Can you imagine yourself being happy living in a native house for a few months on one of the rustic beaches in the Philippines? There are many such beaches all around the Philippines where an expat can rent an inexpensive beach house for the month without concern about a lease. Many of the rustic beaches have “Resort” after their name, however, these are not resorts that most foreigners would imagine in their home country. Some of the beach resorts are gated at the entrance with a security guard and the cost for renting a native beach house is only a few hundred dollars per month, once you work out a monthly price with the owner. During the off season, one will be truly amazed how cheaply one can live on the beach in the Philippines!
What is next after you tire of the beach life? Renting a house in one of the cool mountain areas of the Philippines or a short term condo rental in one of the larger cities? It is up to you my friends! There are so many options in the many islands of the Philippines. You can pace yourself and set your own schedule as to how often you move about to another wonderful, scenic area in the country.
I have met a number of expats over the years who decided they wanted to spend their first year or two in the Philippines traveling to many different areas and renting short term before moving onto the next place on their list of exciting locations. Some of the expats are single, some are married, some have a fiance and some have a Filipina partner who is also loving lthe lifestyle of moving around the many different islands after a month or two in one location.
There are many short term rentals for apartments, condos and houses in the Philippines. There are also nice budget hotels and pension houses which will negotiate a very reasonable monthly rate for you. There are some pension houses that are as nice as a 3 Star Hotel and they are much less expensive.
If you have experience with boats, you can live on a houseboat in certain areas of the Philippines. The rental includes a captain if you like or you can rent it for yourself and your partner. I know one expat and his wife who love this lifestyle. They own their boat these days since this is the lifestyle they are happiest with. They are based in one particular area but often travel to other areas of the Philippines where they can dock their boat. Pirates? There are pirates in the seas in certain areas of Mindanao, however, pirates are unheard of in most areas of the Philippines.
Concerning expats retiring to the Philippines, one size does not fit all! Each person has a different idea of how they want to spend their time living in the Islands of Paradise. Some enjoy moving often and seeing all the different islands, while others want to build or buy their own home and remain in one area the majority of the time. If I were a single guy living in the Philippines, the wandering lifestyle would appeal to me very much! I would live on the beach a few months, live in the mountains a few months, live in the city and enjoy the nightlife a few months, live on a boat a few months and then start the entire cycle over again…all on different islands!
I’m single and coming over in January to have an initial, very short taster of the Philippines. The lifestyle you describe for a single person sound just perfect to me!
However, I do a lot of work on the internet. I really need daily access and good speeds. Is internet access common in these beach “resorts” and what sort of speeds do you get around the Philippines, on average?
Thanks for the article, it has made me even more keen to move over there!
Richard
Hi Richard,
Some of the beach resorts have decent internet speed and some do not have internet at all. It just depends on how far out they are from a city or a town or how nearby there is a signal tower.
Sun, Globe and Smart Bro have a USB type internet connection that you plug into your laptop port and can get internet just about anywhere, provided you are near enough to one of their signal towers. I use Sun and it provides me Internet on the go in most areas of Negros Occidental.I also use Sun Wireless Broadband at home and it provides enough speed for everything I do on the net.
Have a great day!
~ Gary ~
Richard, I also am curious for an answer to internet speeds around the Philippines. I am hopeful since the little barrio I lived in back in 2000 (Dagatan near Lipa City) now has internet speeds capable of supporting excellent skype video. In 2000 the infra structure just couldn’t support the kinds of stability I needed to carry on commodity trading through the Chicago exchange. Either the electricity would be off, or the service provider would be on the fritz, and of course then it was just dialup and speeds could slow down to a crawl. So hurray for the advancements of the last 13 years. If that stabiltiy is nationwide in the Philippines all the better!
Wow, this was almost prescient because I saw the pic of the nipa hut and those are something I’ve wondered about lately in terms of being a viable structure for expats to live in. The main hesitations I’d have would be the lack of power and running water (although dealing with no electricity isn’t insurmountable). Otherwise, I’d think renting a nipa would be the least-expensive way to go, although I’ve never seen one advertised as such on rental websites.
The forum may be the better place to ask about this, but what do you guys think about nipa huts in general and as places to rent?
Hi Bruce,
Many of the nipa cottages I am referring to in my article have electricity and indoor plumbing, so they also have air con and a full bathroom, including shower. Others have electricity but only furnished with an electric fan for cooling. It depends on which style you want according to your budget. At some beaches, there is electricity but not a bathroom, known as a CR or Comfort Room, in the cottages. In this instance, there is a public facility with bathrooms and shower areas, with privacy in that there are doors you can close and latch.
As anywhere in the world, safety is always a concern, so the nipa cottages in many areas of the Philippines are safe to live in and are a very affordable option for a short term rental or even long term for that matter. The locations of a nipa cottage you want to avoid would be in economically depressed areas and near the squatter areas.
Nipa cottages are not expensive to build and can easily be wired for electricity and indoor plumbing added. I know a couple of expats who went total native and built a very nice nipa and bamboo house. They look great, too!
Have a great day!
~ Gary ~
Here in Malaybalay there is a hotel/resto place that rents nipa huts that have cable TV & A/C. They are behind the Mint Leaf Cafe and the place looks like a small camping village in the middle of a large pasture. In fact, there are horses in the fields around that place and there is a beautiful view of mountains. The only drawback is the fact that they don’t keep their beer cold enough. I forget the name of the place but next week I can go find the name.
Jerry Lynch
Thanks for your input Jerry. I’m sure many of RTTP readers will find your recommendation useful.
I removed your email though as it’s never a good idea to post your contact details on a website. Spammers
love to scrape emails off the web so it’s an open invitation to get 1000’s of emails about stuff
you don’t want anything to do with.
Steve
PS: If you wanted to start a thread on the forum then if those interested could send you a PM
via our messaging system. Just a thought š
Thanks, guys. I HAVE looked a little a the cost of having a nipa hut built and it appears that one builder starts at about US$3,000 but I’m guessing that’s pretty minimal. I get the impression it wouldn’t be practical to have one in a larger city but might be a better fit in a good barangay.
I’d thought about nipas before the earthquake ripped up Cebu (ironically just after I looked at the typical cost of apartments there), but after the quake it made more sense to look closer at structures less likely to maim or kill you if the roof literally falls in.
Gary, this sounds like exactly what I am planning to do in 2.5 years and counting down. Thanks for a great article.
As for me, I love PI. There is a resort (will not name of course) that I really like. I told my wife for just 3/4 of my retirement check, not counting my SS we could live there with 3 meals a day, room service , trips ect.
But over the years I have learned that the best time to stay at resorts are week days because they are cheaper and not crowed.
Thanks
Robert