Is it expensive to travel to the Philippines? How much money will you need for your Philippines itinerary and what can you expect to pay for accommodation in the Philippines or food in the Philippines? Knowing how much money you’ll need to travel to a new destination is always useful, right? To help you answer these questions, we made a complete cost breakdown of Philippines travel budget.
Read also: Philippines in 3-4 weeks: travel route + tips
Our Philippines travel budget: good to know
The Philippines is a wonderful destination with many stunning islands to explore and lots of things to do. However, if we compare it to other Southeast Asian destinations, it’s somewhat more expensive but it’s more than worth it! The biggest part of our Philippines travel budget is the cost of transportation to get to the other islands and the many fun activities that we have done. (like the famous island-hopping tours, diving trips, or expeditions)
Last year we visited the Philippines twice, each time for a month (56 days to be exact), and made our total cost breakdown of our Philippines travel budget based on these two months. Most of our Philippines travel budget went to transportation, activities, and food, but that’s typically how we are.
We divided our Philippines travel budget into 5 categories and tell for every category what we spent in total + what the average daily costs are. So whether you have a Philippines itinerary for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 2 months, this article will give you a good cost indication for your own trip.
What’s not included in our Philippines travel budget
Our purchases such as flights, travel insurance, and backpacks are not included in our Philippines travel budget, as these costs are different for everyone and we already bought these in advance.
-
- International flights – the first time we with Cathay Pacific from the Maldives and paid $290 per person (one-way ticket), the second time we flew with Cebu Pacific from Japan and paid $127 per person
- Travel insurance – World Nomads
- Purchase of our big backpacks (Valerie: Osprey Aura AG 65L and Mik: Deuter Aircontact 75L) and our camera bags (Thule EnRoute Backpack 25L and Thule Covert DSLR Rolltop Backpack)
Read also: Maldives on a budget: the ultimate travel itinerary + tips
Accommodations in the Philippines – 56 days – $1401
(total for two persons)
In terms of accommodations in the Philippines, we chose to stay in charming, trendy, and budget-friendly accommodations. In the 56 days, we spent an average of $25 on accommodations in the philippines. Generally, accommodations in the Philippines are a bit more expensive than in other Southeast Asian countries, but you can make it as cheap or expensive as you want. We combine our stays in hostels, hotels and more luxury glampings to enjoy our backpacking trip in the Philippines
Money-saving tip: use this link to save up to $45 on your first booking on Airbnb
- 12 nights in mid-range hotels – average $37/night
- 2 nights in a guesthouse – average $ 28/night
- 10 nights in hostels with a private room – average $24/night
- 25 nights in hostels – average $21/night
- 2 nights glamping – average $57/night
- 2 nights overnight ferries – average $33/ferry
- 3 nights camping in a tent on the beach, which was included in our Balabac Expedition
Read also: Best places to stay in the Philippines
Our favorite accommodations in the Philippines
Transportation in the Philippines – 56 days – $1124
(total for two persons)
The costs of transportation in the Philippines can be really high. Depending on how many different islands you want to visit and whether you want to get around comfortably and quickly, costs can be reduced or increased. We visited a lot of places which quickly increased our Philippines travel budget. That’s why we listed down the prices and types of transport we took.
Tip: buy your domestic flights in advance, as they get more expensive if you book last-minute.
- 3 domestic flights – all booked with Skyscanner
-
- Manila to Coron – $103 per person
- Puerto Princesa to Cebu – $23 per person
- Cebu to Siargao – $78 per person
- Dumaguete to Manila – $68 per person
-
- 2 overnight ferries
-
- from Cebu to Surigao – PHP 850 per person ($17)
- from Surigao to Cebu – PHP 850 per person ($17)
-
- 7 fast boats and ferries
-
- Coron to El Nido – PHP 1800 per person ($35)
- Bohol to Siquijor – PHP 600 per person ($23)
- Surigao To Siargao – PHP 220 per person ($4,3)
- Siargao to Surigao – PHP 350 per person ($7)
-
- Some buses & minivans
-
- Puerto Princesa to El Nido – PHP 700 ($14)
- El Nido to Port Barton – PHP 500 per person ($10)
- Cebu City to Moalboal – PHP 150 per person ($3)
- Cebu City to Maya (Malapascua) – PHP 250 per person($5)
-
- Scooter/motorbike rentals – average rental prices are around PHP 350-500 per day ($7-10)
- And we took a Grab taxi from Cebu City to Cebu Airport – PHP 250 ($5)
Did you notice we went to Siargao twice? The first time we had such bad weather why we couldn’t do anything so we decided to go back the second time.
Read also: El Nido Travel Guide: best things to do + tips
Food and drinks in the Philippines – 56 days – $1624
(based on two persons)
Finding vegan food in the Philippines can be challenging. Luckily almost everywhere we came, we’re able to find a lot of great vegan restaurants. Prices were a bit higher than eating in a local restaurant, but we are happy to spend more on having a healthy filling meal. So depending on what you like to eat, you could reduce these costs. We also added some examples of the prices we paid for food, to make it clearer.
- Eating out – $1438 or $25/day
-
- Drinking water is free in most restaurants
- Smoothie bowl around PHP 250 ($4,8)
- Noodles with vegetables in a more popular restaurant around PHP 220 ($4)
- Vegan burger in a more popular restaurant around PHP 280 ($5,4)
- Filipino dish in a local restaurant around PHP 150 ($3)
- Fresh juices around PHP 120 ($2,3)
- Soft drink around PHP 30 ($0,5)
- Local beer around PHP 60 ($1,2)
- Rum & Coke around PHP 80 ($1,5)
- Small bottle of local rum around PHP 50 ($1)
-
- Groceries like water, snacks & fruit – $186 or $3/day
Money-saving tip: buy oats and fruits in the local markets and try to prepare your own breakfast.
Read also: Where to eat in Siargao: 9 x the best vegan food in Siargao & 6 x vegan-friendly restaurants in El Nido
Excursions & activities in the Philippines – 56 days – $1825
(based on two persons)
Even after visiting the Philippines 3 times now, we still have that feeling, that we missed out on seeing places and doing things. That’s mainly also the reason why our expenses on activities in the Philippines are quite high. (kind of FOMO-problem?) Below we have listed the activities in the Philippines we did and their average prices. So depending on what you would like to do, it gives a good idea of the total budget you need to calculate in your Philippines itinerary for this category.
- The Coron Ultimate tour – PHP 1800 per person ($36)
- The island Escapade tour – PHP 1300 per person ($26)
- Wreck diving in Coron with Reggae Divers – PHP 4000 per person for 3 dives ($81)
- Group tour A in El Nido – PHP PHP 1300 per person ($25) + PHP 200 per person/environmental fee ($4)
- Private tour B in El Nido – PHP 4000 per boat + guide ($81) + PHP 200 per person/environmental fee ($4) – No lunch included
- Private tour D in El Nido – PHP 4000 per boat + guide ($81) + PHP 200 per person/environmental fee ($4) – No lunch included
- Island-hopping Expedition – PHP 16.500 per person ($320) for 4 days
- Diving in Moalboal with Neptune Diving Resort – PHP 3600 per person for 3 dives ($63)
- Snorkeling trip to Pescador Island – PHP 1800 per person ($36)
- Whale shark experience in Oslob – PHP 2300 per person ($45)
- Canyoneering at Kawasan Falls in Cebu – PHP 2100 per person ($44)
- Thresher shark diving in Malapascua with Evolution Divers – PHP 1800 per person for 1 Thresher shark dive ($36)
- Private Boat to Sohoton Cove, Bucas Grande National Park in Siargao – PHP 5000 per boat/4 people ($100)
- Private 3-Islands tour (Daku, Guyam & Naked Island) in Siargao – PHP 1500 per boat ($30) + PHP 50 per person/environmental fee ($1)
- Day trip to Sugba Lagoon in Siargao – PHP 1600 per boat ($30) + PHP 100 per person/environmental fee ($2) + PHP 300 for Kayak rental ($6)
- Surf lessons in Siargao – PHP 500 per person for 1 hour ($10)
- Wakeboard session in Siargao – PHP 900 ($18)
- Diving in Camiguin – PHP 1000 per dive ($19)
- Diving in Apo Island with Bongo Bongo Divers – PHP 1300 per dive ($26)
Read also: Coron Travel Guide: 7 x best things to do + tips & El Nido Travel Guide: best things to do + tips
Other costs in the Philippines- 56 days – $329
(based on two persons)
Besides everything we have already mentioned, we, of course, had some other expenses too. For example, we bought sim cards to stay connected, needed to buy sunscreen, the petrol to fill up our scooters, we did the laundry several times and Mik went also to the hairdresser.
- Visas – Our visa-on-arrival was free for 30 days
You can check visa costs for your own country here
- We used 2 different SIM-cards & data packages because they cover different areas
-
- GLOBE – ‘Go Surf package’ for PHP 1000 ($20) / 10GB for 30 days – worked a lot better in Palawan & in our opinion the better choice
- SMART – ‘GIGA VIDEO’ package – PHP 500 / 8GB for 30 days – worked slightly better in Siargao en Bohol
-
- Laundry – PHP 60 ($1)
- Petrol – PHP 55 /liter ($0,9)
- We bought new diving masks – $56
- Sunscreen – PHP 600 ($12)
- Haircut – PHP 150 ($3)
Total Philippines travel budget – 56 days – $6327
(based on two persons)
We stayed 56 days to be exact and spent $6327 in total for both of us, which is an average daily budget of $56 per person. Food & activities in the Philippines were the biggest costs but in our opinion, these are the things that made the trip so unforgettable. If you would skip more excursions and eat in more local restaurants you can easily reduce your average daily budget.
Hopefully, you can use all this information yourself when planning your own Philippines itinerary. If any information is missing, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
Make your Philippines itinerary with our travel resources
As you know, we love to share all our best tips and favorite places with all of you. That’s why created all these online travel guides, which are completely free. If you found this post (or anything we do) useful, we’d be grateful if you buy something through one of our affiliate links in this article. We’ll get a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps us keep our travel blog alive.
Thank you so much for your support! x Valerie & Mik
- Skyscanner – to book the best and cheapest flights
- Airbnb – to stay at incredible homes & apartments
- Booking.com – to book your accommodation
- Lonely Planet – to purchase a detailed travel guide
- TourRadar – to join one of the amazing group tours
- TripAdvisor – to read the best reviews and find amazing tours
- HostelWorld – to book the most amazing hostels
- GetYourGuide – to book awesome tours and activities
DO YOU LIKE THIS POST? PIN AND SHARE IT.
