Sharing the essential Philippines travel tips that everyone should know before they visit! I only visited Palawan, so these tips will be geared towards visiting there.
I booked my trip pretty last minute, and honestly didn’t really know what to expect on my trip to the Philippines. I wasn’t able to find a ton of resources on travel, so wanted to share my experience going to the beautiful islands of Palawan.
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To be honest, before I left for the Philippines I was hearing mixed thoughts on how safe it is to visit. Firstly, before you go anywhere, I always recommend reading the US Travel Advisory for that country so you are aware of anything going on.
I experienced no safety issues – I visited Palawan as a solo female traveler, and found the people to be very welcoming and friendly. I met a ton of other solo travelers around town and on many of the boat excursions!
Based on my experience, I would recommend Palawan as a solo travel destination – there are so many great ways to meet fellow travelers and socialize. While also feeling safe to walk around and explore on your own!
2. There are no Ubers or Taxis
Instead, there are these trikes you can take to get around the islands:
The trike rides cost about 200 – 300 PHP, depending on how far you are going.
There are also group shuttle busses that are typically used for airport transfers, and boat expeditions to get you down to the boat docks.
I would highly recommend reaching out to your hotel/Airbnb before you land to make sure that they reserve a spot for you on the shuttle bus to pick you up from the airport!
3. Cash is king
You will need a lot of cash (Philippine Pesos) on your trip to the Philippines. Most restaurants, hotels, activities, shops, etc only take cash, and all prefer cash even if they take credit cards.
There are ATMs located all over, and also right at the airport when you land. Make sure you get a ton of cash out of the ATMs!
I actually racked up quite a few ATM fees because I didn’t properly account for what I’d need. I’d recommend either taking out the max each time, or actually figuring out how much money you’ll need for your whole trip and budgeting accordingly.
I would also recommend getting as many small bills as possible – your hotel or convenience stores should be able to help exchange your bigger bills.
A lot of my trike drivers didn’t have change (or weren’t willing to give me change) so I ended up paying a lot more than I should have, just because I didn’t have small enough bills.
4. Tipping is not expected
However, I would recommend adding a small tip for stellar service (50 – 100 Pesos). It goes a long way for the locals.
5. There are no sidewalks
Yep, you heard me! You just sort of walk along the side of the street like this:
This took me a minute to get used to honestly, but you’ll soon realize that everyone else is doing it, so the drivers are used to it!
As a side note, I swear these drivers have the best spatial awareness. I would personally not recommend renting a car here!
6. Pack (and wear) a ton of sunscreen
The sun is so so hot in the Philippines! I was constantly wearing 50+ SPF and STILL got super tan!
Luckily no burn though; major shoutout to my Blue Lizard sunscreen. I put that stuff on religiously twice a day and did not burn once.
I would highly recommend packing and bringing sunscreen from home. Almost everyone who bought their sunscreen in the Philippines burnt – I think they have different standards and people said that the sunscreen they bought there just didn’t work as well.
7. Always wear a life jacket when you're in the water
I wanted to reiterate how important it is to always wear/bring a life jacket when you’re in the water! Regardless of your swim level!
I almost always had my life jacket on, but if I took it off to float or tan, I had it right next to me or hooked on my wrist.
This is something the tour guides started enforcing as a result of a couple really unfortunate incidences, I don’t wanna scare you so you can google the news stories on your own.
8. Bring lots of mosquito bug spray
One of my biggest fears was getting bitten by a mosquito and getting dengue fever on my trip, so I packed a ton of bug spray – specifically this Picaridin Insect Repellent Spray.
I did a lot of research on which bug spray to bring because I normally get eaten alive when the sun starts to set. But I sprayed this stuff on me constantly, and definitely think it worked because I only got a few bug bites and did not get dengue fever!
9. You will never be hungry
Filipino food is pretty dense and they serve you these huge buffets of delicious food on all the tours!
I also heard from a lot of travelers I met, that they think the Philippines is one of the only Southeast Asian countries to “do American food well.” I haven’t been to too much of SEA yet to personally verify this, but did have a burger one day that was really good!
10. You're never going to want to leave
The water in the Philippines was some of the most unbelievably blue waters I’ve ever seen. The people were all so friendly and welcoming and instantly made me feel right at home.
I was actually so sad that I didn’t have more time to explore more of the islands here; the biggest mistake I made was definitely coming here for ONLY a week.
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mariss
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