Let’s have a look at money and spendings in the Philippines from different perspective today. Some time ago it was very common among tourists to share in the internet how much they can buy for rounded, and not too big amount of money, when visiting given country. I decided to “spend” 50 Polish zloty (PLN), which is equivalent of about 12 euro or 13 US dollars. We will “spend” money on the small island Siquijor and bigger city Dumaguete. Ok, here we go!
How much is 12 Euro?
Depending on the current exchange rate it is about 710-750 PHP. Is that a lot? For Poles rather not, for locals it is really significant amount of money. This is, for example, what waitress can earn in 3 days! Yes, you see correctly – waitress earns about 250 pesos per day plus tips.
Accommodation
700 pesos allow you for accommodation for one night. Nothing extraordinary, but decent single or double room with bathroom, doesn’t matter it will be small island or bigger city. You can easily find such room and pay 400-800 PHP. If you are ok with hostels and dorms this amount of money will allow you for 3 days stay (average price in dorms is about 250 pesos per day).
Motorbike or bicycle rental
On Siquijor island standard price per day for a scooter is 300 pesos, so with over 700 you can keep it for 2 days at least. In the city of Dumaguete it will be about 100 PHP more per day. Bicycle is less popular because of the weather (too hot, too humid), however if you really want you can rent it, too. Paying 250 PHP per day at Baha Ba’r you can explore Siquijor island on good quality mountain bike.
Food
If you do not eat much and like (or have no choice and have to like) Filipino food, you can spend 30-50 PHP for a meal. Simple arithmetic shows that you will not be hungry for at least four days, having 3 meals daily. Things are different if you prefer better restaurants and there are quite a lot of them. Good dinner in Korean restaurant for example will cost about 250 PHP per person while more sophisticated meals in other places may cost 350 or even more. Anyway with 50 PLN in your pocket you can afford one good dinner for two, including beer.
Sight seeing and other amusements
Most of amusements and sports will not be available with the budget of 710-750 PHP. Whale sharks watching for instance would cost 1500 PHP, so twice more. Similarly Apo island trip and swimming with sea turtles. Also jest ski rental starts from 1500 PHP per 30 minutes. Scuba diving would be 1400-1500 PHP per dive, so… some may prefer to give it up and choose…
Partying!
Yes, with over 700 PHP you can definitely afford all night dancing and drinking. Why? Because 1 litre bottle of local rum will cost you about 100 pesos. With your budget you can buy at least 4 litres of rum and twice more soft drinks and invite 5-6 people for common partying.
If you prefer other alcohol, you can buy 1.5 litre of gin plus tonic or at least 7 litres of beer!
Hope I was able to give you and idea on the prices in the Philippines in a light way. If you want to know more about cost of living and other things related to living in the Philippines, feel free to read my other posts available here LINK Filipiny, Cheers, Rafał
