In this report, I discuss the best places to go in the Philippines right now. I will show you pictures I took touring the Philippines in 2020 as I proceed. The beautiful woman you see in the photos is Qiang Hui of Hobo Ventures. The man in the pictures is me, Dan.
Part 2:
There are a number of factors I considered when deciding the best place to go in the Philippines right now. Here are those factors: (1) Avoiding areas devastated by recent typhoons, (2) Cost of living considerations, (3) Best cooler mountain towns, (4) Best areas to find love, (5) Best white sand beaches, and (6) Reducing natural disasters risks present in the Philippines (Typhoons, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Landslides)?
After I discuss these 6 factors, I will share the cities I will visit in the Philippines over the next year or two.
I left the United States 15 years ago and I have lived in or visited 67 different countries. When in each country, I gathered data about livability factors such as weather, visas, cost of living, rents, food, utilities, and things to do.
I have over 100 reports on VagabondBuddha.com that help people decide where to live or retire cheap in paradise based upon their lifestyle and needs.
Avoiding areas devastated by recent typhoons
Most people are going to the Philippines to have fun. In that case, you should avoid areas devastated by recent typhoons. In those areas, many businesses were destroyed and have not had a chance to rebuild.
Typhoon Rai (Odette) was the deadliest storm to hit the Philippines in 2021. I have included a link so you can see the exact path, but here is my map of Rai’s path which is a little easier to see than the official link. Official Rai Path. Google Map.
As shown in the above Google Map, Rai first struck land at Siargao Island as a category 5 and then continued west over the north side of Bohol Island. It then struck Cebu Island just south of Cebu City before continuing west over the top of Negros Island a few hours north of Dumaguete. It then continued west over Palawan Island with the eye of the storm just north of Puerto Princesa.
In my above map, the red line is the most powerful part of the Typhoon. Within an hour’s drive by car, from the red line (north or south), you will see many buildings that are completely destroyed. Many businesses that you would otherwise expect to find between the yellow lines, might be closed temporarily and many will need to be completely rebuilt.
Once you get 2 to 3 hours north or south of the redline, you start to enter areas where many buildings, if not most, survived the typhoon structurally but may have received damages that have probably been repaired. So there is a good chance they are functioning businesses by now.
For example, this report about the restoration of electricity to neighborhoods in Negros Oriental was published about 30 days after typhoon Rai. As you will see in the below map, communities within about 1 hour north or south of the redline still had not had electricity completely restored a month after the Typhoon.
So, my goal will be to stay clear of areas that are within 1.5 hours drive north or south of the redline.
Cost of living considerations
Most ex-pats living in the Philippines report costs of living ranging from about $1000 to $2000 per month in US dollars. Whenever I have a guest star reporting costs of living for less than $1000 USD per month, someone will leave a comment that it is impossible to live on so little money in the Philippines.
But the truth is, there are entire Filipino families living on $500 USD per month. So if you are one of those people that can live on very little money in your home country, there aren’t many places around the world where you can live cheaper than in the Philippines.
I have done multiple Youtube interviews with expats explaining how they are able to live on $600 Month (Single Male Expat and Filipina Girlfriend), $500 Month (Single Male Expat), $800 USD Month Expat Couple, $673 USD Month (Female Expat), $725 Month Expat and Filipino Family of 6, $600 Month Single Male Expat, $650 USD Month (Expat, his wife, and Baby).
I also include a report explaining Why Many Expats Can’t Live on $800 USD a month in the Philippines. I will provide a webpage with links to all of this at the end of this video. Here are my three best tips for living on a budget.
Budget Tip 1: If you live near a larger city or in a tourist area, it will be harder for you to keep your budget. But if you decide to live a little further out, in the country, it will be easier for you to keep a lower budget.
Budget Tip 2: If you try to recreate your old life in the Philippines you will have a hard time living on a tight budget. But if you are willing to learn from locals how they live, instead of teaching them how you lived in your home country, it will be much, much, much easier for you to live on a budget.
Budget tip 3: Learn how to buy locally sourced goods, services, and foods, rather than look for the brands you loved when you lived in your home country. Making friends with locals will help you assimilate more quickly into a cost-effective life in the Philippines. Make sure to read my report, How to Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes New Expats Make When Moving Overseas.
Best cooler mountain towns
The Philippines are made up of over 7,000 islands that rose up from the Pacific Ocean follow millions of years ago mostly as volcanoes. Of course, most volcanoes don’t stop at sea level. Rather, rise up into the sky as lava flows down their sides.
Said another way, the Philippines are thousands of volcanoes that rose up from the seafloor. So if you like cooler weather, you need to live in a city that is on the side of one of the volcanoes in the Philippines. But the key is to pick a city that is on the side of a volcano that is no longer active.
So, here are some towns, big and small, in the Philippines that are at various elevations above sea level, and their average high and low temperatures year-round are more comfortable for cooler weather fans.
Baguio: Baguio is the most famous cooler mountain hill station in the Philippines. It is about 1500 meters above sea level (one mile high) with January as the coldest month ranging from an average of 13C at night to 23C in the days (55F nights to 73F days). The warmest month is August at 16C average at night to 22C during the day (61F to 72F). It is a university town with about 350,00 people living there. It is very green, beautiful, and hilly with pine trees. The rainy season is May through September. Baguio is near a fault line and the last major earthquake to hit was a 7.7 earthquake was 30 years ago. Source 1, 2.
Tagaytay: Tagaytay is a hill station about 1.5 hours south of Manila. Tagaytay is at about 600 meters (2000 feet) above sea level so it is slightly warmer than Baguio with an average high of around 29C (84F) in the warmest month of April and an average high of around 24C (75F) in the coldest month of January. Like Baguio, Tagaytay is green and hilly but has a smaller population of around 85,000 people. Tagaytay is also in an active earthquake zone.
Don Salvador Benedicto (DSB): DSB is also known as little Baguio of the Philippines. DSB is at about 715 meters (2346 feet) above sea level. It is located in Negros Occidental in the Philippines and has a population of about 27,000 people and has a pine forest. It is a post-colonial-era hill station with daytime highs averaging 27C (81F) in April and dropping to 23C (73F) in January.
Valencia: Valencia is basically a smaller city about 8 kilometers up the mountain from the well-known expat town of Dumaguete in the Philippines. At just 600 meters (1640 feet) above sea level, Valencia is not as cool as some of the other hill stations, but it has the convenience of quick access to Dumaguete where there are more restaurants, larger grocery stores, and a better nightlife than Valencia. Valencia highs averages as high as 31C (88F) in May and the highs average 28C (83F) in January. Temperatures at night drop to around 23C (74F) in May and down to 22C (72F) in January.
I have also provided a link to 5 other hill stations in the Philippines.
Best areas to find love in the Philippines
Most people are finding love in the Philippines online now. That trend was already strong but it became even stronger during the public space lockdowns in the years 2020 through 2021. So there really is no area that is better for finding love in the Philippines.
In fact, if you are not having luck finding love in one area, just switch your profile to another area in the Philippines. If you meet someone out of the area online that you would like to meet in person, just travel to that area to meet them.
You may just get lucky and meet someone just walking around the Philippines. That is even more likely as things continue to open up more and people are allowed to assemble in public areas. But you should also have a profile up online.
Tinder is a great application to find love in the Philippines. It is not a hook-up application like it is in the USA. You can also find love on Tinder in the Philippines. I found Qiang on Tinder. Other dating sites that people have had luck with include Filipino Cupid, OkCupid, and Bumble.
I am including links to a few of my reports about dating in SE Asia. The first report online dating tips, the second report is how to meet someone the old fashion way.
Best white sand beaches
We toured around the Philippines for about 8 months in 2020. Here is a list of our favorite white sand beaches.
Tubod Beach was our favorite beach on Siquijor Island. Siquijor is about a 50-minute ferry ride from Dumaguete in the Philippines. Next time we visit this part of the Philippines we will probably stay on Siquijor for a few weeks or months.
Camiguin Islands Best Beaches: White Island, Mantique Island, and Giant Clams Sanctuary Beach were our favorite beaches on Camiguin Island in the Philippines.
Panglao Island: When in Panglao Island in the Philippines you need to check out our favorite white sand beaches there.
Talicud Island: When in the Davao area of the Philippines make sure to check out the best beaches in Talicud Island.
Boracay: When on Boracay Island, make sure to check out White Beach walking all the way from North to South.
Reducing Risks in the Philippines of Typhoons, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Landslides
I have a completely separate report on this topic that you should consider carefully if you are thinking of establishing a residence long-term in the Philippines.
The Philippines is one of the many countries on the “Ring of Fire” that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. The ring of fire is where 75% of the world’s volcanoes are located and where ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Seismic activity is caused by tectonic plates grinding against each other under great pressure around the ring of fire. This grinding causes earthquakes. Additionally, as one tectonic plate rides over the top of another, the lower plate is melted into a liquid rock called magma. The magma released up through cracks in the tectonic plates is the source of volcanic activity. “Ring of Fire,” National Geographic (NG1). Additionally, the strongest earthquakes around the ring of fire are known to cause tsunamis.
Thus, the Philippines are directly in the path of significant potential danger from volcanoes, typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Additionally, those four kinds of natural disasters also cause landslides, storm surges, and flooding.
I am providing a link to that report but here is the gist of it. I have heat maps that show where Typhoons typically hit, where active volcanoes are present, where earthquakes are part of daily life, and how to survive a Tsunami (tidal wave).
Here are the heat maps of natural disasters from that report:
These three trenches are where there is the most pressure from tectonic plates sliding against each other creating earthquakes, so these are just a few of the more active and deadly hotspots.
Above is the Typhoon heat Map. The greatest damage and highest winds are in the orange color with less intensity in yellows and even less in blues. This is just a history of Typhoons over the last 50 years. The past does not guarantee future Typhoon behavior.
Above are the locations of the volcanoes noted by scientists.
After considering all of the above natural disasters, we have decided that if we were to settle in the Philippines long-term, we would prefer a place that falls within the red area of the following map.
But remember, there are no guarantees with respect to natural disasters. So the best you can do is try to reduce the likelihood of occurrence. That should become immediately apparent to you when you notice that the unusual path of Typhoon Rai cut right through the middle of my map in December of 2021. There are no guarantees. You can only reduce the likelihood.
Best Places to Go in the Philippines Right Now
Recently I shared a video saying we were headed for the Philippines and we asked our 70,000 regular viewers where they would like us to go. I created a simple spreadsheet with your responses and I will put the list on our webpage along with all of the other above information and maps discussed above.
Here are the places in the Philippines where three or more of you requested I visit and create the cost of living reports, retirement desirability reports, and things to do reports.
I have one of the most sophisticated audiences of world travels, so their advice of where to go is one of the best sources in the world. Many people in my audience have traveled all over the Philippines and know the best places.
Three or More Requests
|
Location |
Province |
Island |
#Requests |
|
Baguio |
Benguet |
Luzon |
14 |
|
Dumaguete |
Negros Oriental |
Negros |
8 |
|
San Fernando |
La Union |
Luzon |
8 |
|
Cebu |
Cebu |
Cebu |
7 |
|
Davao |
Davao Del Sur |
Mindanao |
7 |
|
Palawan Island |
|
Palawan |
7 |
|
Iloilo |
Iloilo |
Panay |
6 |
|
Tagaytay |
Cavite |
Luzon |
6 |
|
Bohol Island |
Bohol |
Bohol island |
5 |
|
Boracay |
Aklan |
Boracay |
5 |
|
El Nido |
Palawan |
Miniloc |
5 |
|
Vigan City |
Ilocos Sur |
Luzon |
5 |
|
Cagayan Del Oro |
Misamis |
Mindanao |
4 |
|
Coron |
Palawan |
Busuanga |
4 |
|
San Carlos |
Negros Occidental |
Negros Island |
3 |
|
Subic Bay |
Zambales |
Luzon |
3 |
|
Trece Martires |
Cavite |
Luzon |
3 |
Table of two requests (below)
Many of these are near places where we received more requests, so we will do our best to include them in our research.
|
Location |
Province |
Island |
#Requests |
|
Angeles City |
Pampanga |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Bacolod |
Negros Occidental |
Negros Island |
2 |
|
Balabac |
Palawan |
Palawan |
2 |
|
Baler |
Aurora |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Batangas |
Batangas |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Caramoan |
Camarines Sur |
Luzon |
2 |
|
General Trias |
Cavite |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Makati |
Manila |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Malaybalay |
Bukidnon |
Mindanao |
2 |
|
Roxas City |
Capiz |
Panay |
2 |
|
San Juan |
Manila |
Luzon |
2 |
|
Siargao |
Surigao del Norte |
Siargao |
2 |
|
Siquijor |
Siquijor |
Siquijor |
2 |
Table of Single Requests (below)
We may visit a few of these if we can fit them into our schedule.
|
Location |
Province |
Island |
#Requests |
|
Alaminos |
Pangasinan |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Alcoy |
Alcoy |
Cebu |
1 |
|
Amanpulo |
Pamalican |
Palawan |
1 |
|
Banaue |
Ifugao |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Bantayan Island |
Cebu |
Cebu |
1 |
|
Batanes |
Batan Island |
Batanese |
1 |
|
Biliran Island |
Biliran |
Biliran |
1 |
|
Cadiz |
Negros Oriental |
Negros |
1 |
|
Camotes Island |
Cebu |
Camotes |
1 |
|
Catanduanes |
Catanduanes |
Catanduanes |
1 |
|
Cavite |
Cavite |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Dipaculao |
Aurora |
Luzon |
1 |
|
General Santos City |
South Cotabato |
Mindanao |
1 |
|
Kadingilan |
Bukidon |
Mindanao |
1 |
|
Laoag |
Ilocos Norte |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Legazpi Village |
Manila |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Lubang Island |
Occidental Mindoro |
Lubang |
1 |
|
Lucban |
Quezon |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Odiongan Romblon |
|
|
1 |
|
Puerto Galera |
Oriental Mindoro |
Mindoro |
1 |
|
Puerto Princess |
Palawan |
Palawan |
1 |
|
Sagada |
Mountain Province |
Luzon |
1 |
|
Samar Island |
|
|
1 |
|
San Miguel |
Leyte |
Leyte |
1 |
|
Tacloban |
Tacloban |
Leyte |
1 |
|
Tahgbilaran |
Bohol |
Bohol |
1 |
|
Valencia |
Negros Oriental |
Negros |
1 |
So, there are 17 locations that three or more of you requested we visit on our tour of the Philippines. We have already visited five of the locations you requested and have written reports on those. Link provided to those reports.
There are also several places in the Philippines you requested that were devastated by typhoon Rai (Odette). We intend to visit those locations later during our tour when they have had more time to rebuild.
We also reserve the right to remove and add other places as we learn more in the coming months.
For now, we will take your advice and consider the table of three or more requests are our best places to go in the Philippines right now. So we will use your advice to guide our path through the Philippines starting in about three weeks.
Thanks for checking out my content, the best places to go in the Philippines right now. Make sure to grab a free copy of my ebook while you are here, How I Fired My Boss and Traveled the World for 15+ Years.
This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the Youtube Channel for VagabondBuddha.com. The world is your home, what time will you be home for dinner?