Originally Posted by jumamoja

I am an War Pensioner thinking of retiring to the Philippines under Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRVisa) which is a special non-immigrant resident visa that provides its holders with multiple-entry and indefinite stay status in the Philippines.

I am looking for a comfortable and affordable beach side guest house (preferably on Cebu Island and definitely NOT in Manila) where I can stay for at least a month or two, may be three, while I settle in and decide what next to do.

I'm not looking for party life but I am have a open and unconventional outlook on life I prefer having young people around me, I would prefer somewhere quiet that is away the traffic. I am DEFINITELY not looking for an old people's home.Essentially I am looking for a place where I can "chill out" while I look around and look for something more permanent

I have spent most of my life traveling and my needs are fairly modest. I am looking for good, honest, friendly service and good security a clean bedroom with a comfortable bed, en-suite bathroom, air conditioning (especially while I acclimatise to the heat and humidity), a TV, a bar fridge, broadband Internet connection and a laundry service. I love street food, but if the tariff happens to includes GOOD and GENUINE local fare all well and good. On my limited budget reasonable weekly rates are essential!!

A room with a view would be nice, easy access to good beach is a must and I love fishing

I detest tourists (as a genre) I just want to blend in as far as it is possible for a Westerner to blend in. Places on advertised on the Internet are aimed at the tourist market; and besides being prohibitive expensive and way,way, beyond my budget are full of tourists.:curse:

BTW I am not looking for a Philippina wife, nor am I a dirty old man and I am "straight".

I have been to the Philippines, the people are wonderfully friendly and I l adore the food (especially when accompanied by an ice cold San Miguel or two). All I want to do is to escape the rat race and the Philippines seems to be the perfect place.

All suggestions very welcome and very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by jumamoja

I am an War Pensioner thinking of retiring to the Philippines under Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRVisa) which is a special non-immigrant resident visa that provides its holders with multiple-entry and indefinite stay status in the Philippines.

I am looking for a comfortable and affordable beach side guest house (preferably on Cebu Island and definitely NOT in Manila) where I can stay for at least a month or two, may be three, while I settle in and decide what next to do.

I'm not looking for party life but I am have a open and unconventional outlook on life I prefer having young people around me, I would prefer somewhere quiet that is away the traffic. I am DEFINITELY not looking for an old people's home.Essentially I am looking for a place where I can "chill out" while I look around and look for something more permanent

I have spent most of my life traveling and my needs are fairly modest. I am looking for good, honest, friendly service and good security a clean bedroom with a comfortable bed, en-suite bathroom, air conditioning (especially while I acclimatise to the heat and humidity), a TV, a bar fridge, broadband Internet connection and a laundry service. I love street food, but if the tariff happens to includes GOOD and GENUINE local fare all well and good. On my limited budget reasonable weekly rates are essential!!

A room with a view would be nice, easy access to good beach is a must and I love fishing

I detest tourists (as a genre) I just want to blend in as far as it is possible for a Westerner to blend in. Places on advertised on the Internet are aimed at the tourist market; and besides being prohibitive expensive and way,way, beyond my budget are full of tourists.:curse:

BTW I am not looking for a Philippina wife, nor am I a dirty old man and I am "straight".

I have been to the Philippines, the people are wonderfully friendly and I l adore the food (especially when accompanied by an ice cold San Miguel or two). All I want to do is to escape the rat race and the Philippines seems to be the perfect place.

All suggestions very welcome and very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Southseastrader

Palawan is the very best of the Philipppines, almost a seperate country, not yet spoiled by tourists and never threatened by the weather, volcanoes earthquakes and typhoons..or crime.

You can live right on the beach for total cost including everything you should need including food power visas,but excluding transportation for UK pounds 330 a month.You can live at half this cost if you can live native still right on our beach which is a fishermans beach.

Your ONLY worry may be medical since at our age things can go wrong, the Adventist Hospital in the Capital in Puerto Princessa is a wonderful place and is now increasingly surrounded by high tech medical services and equipments.

Off shore medical insurance is available up to to age 70 and this would increase your total monthly costs by 25% depending upon your state of health.

There is zero night life because around here folks work hard and sleep early and rise early.But there are friendly cantinas and small bars .Fruit vegs and fish are abundant and almost free.

In central Palawan there are almost no foreigners but those of that are here are treated with a respect and reverance that we probably dont deserve.

Email me and ill help you, come on down for two weeks we will aid you completely.

Why do we help lost canos(foreigners) Well, every one of us that lives down here literally provides some employment and help for 3 families in an area where there is no work and folk live on nothing to $2 a day.


I am "uncle" to 100 fishermens kids and they keep me younger and excited with every new day.There are no beggars down here..

Originally Posted by tropicofcancer

Just to add to Slowsmiles post. The Century Hotel is on Pelaez St. which runs off Colon. It is a good hotel, and reasonable. If you want a little more luxury the Hotel Mercedes on Pelaez is also good. Until a couple of years ago they had a package of room for P10,000 per month.

Your best option really would be to stay in a hotel, then buy the Sun Star newspaper, and look for places to rent in the classifieds, there are always lots of them available. Talisay about five or six miles South of Cebu City has a Tourist Beach resort. Also in Cebu there are many new developments as in private housing estates. Consolacion has been mentioned, and yes they exist there. Liloan about ten miles North of Cebu is pleasant, and there are always rental places there. There are places in Carmen for rent, and some foreigners live there mainly American.
Compostela and Danao (Maslog) have beach resorts from fifteen miles North of the city. Sunshine Beach in Danao proper (Tay-Tay) 22miles North, is pleasant and quiet, with a good pool, and I notice they are building some new more luxurious appartments there.

You have a very wide choice of places, the West Coast is nice, but Badian etc tend to charge dollar price. Unless of course you have a local to negotiate for you.

When negotiating a rental price, always get a local to do it for you, it will work out cheaper. There are many places in the far North even as far as Bogo, it really would pay you to have a week in a hotel, and look at possibilities, until you find the one that is just right you.

Good Luck! You will love it here!

Originally Posted by slowsmile

Well, I am settled and living in a place called San Fernando in Ilocos Sur, Luzon. It's on the west coast, about half way up. Not many people know about it, so it's never "crowded" with tourists. My requirements were very similar to yours, although I am settled now with my Filipina girlfriend.

I looked all over the Philippines before I settled. Came out four times, for a month each time. Since my girlfriend is Cebuano, I also went to Cebu to have a good look. Lovely city, beats Manila easy. But I just don't like cities. I see that someone above has recommended Mactan to you. The Mactan area will be very expensive(I looked), all the hotels there are run by Koreans or the Japanese. So it is expensive to live there. Try the Consolacion area of Cebu. It's OK and reasonably cheap.



I've been to Bauang La Union. Its a nice place specially the mountains... My place is 2 hour drive from your place... Enjoy and nice to hear that your enjoying your stay in my country.
And then I eventually ended up in San Fernando and had a good look. And it was beautiful but not boring. Quiet, but not dead quiet. I now live near a white beach at Canaoay. My rent is £135 p m for a 5 bedroomed(3 floors) house(you can get an apartment here for well under half this). Food is extremely fresh and cheap here, way cheaper than Cebu or Manila.

There are also nice hotels like the Bali Hai East(£10 per night) in Bauang, Sunset Bay(£17) on Canaoay Beach. These hotels are usually only too happy to give special lower rates for long/permanent stays. But the cheapest way to live is by renting an apartment - usually costs only about £40 to £75 per month.

There are interesting and cheap little beach hotels in Bauang and SF. There is a lazy airport here. I say lazy because there are only 3 flights a week. There is surfing in nearby San Juan, scuba diving and there is a big flash Casino(which has the best steak in the area).

If I get fed up of the hot lowlands, we hop in the car and go to the mountain city of Baguio, 2000 ft up in the mountains(only takes an hour by car or bus). Cooler there. I like options. Also has a remarkable and cheap wet market and a nice mall on the mountain.

There are plenty of European(mainly) expats here and one or two Americans. No Koreans or Japanes though.

San Fernando also has virtually no earthquakes or tsunamis, and the typhoons, which always come from the east side and have to travel over the mountains, are usually well diminished in force when they reaches us. A chap called Ortega is the Governor and he has zero tolerance to any violent crime here, so its very quiet in that respect.

I've also been to Boracay, Manila, Bohol and Baguio. Palawan is on my list to see, but I think it may be a little too quiet for me. It also gets pounded by storms in the rainy season. But a beautiful place to be sure.

I moved here for all the above reasons. It may well appeal to you as well. It's far cheaper living in the provinces or semi-provinces(where I am). But stay away from the east coast of the Philippines. There you tend to get hit by all the vicious storms from the east. And you are right on the main Asian earthquake fault line.

I've also been told that the rules for a retired residency visa have recently changed for the better. It used to be you had to have or invest £25,000 in a Philippines Bank. Now it has been reduced to only about £10,000. Not sure whether you know about this.

Some more details -- whenever I stay in Cebu(going there in two weeks), I always stay at the Century Hotel(+63322551341) in the Colon area of the city. It's daily rate is about 640 pesos(£7) a night and the rooms are spacious and you will have everything you need. And there is an ATM right outside their hotel door. Good value and convenient.

Hope you find what you want,

Good luck.

Originally Posted by slowsmile

Well, I am settled and living in a place called San Fernando in Ilocos Sur, Luzon. It's on the west coast, about half way up. Not many people know about it, so it's never "crowded" with tourists. My requirements were very similar to yours, although I am settled now with my Filipina girlfriend.

I looked all over the Philippines before I settled. Came out four times, for a month each time. Since my girlfriend is Cebuano, I also went to Cebu to have a good look. Lovely city, beats Manila easy. But I just don't like cities. I see that someone above has recommended Mactan to you. The Mactan area will be very expensive(I looked), all the hotels there are run by Koreans or the Japanese. So it is expensive to live there. Try the Consolacion area of Cebu. It's OK and reasonably cheap.

And then I eventually ended up in San Fernando and had a good look. And it was beautiful but not boring. Quiet, but not dead quiet. I now live near a white beach at Canaoay. My rent is £135 p m for a 5 bedroomed(3 floors) house(you can get an apartment here for well under half this). Food is extremely fresh and cheap here, way cheaper than Cebu or Manila.

There are also nice hotels like the Bali Hai East(£10 per night) in Bauang, Sunset Bay(£17) on Canaoay Beach. These hotels are usually only too happy to give special lower rates for long/permanent stays. But the cheapest way to live is by renting an apartment - usually costs only about £40 to £75 per month.

There are interesting and cheap little beach hotels in Bauang and SF. There is a lazy airport here. I say lazy because there are only 3 flights a week. There is surfing in nearby San Juan, scuba diving and there is a big flash Casino(which has the best steak in the area).

If I get fed up of the hot lowlands, we hop in the car and go to the mountain city of Baguio, 2000 ft up in the mountains(only takes an hour by car or bus). Cooler there. I like options. Also has a remarkable and cheap wet market and a nice mall on the mountain.

There are plenty of European(mainly) expats here and one or two Americans. No Koreans or Japanes though.

San Fernando also has virtually no earthquakes or tsunamis, and the typhoons, which always come from the east side and have to travel over the mountains, are usually well diminished in force when they reaches us. A chap called Ortega is the Governor and he has zero tolerance to any violent crime here, so its very quiet in that respect.

I've also been to Boracay, Manila, Bohol and Baguio. Palawan is on my list to see, but I think it may be a little too quiet for me. It also gets pounded by storms in the rainy season. But a beautiful place to be sure.

I moved here for all the above reasons. It may well appeal to you as well. It's far cheaper living in the provinces or semi-provinces(where I am). But stay away from the east coast of the Philippines. There you tend to get hit by all the vicious storms from the east. And you are right on the main Asian earthquake fault line.

I've also been told that the rules for a retired residency visa have recently changed for the better. It used to be you had to have or invest £25,000 in a Philippines Bank. Now it has been reduced to only about £10,000. Not sure whether you know about this.

Some more details -- whenever I stay in Cebu(going there in two weeks), I always stay at the Century Hotel(+63322551341) in the Colon area of the city. It's daily rate is about 640 pesos(£7) a night and the rooms are spacious and you will have everything you need. And there is an ATM right outside their hotel door. Good value and convenient.

Hope you find what you want,

Good luck.