beautiful but islands are always harder and more expensive to get around.
Cassandra Surette says
Great tips to enjoy the Philippines. I think a lot of people are afraid to eat street or market food…they just have to be careful but not fearful.
Kristin says
Yeah it’s consistently my favorite kind of food.
Christy Ann says
Philippines is cheap country to travel! Transportation, accommodation and foods are cheap compared to other places. I am from Philippines and I have foreign friends who always visit our country because they can really get a great value for their money aside from that Filipinos are kind,friendly people and respectful.
Diana says
I’m a Filipino, but I find our country to be more expensive than Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Of course it will be cheaper than Western countries, but the author is comparing PH to other ASEAN countries.
I believe the high cost of utilities have something to do with this, unfortunately. It doesn’t help that our country is painfully archipelagic – hence, higher cost of traveling around.
Having said that, PH is still more fun! 🙂
John says
Part of the problem is philippino are real bad ass and don’t like foreigners, not the only country, so give us the most expensive options for hotels etc even when cheaper rooms are available. Sad but true. Best deal is Thailand. The people who say philippines is cheap are talking utter bullshit. Often the philippino hotels will only give you the 3000 peso option when there’s a 500 peso option available because you are a foreigner, one of the many scams and why it’s the least visited country in South East Asia.
Tammy says
Hello again,
You probably get lots of questions about mosquitos:) I have done a ton of research and know the protective things we should do. My question was what did you do, where were the mossies the worst and how bad did you get bit?
I am so paranoid about the mossies because online you hear horror stories.
Have you ever gone to south-east Asia in the rainy season?
Thank you:)
Tammy
Kristin says
I’ve been in Southeast Asia in rainy season (I am right now). I tend to attract them like crazy and I do get bitten a lot. It happens everywhere I go where mosquitoes are. I spray but they don’t seem to care. Honestly I just accept it and put tiger balm on the bites. It’s worth it to be here.
Richard Hodgkinson says
Hi Kristin, am English and travelling to Makati to marry my girlfriend, she is picking me up from the airport then we go on to the hotel for a day or so, then we travel to her Province { i don’t know where } to get married before we travel back to Makati and back in the hotel.
have read other tesimonials and wonder how much this is going to cost, i’m only going for 13 days.
Is it really expensive compared to the west?
Kristin says
No it’s pretty cheap overall, just felt it was a bit more expensive than other places in Southeast Asia for extreme budget backpackers but I’m back now, and finding it cheap with a midrange budget actually!
Jay Z says
Richard- did you factor in the price of your wife into your daily travel budget?
Satish Verma says
I want to see Philippines may dream
Cebu Tours says
Thank you so much for sharing this, Kristin! I am really thankful because even though I am a Filipino, I haven’t traveled to many places in the Philippines and that’s why I can’t really tell how expensive or how cheap it is to travel in the philippines. And now, I know what’s the answer to all my foreign friends who wants to visit philippines. They have been nagging me about how much it will cost or traveling in the Philippines is expensive. Thanks! I will be bookmarking this to show it to my friends once they get here.
ken says
hello kristen, i am from singapore. i am interested on how to travel as many countries around the world…i only been to my neighbouring country which is malaysia only. i am only working as a security guard in singapore earning only 1.8 k Sgd per month. i am not so educated and therefore dont earn as much . i was wondering if you are doing any passive income online? i want to change my boring life and not just seeing time flying by. i…really envy your achievements. even if you dont have a passive income, at least i hope you can give me some good advice on money management, what to invest…etc…
Kristin says
Hi Ken, there’s a bunch of really good advice for saving up here: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-afford-solo-female-travel/
And info on how I afford to travel here: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-afford-traveling-the-world-2/
Dan says
I’m a foreigner living in the Philippines for 8 years already. Thats true. Philippines is more expensive than other SE Asian countries especially regarding food and grocery.
The sad part is it can be even much more expensive than Europe when you want to do grocery!
For fruits and usual grocery stuff that I used to buy in Europe, you have to pay atlease 2X or 3X higher price in the Philippines.
Electricity bill rates also are insanely high here,
I guess rentals are the only the main point to say Philippines is cheaper than Europe and US.