Philippines started to hear more and more from travelers every day and if you intend to explore this beautiful country with its unique lagoons, coves and beaches, the first question that comes to your mind is What is a Philippines vacation? will be amount. Is the Philippines expensive and for you to learn about the costs, I have summarized our Philippines trip expenses for two persons and 16 nights in 2018 in my Philippines holiday prices article.
Because we visited Palawan island, Cebu-Bohol and Boracay island, which are the most visited places on a Philippines holiday, I will first explain the prices for each of them.. Thus, if you do not have time for all three regions I have listed, you will be able to learn how the cost will change for you by only looking at the relevant parts.. Then, we’ll look at how much the entire holiday costs by adding general expenses such as air tickets and internet to the prices in these regions.
Be careful about hotels and be sure to read WHERE TO STAY IN PHILIPPINES, as it is necessary to stay in more than one hotel during the Philippines trip and hotel standards may be low in many aspects such as fly-insect, hot water, internet.
Philippines Currency
Philippines currency Because we do all conversions in USD, even though it is the Philippine peso (PHP) I used the expenses in USD, thinking it would be more understandable.. I will also specify some expenses such as tour prices in the local exchange rate so that you can directly compare them when you go.. There is a rate of approximately 1 USD = 50 PHP and we exchanged money around that area when we went.. For current rates, check this site.
Everything throughout the article is for two people unless I state otherwise.
Philippines Vacation Prices : Palawan Island
First of all, let’s start with Palawan Island, which we can call the heart of the Philippines and a must-stop for anyone who makes a Philippines trip. We made a route like Puerto Princesa – El Nido – Coron, which are the most famous places to visit in Palawan, and we spent 818 USD in 8 nights.
Philippines holiday prices: Our expenditures in Palawan (Puerto Princesa – El Nido – Coron) for 8 nights for two.
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Accommodation
Accommodation (317 USD): 1 night Puerto Princesa Mariafe Inn hotel $28, 4 nights El Nido Inngo Tourist Inn hotel $187, 3 nights Coron CTJJ Guesthouse $102.
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Activity
Activity (312 USD): All the activities that interest us at every stop in Palawan we did, so nothing stuck in my mind. Diving courses and opportunities, which we did not attend because they did not interest us, are very wide, their prices start around 30 dollars depending on the scope.. El Nido and Coron reefs can be a paradise for scuba diving in the Philippines enthusiasts.
Let me detail our activity expenses one by one.
Underground River tour in Puerto Princesa cost 3200 PHP. When he left, they also asked for a mandatory tax called ‘Environmental fee’ and we gave him 300 PHP.. On the way to the tour, we stopped at a place where you can do a cave tour and zipline flight, an activity called zipline flying is common in the Philippines for some reason.. Since I like such adrenaline things, we decided to join, the cave trip plus zipline activity cost 1000 PHP. We spent 90 dollars in total in Puerto Princesa.
We did the Underground River tour in Puerto Princesa, which is among the 7 New Wonders of Nature
We did the Tour A and Tour C boat tours, which must be done in El Nido. Normally the price of Tour A is PHP 1200 per person and the price of Tour C is PHP 1400 per person. We somehow bought tickets for both of them from the hotel and gave a total of 4000 PHP (600 PHP discount). So we spent $80 on boat tours in El Nido.
We did three different tours in Coron. Super Ultimate Tour total was PHP 3200. We complained about some problems on the boat and got a 400 PHP discount and gave 2800 PHP.. Island Escapade Tour was 2500 PHP, we didn’t like this tour very much as the time on the road was too long. The Firefly Watching Tour, which we took just to fill our time and is a very common activity in many places across the Philippines, was the star of our trip with its unique experience of watching fireflies and plankton, we paid 1800 PHP for this tour, which included dinner at the floating restaurant.. So we spent $142 in Coron.
We joined the Tour A and Tour C boat tours, which must be done in El Nido.
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Transportation
Transportation (109 USD): Transportation within Palawan island is in this section I got it together, no plane tickets. We will see the plane tickets at the end when we look at the whole holiday.. Since we started our trip to the Philippines with the island of Palawan, we found it unnecessary to bargain for small amounts of a few dollars, and we were a bit ripped off at first.. Then we started to be more careful because we don’t like to be treated as ‘tourists who get ripped off’ and it will be a big amount if those small few dollars are accumulated by the end of the holiday.
Puerto Princesa We paid 200 PHP for the tricycle that takes you from the airport to the hotel, actually 50 PHP would be enough.
For transportation between Puerto Princesa and El Nido we used the minibus called van transfer. we used it cost 800 PHP. The driver asked for another 100 PHP to drop us off at our El Nido hotel, we actually gave it a fight and we couldn’t because I think the driver made up such a fee himself.
Fixed for tricycles in El Nido luckily there isn’t a lot of unnecessary dialog since it’s the price, we paid 300 PHP to go to Las Cabanas beach and then back.
From El Nido We used Montenegro Fast Ferries, the recommended method to get to Coron.
Montenegro Fast, the recommended method for transportation from El Nido to Coron We paid 3520 PHP for ferries ticket and 40 PHP for port tax. We paid 50 PHP to the tricycle to go to the port of El Nido and 100 PHP to the tricycle to get to our hotel from the port of Coron. Again, we paid the tricycle 30 PHP to go to Mount Tapyas.
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Food
Food (61 USD): Food and beverage prices do not change much in average places, so we ate in average places. Actually we can say that we eat a little less, Philippine food in general touched both me and my wife. Though I haven’t heard much of it from the other goers, I guess it just didn’t quite suit us.. After all, you may think that your expenses in this section will be a little more.
Prices are around; breakfast 150 PHP, pizza 400 PHP, other meals 350 – 500 PHP, fresh juices called shakes or smoothies 200 PHP, ice cream 50 – 100 PHP, canned drinks 50 PHP, 1 liter bottle of water 20 – 30 PHP.
If we spent $61 eating low in 8 days, we can round up as a normal eating couple would spend $10-12 a day. Since it is a general concept boat tour and they also have lunch, you only spend money for dinner and breakfast if it is not available at your hotel.. Our El Nido hotel did not have breakfast, others did.
Boat tours in El Nido and Coron include food, something you can eat you will definitely find it.
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Shopping
Shopping (19 USD): with Backpack We don’t do much shopping because we are sightseeing, but it is a must to buy waterproof bags and sea shoes for boat tours in El Nido.. If you care a lot about hygiene, you can also buy a snorkel (or take it with you if you have one), but we used the ones given in the tour saying ‘germs die in salt water’
zipline in Puerto Princesa I found the photo taken during his flight very funny so I bought it for 300 PHP. In El Nido we gave 600 PHP for two sea shoes and 350 PHP for a 20 liter waterproof bag, never think of going on a boat trip without these two. Other than that, we bought little things like postcard magnets.
My ridiculous photo taken during the zipline flight in Puerto Princesa
Philippines Vacation Prices : Boracay Island
Let’s look at Boracay island, which is considered the most beautiful island in the world, after Palawan. Although many people leave Boracay out of their holiday plan because it is too crowded, we stayed 4 nights in the hotel, which is extremely quiet because it is the most famous and own beach on the island, and it was very nice for us.. If you can bring the Boracay part of your Philippines vacation to the end like we did, it’s possible to end your vacation feeling wonderfully rested and return home happy
How is a honeymoon in the Philippines If you think that, you can enjoy the peace in our hotel in Boracay and have a good time by mixing with the crowd with the free shuttle services whenever you feel like it.. We spent 623 dollars in 4 days in Boracay, which we can easily say that it is the most expensive place in the Philippines.
Philippines holiday prices: Two people Our 4 nights Boracay island expenses.
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Accommodation
Accommodation (504 USD) : We stayed at the Fairways and Bluewater Boracay hotel I mentioned for 4 nights at this price including a great breakfast buffet. Although slightly above the Philippines average, I think it’s worth it. If such a well-equipped hotel were elsewhere, I think its price per night would be like this.
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Food
Food (80 USD): When the hotel’s breakfast was so good and we took some with us, we were able to close the event of eating and drinking with only one meal a day, by eating dinner only.. Of course, when the hotel itself was expensive, the food prices were a little higher than normal.. In general, the prices of eating and drinking are the same as in Palawan, but since Boracay is famous for its nightlife, if you want to have alcoholic cocktails (for example, rum is consumed like water in the Philippines) prices are around 150 – 250 PHP. In some bars, an entrance fee may be required in this area.. Beer is 100 – 150 PHP on average.
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Transport
Transport (30 USD): We arrived at Caticlan, the nearest airport to Boracay island. There is also Kalibo airport, which is a little further away but with more affordable flights, transportation fees will cost a little more if you get there.
Boracay Apart from its private beach, our hotel in .
It is necessary to buy a tricycle plus ship ticket to go from Caticlan Airport to the port called port, a total of PHP 100. Very senseless taxes are added as terminal fee and environmental fee, they are 350 PHP from 175.. At the end of all this, you arrive in Boracay, but since our hotel is not in the center, we had to ride the tricycle once again, and we paid 200 PHP for it.. On the way back from Boracay, we did the same again to get from the hotel to the airport, in total it cost 200 PHP one way from hotel to Boracay and 500 PHP more from Boracay to airport.. We did not receive the expensive but comfortable transfer service offered by the hotel, although it seems complicated when you explain it like that, you find your way around because everyone is doing the same thing.. The main idea in this paragraph is that your hotel provides a transfer service, but if you are wondering if I should take it, you can take public transportation from Boracay Caticlan airport to the center for a cost of 10 dollars for two people, one way., you decide accordingly.
As the hotel has a free shuttle service for DMall, which is accepted as the center of Boracay, we did not pay much for transportation within the island by following the shuttle hours.. If you stay in the same hotel, you will do the same, or if you say that you will stay in the center even though it is crowded, you will not have such an expense. We stayed late for one night just to see what Boracay nights are like and hang out with the entertainment life, and there we paid 150 PHP to the tricycle to return to the hotel.
The famous White Beach and Boracay ancestral sport sand castles in the center of Boracay.
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Shopping
Shopping (9 USD): my answer for what to buy in Boracay coconut oil (coconut oil). I use it to care for my hair, but it can be used in cooking, especially in desserts, or it has countless benefits from skin care to protection against diseases.. So I bought two 100ml coconut oil and it cost 270 PHP. Apart from that, you can also buy snacks such as dried banana and coconut, package prices are around 70 PHP. I didn’t go into clothes shopping, there were options that appealed to every budget.
The thing that we didn’t spare any budget for in Boracay was the activities.. As I said, we had enough boat tours and cove trips since we brought it to the end of the holiday, we preferred to rest on the white beaches of the island rather than go into that turmoil again.. I guess the prices of the tours start around $25 per person, similar to the tours on the island of Palawan.. There are also many massage options if you want, prices start from $ 7 for an hour of massage.
Philippines Vacation Prices : Cebu-Bohol
We stayed in Cebu-Bohol duo for a total of 4 nights out of two. If you can arrange your time to catch up with the tours, you can plan to stay in one and go to the other for a day trip.. We spent 468 dollars here and interestingly, the activity prices were more than the accommodation prices.. Let’s take a look at the details.
Philippines vacation prices: Our expenses for two people 4 nights Cebu-Bohol.
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Activity
Activity (213 USD): Individual tour to places to visit in Cebu and Bohol, unlike the rest of the Philippines going by taking. So there are definitely those with a group, but I didn’t come across it.
The most expensive activity Swimming with whale sharks in Cebu Oslob + seeing Tumalog and Kawasan waterfalls full-day individual tour in the form of. We paid PHP 4500 to the team of driver and two guides for this tour. You don’t have a chance to say you don’t want the guides and they come in the vehicle.. They already serve many purposes such as taking pictures and protecting your belongings. J Swimming with whale sharks 2000 PHP, Tumalog waterfall entrance 40 PHP, we gave 100 PHP to those who took them because we had to go to the entrance by motorcycle.. Kawasan Falls entrance cost a total of 90 PHP. So we paid PHP 6690 (about $135) all-inclusive on this full-day tour that covers the most important things to do in Cebu.
I told you I love adrenaline, Cebu’ When we had half a day’s extra time left due to the ferry hours, we went to the entertainment place on top of a skyscraper called Cebu Sky Experience.. I paid a total of PHP 1000 for silly but fun things like walking on the roof with safety ropes and sitting on a sloping chair.. This part is completely optional and I haven’t seen many people who do it other than me.. Swimming with whale sharks in Cebu-Oslob was one of our unforgettable experiences.
Full-day Chocolate Hills) which is a must do in Bohol + Butterfly Park (Butterfly Park) + Tarsier Sanctuary (meeting with Tarsier monkeys) + Loboc River boat tour (Loboc River) We paid 2500 PHP to the driver to make the multi-point excursion, the hotel where you stay as the driver for Bohol as in Cebu
We continued to pay all day long except for the driver; Chocolate Hills entrance fee 100 PHP, Butterfly park entrance 90 PHP (we also tipped 20 PHP because the guide was so sweet), Tarsier sanctuary entrance 120 PHP, crossing a swinging bamboo bridge 70 PHP, Lunch cruise on Loboc River 1100 PHP, While the tip to the artists on the boat was 20 PHP, all the places to visit in Bohol cost 3830 PHP (approximately 77 dollars).
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Accommodation
Accommodation (124 USD): Two nights at Pillows Hotel Cebu cost $48, included a simple breakfast on the plate, and was a nice clean hotel. Belian Hotel in Tagbilaran, Bohol, cost 78 dollars for two nights. “caption-attachment-3484″ class=”wp-caption-text”>We accompanied such a cute instrument&dance team on Loboc River during a full-day tour in Bohol.
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Food
Food (57 USD): Since Cebu is the second largest city in the Philippines after the capital Manila, there are large fast food chains I wouldn’t believe it if I were told that one day I would be so happy to see McDonalds We paid 230 PHP for two cheeseburgers on the menu.. For Pizza Hut, the pizza plus coke we shared was 300 PHP.
The restaurant at Kawasan waterfalls we went to during the tour in Cebu was very nice, noodle plus coke cost 230 PHP.. We split pizza and coke again in Bohol, it cost 400 PHP. We bought 6 small and very tasty bananas, 10 PHP each.. Apart from that, we have spent 30 PHP a liter of water and snacks such as chips and biscuits from the markets.
As you can see, we ate a little bit in portions, Philippines food (or Philippines food). Let’s say normal meals that can be eaten in. You can think of it as $15 – $20 a day for two.
The delicious noodle we ate at the restaurant of Kawasan Falls.
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Transportation
Transportation (55 USD): As you can understand from what I have explained above, it takes you to places to visit as part of an individual tour. I included what we paid to the drivers in the activity part.. The transportation costs here basically consist of ferry services between Cebu and Bohol.
Fly to Cebu, travel, go to Bohol, travel because I could not find a suitable flight from Bohol. Instead of a straight plan like getting to the next stop from Bohol, we had to go back to Cebu again.. The best way to travel between Cebu and Bohol is the Oceanjet ferry, the tickets we bought from the air-conditioned covered ground cost 1000 PHP, they added 100 PHP tax.. On the way back from Bohol, the ticket price was still the same, but they wanted 40 PHP for the tax, now it changes everywhere. J In Bohol, they also made up a nonsense called ‘baggage check in’ and asked for 100 more PHP to put our backpacks somewhere.. In short, we can say that the ferry between Cebu and Bohol is around $22 for two people one way.
I said that Cebu is a big city; so there are also highways and taxis we know. It cost PHP 195 to get from the ferry port to the hotel, as white taxis are cheaper. For our other taxi use, we paid PHP 300 from the hotel to the airport.. If you’ve ever wondered Does Uber be used in the Philippines, yes, but these white taxis looked a little cheaper than Uber when we checked.
We also toured Cebu a bit by taking the jeepney minibuses for public transportation twice.. Two people commute 28 PHP from 7 PHP one way.
The cheapest transportation in Cebu to mingle with the locals We used the minibuses (jeepney) that have a method.
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Shopping
Shopping (19 USD): Since we were traveling with cabin baggage (backpack), we ran out of 100 ml of sunscreen that we could take with us, we bought 100 ml of sunscreen for 255 PHP. When we went to Chocolate Hills in Bohol, we wanted to buy t-shirts with tarsier monkeys on them because they looked so cute (I’m on them in the photo with the instrument above) and we paid 400 PHP for 200 each.
And I bought a cool summer hat for 85 PHP from the mall in Bohol. The rest are small items such as postcards and magnets.
Philippines Vacation Prices: Our Total Spending
Yes, we learned the distribution of expenditures by regions.. Now we’ll see how much the Philippines trip will cost in total. For this, I collect each category of the expenses I have distributed according to the regions above, I add the cost of the sim card that allows us to use the internet in the Philippines, and of course, the plane tickets that I have never mentioned before.
Our total spending on a 16 night Philippines vacation for two.
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Internet
Internet (24 USD): There are two major GSM operators in the Philippines; Globe and Smart. There are tables you will definitely see inside the airport in Manila, we bought two Globe sim cards with 4 GB internet for this price.. If you want to add a search, the price is a little higher, we did not find it necessary.
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Flight Tickets
International flights (721 USD): Our flights with Saudia Airlines as Istanbul – Manila, Manila – Munich cost this much. Considering the distance traveled, I can say that it was the cheapest plane ticket I bought, even if we made the return to Istanbul instead of Munich, it would have been a little cheaper.
Domestic flights (338 USD): The combination of the flights that produced the most affordable prices bothered me a lot and I shaped the route a little accordingly.. For example, I could not take a flight from Manila to El Nido without planning Puerto Princesa, for example, we took a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa and then went to El Nido by van transfer.. Then there was no Bohol – Boracay flight either, it was necessary to return from Bohol to Cebu and extend it as Cebu – Boracay. Also, I combined some of them and bought some of them on their own from different sites, etc.. Their distribution is as follows:
- Air Asia with Manila – Puerto Princesa 88 USD
- Philippine Airlines Coron – Cebu flight 77 USD
- With Air Asia Cebu – Boracay ( Caticlan) flight 73 USD
- Cebu Pacific Air Boracay (Caticlan) – Manila flight 84 USD
Something strange happened; Air Asia, which accepted our backpacks in the cabin on the first flight from Manila, asked for baggage allowance to the same backpacks in Cebu.. Resisting didn’t work, so we paid $16 baggage fee.
The food was good for the price of Saudia Airlines, which we used for round trips. .
If you are someone who cannot fit in a cabin-size suitcase or backpack, you have to pay a luggage fee, which varies according to the size and weight of the bag, in all of these local airlines, the prices are around 10 dollars per luggage, but you should check it out. and you have to add it when purchasing (or after) the ticket because it is more expensive to add at the airport. In other words, if we did not travel with a backpack, we would have paid at least 80 dollars more for 4 domestic flights for two people.. In addition, we would have to double the transportation prices by getting on two separate tricycles, since we could not fit two people plus suitcases on the bike-made tricycles that we need to use in many places.. That’s why, if you can, travel with less stuff like us and don’t pay such extra fees at all
After all, we do everything we want to do and add even small pranks like staying in a luxury hotel in Boracay. two people 16 night Philippines vacation cost us almost 3000 dollars. I think it’s worth it in terms of the experiences we’ve had and the places we’ve visited. How much does the trip cost if you found my article useful, don’t forget to share it on social media and follow Hayat ve Seyahat‘s social media accounts below to be informed about my new articles!
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