FFS people, get a grip, it’s not like there’s no internet connectivity. I lived there for a year a couple of years ago, and lack of internet was never an issue. It’s not fast, but it’s there.

Avermat, how did you get on with your internet in Boracay? Heading there is January and if we can find internet we will stay for work so fingers crossed that it is working.

Boracay is not intended or equipped in any way for serious work. I barely hold there for a month. By the way, 4G is working mostly around so called Station 2 area. Stay in Station 1 or at the far southern end of Station 3 or on the eastern part of the island and chances are you wouldn’t get 4G.

“3G” here close to meaning “non-existing connection” - so if you don’t get 4G at any particular spot, you wouldn’t get any internet there at all.

Electricity shortages are also common - a few per week.

It’s a lovely island with nice beach sand, crystal turquoise water and fresh air, though. Just don’t assume that you would have stable (or fast) connection there.

There’s 4G, but it’s highly unreliable.
It’s usually overloaded at the evenings and connection problems are common.

That said, most of the time it’s still better than local WiFi.
That’s fresh test of my connection:

Thanks everybody for your comments and suggestions!

I have to agree with @MatthiasEZeitler on this one. Internet speed in the Philippines is quite slow and prices are way more expensive than other countries. There is no such thing as “unlimited internet” too, so don’t be fooled with all the advertisements.

Internet speed in the Philippines is generally quite low as they oversubscribe their capacity. Boracay is beautiful, but at least last year the internet was pretty crappy (wifi and mobile)

Smart and Globe has LTE coverage in Boracay. They advertise unlimited which isn’t really unlimited according to fair usage policy. There is a monthly data cap depends on the plan/prepaid subscription. It’s hard to win against ISP’s here That said, check http://www.tipidpc.com/forums.php?sec=5 there are specific threads about Smart / Globe LTE

Thanks @mike2381. Didn’t know about OpenSignal, was using Net Index before.

Has anybody been on the ground there recently? It’s been 3 or 4 years since I was last there.

never been there but check these:
http://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/smart-coverage
http://opensignal.com/networks/philippines/globe-coverage

Usually you should ask to the post office for that service

Curious which service are you using in the UK?

Really helpful on both accounts - thanks both for the replies

I think you would need to get a new visa on arrival is you come back. It also takes a few days to process your extension if I remember right (I was there just 2 month ago for 2 month). It just recently changed and it now takes them a few days in which you would not have your passport.

So if you plan to leave and it fits, just leave before you have to extent or overstay a few days and pay the fine (not too long, but a day or two usually causes no harm, just a small fine, but that’s on you to decide)

Hi Jon,

Once you leave the country the visa you had is finished and when you return you’ll be getting a new one. It is not multiple entry.

The ACR card is compulsory for anyone staying in the country longer than a few months (I can’t remember the exact amount but it’s > 2 and <= 6) all banks require one to let you open an account. Some require the permanent resident version of the ACR card but you will only have the tourist version. There are additional requirements that vary from bank to bank and branch to branch within banks. BDO requires you to have been in the country for 6+ months, PNB requires an average balance of 50,000 PHP (this is insane. The average balance in BPI is only required to be 200 peso and most banks are about 2000), BPI requires incredible patience because all their branches are rammed with customers, they all want to see proof of your address (lease agreement, utility bill in your name), etc etc etc.

I spent several hours walking around several banks before giving up as the only proof of my address I had was the receipts my landlord gives me.

Does anybody know anything about the Dojo8, or Bacolod in general? I read some excellent reviews on www.coworker.com, but I’m also taking the advice here seriously.

Any updated information on this topic? @lopesrosanna , did you end up visiting Philippines?

I will go there next week, is it possible to get decent internet via local SIM cards?

Thank you guys! A lot of nice suggestions. I can’t afford to “check it out and see” as my clients will most definitely fire me if I suddenly can’t deliver my service properly. Scary news about the Philippines yesterday but perhaps there are crazy people everywhere. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/phillippine-troops-hunt-hostage-takers-1.3553049). I’ll do some more research about the places you suggested.

Places to avoid? I’d be very cautious about Mindanao, the southernmost region of the country.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Mindanao

The area has a history of piracy, a large Muslim population and some recent incidents of kidnapping and gun battles between government troops & Muslim militias. I’ve been to a couple of its larger cities – Davao and Cagayan de Oro – where I had no problems and felt reasonably safe. On the other hand, last I looked (at least a year) several Western governments had travel advisories telling their citizens to stay away.

I really liked Dumaguete & consider it safe:
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dumaguete

I’m not a single female so wouldn’t really know about any problems they might have. My guess would be that some foreign women might be rather frustrated because so many of the foreign men pair off with local women, generally younger and better-looking than the lasses we would attract at home.

I found Internet there (in hotel or coffee shops) quite adequate for keeping up with email, Facebook, etc. keeping my software (Ubuntu, Firefox, etc,) up-to-date, or uploading things to e,g. Github. Not always good for video streaming, but sometimes OK.

I paid 10,000 pesos a month plus about 1200 for electricity (well under $300 US total) for quite a large hotel room with a very central location, fridge but no cooking facilities, a/c, TV, free Internet, shower but no bathtub or hot water.

About 45 pesos to the dollar. Some meals under 50, most expensive I ate (steak with soup as a starter) about 350, most 150-200 + beverage. Beer in bars 40-60, 20-pack of Marlborough 55=80. All-you-can eat buffets 200-350.

We stayed in Manila for a little over 3 weeks last year and it was amazing! We rented a nice apartment via Airbnb right in Makati close to Greenbelt mall. There is a really cool co-working hub called A-Space Manila. I can highly recommend it. Oh and when it comes to the Internet, not sure when the others here went, but we had solid 100mb down at the office and usually 10mb or more via the mobile LTE hotspot we used as a back up just in case. So I don’t think we had any issues at all when it comes to speed while we were in Makati. For the weekends we did trips out to Busuanga Bay in Coron and to a few other cool islands, dive spots and hikes. It was a amazing time. Can’t wait to go back to the Philippines, maybe this time Cebu or some other place. Hope this helps. Yes you should go!

The problem is monopoly, the internet backbone relies solely on one company, PLDT. It’s been an issue discussed several times in congress, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if any improvement will come soon. The BPO industry here have their own private lines, and they pay a premium for these business lines. Go for a visit maybe for 2 weeks and see for yourself and decide from there.

Hi Rosanna,

I’m a local who lived south of Manila, somewhere in Calabarzon, but I’m here in the US now. If you prefer living on the countryside, I highly recommend you staying at my hometown, Los Banos, Laguna, because the reception is good.

Hot springs and pools are very much common plus you can go to its nearest university, UPLB. I tried staying at one of the resorts for several nights there (Monte Vista) only with my Smart BRO pocket wifi and I was able to take VOIP/Skype calls. There’s an onsen and a Korean resort along the highway you can also try.

The reception in Calamba before you reach Los Banos is also nice but I think it’s better to have both Globe and Smart pocket wifis in most areas because there are times that Smart towers are very far from another. If you have an unlocked pocket wifi, prepaid sims are a must. There’s no difference with the speed whether you’re on postpaid or not. The prepaid sims there are mad cheap! So yeah, don’t rely too much on free Wifis here because this is not like other countries where you can even stream videos or music.

Places to avoid are obviously the shady areas. Do not be tempted to go to places near Bagong Kalsada, Timugan, Bambang, even UPLB during at night. Better stick to places along the national highway. Do not rely too much on Google Maps. Most stores there close before 8pm so it’s really dark. You cannot go around beyond 9pm alone unlike Manila.

I don’t think a lot of nomads go there because Philippines has the slowest internet by far lol or maybe people just can’t stand the slowness where I’m very much happy having 3-5mbps. It’s very easy to mingle with locals they would be very much happy to guide you and give you directions.

An overnight stay at Monte Vista costs around $32-34 dollars and you can eat good food for less than a dollar per meal. You get to ride the jeepneys for less than a quarter dollar but the travel from Calamba to Los Banos costs ~P20 or ~$0.50. Buses from Manila to Los Banos costs more than $2 and that’s 2-3 hours including traffic. That’s the standard price even in Manila. You mustn’t go lower than that. I also don’t think a lot of people stay more than one night especially during summer but they can be fully booked since a lot of people from Manila and other places go to Los Banos.

Best time to visit? Well, if you are not used to the 86 degrees heat then you should go there from October to January. That’s the rainy season and it could be really chilly in December. Summer starts from March to May sometimes it extends till June but that’s pretty rare. In Los Banos, we have Banamos Festival where you get to watch the streetdancing and then there’s the UP Feb Fair held every second or third week of February where local bands play and people from different places stay till past 1am. I must also highlight the most famous buko pie (made from coconut) sold along the national highway. Look for “The Original Buko Pie” and you’ll see the lines are long outside most of the day. Calamba, Laguna has a museum and you can get to visit Jose Rizal’s house. I can say the food is nice but if you want to experience real good food then you must go to the Elbi Square along the Lopez Ave.

I can’t think of any other tips but if you want to live there like a local then you shouldn’t look like a tourist. You know, plain clothes, no sarongs. You can go outside with a shirt, shorts and slippers lol no big deal. It’s ok to speak in English even if you’re just asking for directions. Most locals there know how You have to learn to say “Bayad po” to pay for your jeepney or bus fare or “Para” to ask the driver to stop. There are no taxi cabs in Los Banos or any provinces outside Manila. Davao and Cebu have those if you will be going there. We have pedicabs (bicycle+cab), tricycles among the jeepneys so you can explore those places at the inner part of the town. I don’t think that’s necessary unless you know someone there.

Feel free to ask me on Slack if you still have any questions.

Philippines’ internet makes any work impossible, unless you don’t need internet.

Great weather, people and relatively safe outside Manila, but the internet is so slow and unstable that makes it useless if you’d like to get any work done:

You have to imagine speeds of 1mbps or lower that kee cutting out all dagy every day.

Unfortunately, corruption within the government and lots of bureaucracy means it’s not getting better soon.

I’ve used it, but the building doesn’t allow shorts and flip flops so I stopped. I just use the Starbucks down the street

Spent two months there working out of the tide. It’s cheap and Internet is ok.

Varies from day to day.

Drop in and try it out for a day. See if you like it there.

People are nice and lots of good food options in the area. Just have to walk a bit.

Also a doctor clinic in the area too if you need it.

Say hi to Zeke for me if you head in.

Peter

Unfortunately I haven’t used it, but can vouch for the area- IT Park is very nice and safe…

The main reason I don’t use TheTide myself is I actually rent a condo right there within the IT Park and have “high speed” cable internet in my unit (SkyBroadband 16Mb down 1Mb up, for P1999).

Many of the Cebu call-centers are located in the IT Park, so the internet is decent throughout. My only complaint about TheTide when I looked them up before is their business hours. So much of the IT Park is open very late or 24 hours, would’ve been nice to use them during USA business hours.

Speaking of which, I’m in the USA at the moment but if nobody else has any feedback on it maybe I’ll buy a one-day hotseat pass when I get back there

General info on the city:
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Metro_Cebu

The Tide is in Cebu City, near the border with Mandaue.

Cebu for accessibility but Davao has cheaper, better food, the city is famous for eat all you can buffets. If you go during the fruit season, you’ll have access to the best fruits in the country. Sometimes I get full even from the free sampling alone in the fruit stalls. If you smoke, ditch Davao as it has a very strict ordinance against smoking. Internet is quite slow in Davao. I’m not familiar with surfing in Cebu, the surfers in Davao flock to Dahican beach. As for safety, Davao is the safest city in the country.

Cebu seems easier to get to with many direct flights, where Davao seems like I’d have to fly to Manilla or Cebu then change planes… And travel time from Singapore or Bangkok is much longer.

Bohol I’m guessing would be a ferry ride and I can’t imagine the internet there is any better thank Cebu or Davao… This is a work trip, not a vacation, so I don’t know if that is the right spot for us, this trip.

I get the food situation and that is not a problem or deal breaker… Doesn’t seem like either Davao or Cebu offer any benefit there.

I do see many apartment buildings in Davao much closer to the ocean than in Cebu… South of Cebu, there seems to be more accommodations closer to the beach in Talisay City… But not sure if there would be many markets or restaurants around there, or if that would be a pedestrian friendly location.

Both seem to have a few co-working spaces…

Kind of seems like personal preference, I guess… Not seeing anything specific that puts one out ahead of the other. I think I prefer the quieter and slower pace options, which seems like Davao may be.

I grew up in Cebu and I visit Davao for work and family. I’m biased towards Cebu because it’s a bit more urban, there are small shops and restaurants worth exploring as there is an entrepreneurial and creative culture compared to Davao. Diving is better too. But if you want the slow life you have to head out of town and into the neighboring provinces in the island. Cebu has the best of both worlds. There are neighboring beaches nearby, and you can easily hop on a boat to a smaller island with more interesting snorkel spots. Cebu is also the hub that allows you to explore the rest of the Visayas region easily – more islands, more beaches, more diving.
Caveat is as the city becomes more developed traffic is getting increasingly worse. Davao traffic is only slightly better, there’s one major thoroughfare that doesn’t really leave you with a lot of commuting options.
Bohol is definitely a good choice if you just want to stay on the beach for a while, it’s the most rural option among the three.

hi, living here almost a year already. healthy/organic food is a problem. the ordinary food here is deep fried everything. too spicy etc. so better to cook by yourself buying everything from the local markets (better avoid malls). or find one of the rare restaurants which server good food. i am living in Manila and i have found few. Regarding the Ceby or Davao, i would recommend you Bohol. This is incredible place for living. Beach, hills, nice city. Cebu is boring.
Apart of Bohol, there is also Palawan, nice island. Internal sucks. not only because its slow, but also because its pricy and slow.
On main island (where Manila is) there are also nice places, like 100islands, white beach, Lauag. Being close to Manils gives you some advantages like to fly anywhere ))).

If you have any specific questions i can help you with - more than welcome. I am in Manila and gonna be here for long.