Explore the Philippines on a Budget: An 11-Day Itinerary
- Life Beyond the Leap Crew
- Apr 15, 2024
- 6 min read
After our 9-month trip across the U.S. in our Airstream, we paused for a few months to explore 4 countries in Southeast Asia which we will highlight here in separate posts.
First up - the Philippines.
Since we left our jobs behind and put ourselves on a self-induced sabbatical, we made a point to make our travels as budget friendly as possible. To keep our finances in check, we logged every single purchase, which in the end gave us an accurate view of what we were spending each day, and served as a way to help other travelers understand ballpark costs. This also allowed us to compare differences in costs between other countries we visited as well as the disparity of what similar items cost in the U.S. (such as bottled water - 40 cents in Manila opposed to $3-$5 for the same size in the U.S.!)
For this exercise, we narrowed down our spending into 4 categories:
Hotel
Food/Drink
Transportation (not including flights)
Excursions (snorkeling etc)
Miscellaneous (rentals, massages, laundry, sundries etc.)
When it comes to planning, I lean towards the comfort of having all arrangements secured beforehand, whereas Kandace thrives on the spontaneity of allowing our adventure to unfold organically. For example, when we left on our cross-country camping trip, we had the first 6 months booked in advance. Happy me :-), however not even a week into that trip, we got stuck in a snowstorm and had to scramble to adjust our itinerary. How does that quote go? When you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans…... yea… I quickly learned that even the best laid out plans can quickly unravel due to unpredictable circumstances.
Mandy Hale once said “You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”
So, when we set off on this trip, I gave in to Kandace’s desire to just let go and embrace the excitement of not knowing what comes next.
This trip was also an opportunity for personal growth, so I set aside my anxieties, embraced the journey, trusted the process, and discovered a surprisingly less stressful experience – who knew!
Over the course of 11 days, we immersed ourselves in the wonders of the Philippines, with our main focus centered on a small island just off the coast of Palawan. Here's how our adventure unfolded:
11 Day Itinerary
Day 1
Manilla
We opted to stay in a hostel for this leg and paid $62 for a private room at UNWND before heading to the Island of Palawan the next day.
Day 2
Flight to Palawan Island
One night in Puerto Princesa
Hotel: Ipil Suites - $40
Day 3
Travel to El Nido & Darocotan Island
Full day of travel to El Nido. We crammed into a van with 8 other people for a 6-hour ride on primitive dirt roads and arrived in El Nido in the late afternoon. That was just leg 1 of 3 to get us to our final destination of Darocotan Island!
We then had a 45-minute ride across the island over a small mountain on a dirt road down to a beach where we had a bangka (double outrigger boat) waiting to take us to Darocotan Island. We got there just after sunset, and almost missed our taxi across the bay as they don’t operate the boats in the dark. Luckily, as the last moments of light lingered in the sky the captain scrambled to get us across the bay before darkness fell. Nothing like adding a little stress to the end of the day but it always makes for a better story to tell, especially when things work out in the end.
- Van Ride to El Nido: $25.20
- Car Ride to boat taxi: $27.00
- 3 nights at Isla Experience, Darocotan Island: $241 – food and beverage included.
Day 4-6
Darocotan Island
We had an amazing time at Isla Experience. This was an awesome rustic experience where we stayed in bamboo huts on a remote island with no stores, no roads, no nothin. I learned that another benefit of not being tied to a specific schedule gave us the flexibility to make changes on the fly. We originally booked 5 nights, and after seeing that other visitors were only staying for 1 or 2 nights, we decided to shorten our stay to 3 nights. There are only a handful of locals and only 2 resorts, Isle Experience (where we stayed) and Dryft, a more upscale but still rustic bamboo hut experience. We explored the island, enjoyed 3 meals a day that were prepped at camp, hung out with two cool pigs, and met people from all over the world who we are still connected with today. Note that huts at Isla are large and small. (only large huts are pictured below) The larger huts cost a bit more but offer a much more comfortable experience. The small huts are super cramped as the mattress takes up 95% of the floor space which is fine for a night or two or for a solo traveler but not ideal for a couple in their 50s ;-)
Isla Experience in Pictures
Dryft in Pictures
Day 7-10
Palawan Island – El Nido
El Nido is an enchanting paradise with crystalline turquoise waters, limestone cliffs jutting majestically from the sea, and pristine white sandy beaches that is a haven for nature lovers and adventure seekers alike.
We spent 2 nights in a super budget friendly hotel nestled above an Indian food restaurant where the toilet basin needed to be filled by the shower head in order to flush, and the smell of curry permeated the walls as well as our clothes. Fortunately we are both flexible and look back at these situations and just laugh.
Hotel Ashoka - $28 per night
Then we splurged and spent 2 nights at a hotel right on the beach!
Tandikan Beach Cottages - $63 per night. (Not really budget friendly but after 2 nights of smelling like curry, it was a cost averaging splurge)
And we can't leave out the best meal we had in El Nido - noodles at The Food Truck - $12 and it was amazing!
Excursions:
Canopy walk with spectacular views of the bay perched atop a jagged limestone vista. - $19
Island hopping boat tour with snorkeling, food, and kayaking in the crystal-clear waters of big lagoon! - $58
We also got a couples tattoo – how’s that for spontaneity?
El Nido in Pictures
Day 11
Van ride back to Puerto Princesa - $28.80
Hostel stay at Bamboo Nest - $21
This hostel was simply amazing – we had our own private bamboo room. The kitchen, bathrooms, and quad were all shared areas. It literally felt like we were in a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. For dinner, we walked down to a local market, bought some vegetables, noodles, and eggs and made an amazing scramble ($4.30 total) in the shared kitchen while chatting with travelers from the UK.
Bamboo Nest in Pictures
Final Night
Flight back to Manila.
Stayed in an apartment / hotel - $21
Cost breakdown: (Not Including flights)
Hotel: $576
Food/Drink: $515.90
Transportation: $150.30
Excursions: $77
Misc: 101.80
Total Cost: $1,420
Average Cost per Day: $129.18
Average Cost per Person per Day: $65.59
Flight costs for reference:
SF to Manila: $1,794
Manila to Palawan: $343.54
Palawan to Manila: $512
Manila to Hanoi: $261.36
*Baggage Fees: $89.36
TOTAL: $3,000.26 ($1,500.13 each)
* One thing to be aware of when booking flights. The airlines don’t always tell you if they charge extra for checked baggage. We found out the hard way when flying AirAsia from Manila to Palawan and back.
The Philippines offers so much beauty and wonder, it’s difficult to choose what to see with only 11 days to explore. We hope you find this information useful, and we hope to return someday soon to check out more islands and report back on our adventures.
Until then, here are our final takeaways from this trip:
- The Philippines is incredibly budget friendly.
- We feel our daily budget of $65 was modest, and it can certainly be done for a lot less based on your own personal comfort levels and activities.
- Favorite beer – Red Horse ($2-$3 a bottle).
- Favorite excursion – kayaking in Big Lagoon.
- The tricycles (3-wheeler taxis) are all unique and super cool looking.
- The lively area in El Nido is where Serena St., Rizal St and Quezon Streets come together. You can find all you need in this area like hotels, ATMs, shopping, restaurants, excursion companies, and more.
- The van rides to and from El Nido were arguably the most miserable travel experiences. We were packed in like sardines, it was hot, the roads were bumpy and if you are claustrophobic forgetaboutit! Looking back we would definitely pay a bit more for a more comfortable ride.
- Basketball is a huge sport throughout the Philippines. We saw all sorts of courts on the island from rustic bamboo backboards in the dirt to glass backboards on clay courts under a covered pavilion. Super impressive.
If you have any travel tips to add for the Philippines, please share in the comments.
Next up……..Vietnam
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