2.4/5
76 reviews
Photo by Toa Heftiba via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Palawan

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province

islands

island

sea

long

Palawan is a province in the Philippines made up of many islands, the largest being Palawan Island itself. Visitors generally point out that it's a scenic location with numerous small islands to explore. El Nido is one of the more known destinations within Palawan, and it offers both work-friendly spaces and great internet connections. One such place, FRENDZ, provides coworking opportunities with fast internet speeds, around 300 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload, which is well above average for the region. This makes it appealing for digital nomads and remote workers passing through the area.

Although detailed amenities, costs, or social environment details aren’t extensively covered across reviews, Palawan appears to be a practical and effective destination especially for those seeking solid connectivity in a remote and scenic setting. The reviews are minimal but the consistently noted positive aspect is the availability of fast and reliable internet, at least in specific locations like El Nido.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Been there for a week, in March 2022, and If you happen to stay in El nido, you should definitely go to FRENDZ, where they have a nice open space where you can work, and the connection speed was like 300down/100up!!

3 years ago

Palawan, officially the Province of Palawan, is a province of the Philippines that is located in the MIMAROPA region. Its capital is the city of Puerto Princesa, but it is governed independently from the province as an urbanized city. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the southwest and it lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island, measuring 450 kilometres long, the province is composed of the long and narrow Palawan Island, plus a number of other smaller islands surrounding it, totalling roughly 1,780 islands and islets.

5 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Safe for women

❌ Very expensive

❌ Unreliable public transport

❌ Heavy traffic

❌ Unfriendly locals

❌ Strict regulations

❌ Dirty in some areas

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members go here

❌ Difficult to do business

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

90 32°
hot

93 34°
hot

95 35°
hot

93 34°
hot

95 35°
hot

90 32°
hot

Real

82 28°
very warm

84 29°
very warm

82 28°
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
83%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
79%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
80%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
81%

Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
112mm

rainy
106mm

rainy
123mm

rainy
97mm

rainy
186mm

rainy
163mm

rainy
219mm

rainy
191mm

rainy
248mm

rainy
282mm

rainy
236mm

rainy
208mm

Cloud

cloudy
52%

pockets
46%

pockets
37%

pockets
45%

pockets
48%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
54%

pockets
50%

cloudy
54%

cloudy
55%

cloudy
53%

cloudy
50%

Air quality

okay
64 US AQI

okay
85 US AQI

bad
102 US AQI

okay
53* US AQI

clean
46 US AQI

clean
44 US AQI

clean
46 US AQI

clean
48 US AQI

okay
53 US AQI

okay
57 US AQI

okay
59 US AQI

okay
66 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

Remote workers

429 people

200 people

250 people

325 people

300 people

200 people

0 people

200 people

400 people

500 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Palawan's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	3D Logo Designer @ Contra
	Tech Lead Data @ Zensurance
	Senior Software Engineer @ Emergent Software
	Senior Product Designer Europe @ Hostaway
	Full Stack Developer @ RainFocus
	Senior Experience Designer @ Age of Learning
	Head of Product Design @ Notabene
	Staff Full Stack Software Engineer @ Greenlight Financial Technology
	Web3 Digital Marketing Specialist @ Somnia
	Campaigns Director @ Indivisible
	Full Stack Developer Intern @ Portcast

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210pts

67pts

55pts

30pts

22pts

18pts

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5pts

3pts

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119pts

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37pts

27pts

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Boracay

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°

✈️34min

$2,230 / mo

8 Mbps

Kota Kinabalu

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️42min

$1,367 / mo

17 Mbps

Cebu

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️45min

$1,424 / mo

8 Mbps

Makati

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 40° 104° 33° 91° 🥵

✈️46min

$1,711 / mo

8 Mbps

Manila

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 40° 104° 33° 91° 🥵

✈️47min

$1,508 / mo

7 Mbps

Bandar Seri Begawan

Brunei

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° 🥵 AQI 27

✈️55min

$1,491 / mo

7 Mbps

Baguio

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 35° 95° 30° 87° 🥵

✈️1h

$1,728 / mo

7 Mbps

La Union

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 85°

✈️1h

$1,709 / mo

8 Mbps

Davao

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80° 🥵

✈️1h

$1,283 / mo

7 Mbps

General Santos

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 31° 88° 27° 81° 🥵

✈️1h

$1,152 / mo

8 Mbps

Siargao

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️1h

$1,791 / mo

12 Mbps

Nha Trang

Vietnam

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 41° 106° 32° 90° 🥵 AQI 38

✈️1h

$3,480 / mo

12 Mbps

Cebu

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️45min

$1,424 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Manila

Philippines

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 40° 104° 33° 91° 🥵

✈️47min

$1,508 / mo

🌇 Also went here33 people

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 46° 115° 35° 95° 🥵 AQI 12

✈️2h

$1,036 / mo

🌇 Also went here30 people

Hong Kong

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°

✈️2h

$2,808 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Hanoi

Vietnam

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 51° 124° 35° 95° 🥵 AQI 152 😷

✈️2h

$1,057 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 85° 🥵

✈️3h

$4,386 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 82° 🥵 AQI 60 😷

✈️3h

$1,376 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 42° 108° 34° 93° 🥵 AQI 66 😷

✈️3h

$1,518 / mo

🌇 Also went here51 people

Ubud, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 83° 🥵 AQI 50

✈️3h

$2,069 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Canggu, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82° AQI 50

✈️3h

$1,976 / mo

🌇 Also went here33 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 42° 108° 35° 95° 🥵 AQI 30

✈️3h

$1,048 / mo

🌇 Also went here41 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 26

✈️14h

$6,274 / mo

🌇 Also went here25 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 57 😷

✈️15h

$5,366 / mo

🌇 Also went here26 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55° AQI 63 😷

✈️15h

$5,922 / mo

🌇 Also went here28 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 17° 63° AQI 46

✈️15h

$5,242 / mo

🌇 Also went here32 people

Members here right now

No members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.4/5 (Rank #467) 76 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍1 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,473 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 7Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 30°C86°F (feels 36°C97°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 73%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 52 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Okay
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Okay
💰 Income level*	Very low: $246 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Good
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Good
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Bad
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Philippines
🗓️ Average trip length	11 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	7 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 30°C 86°F + 🥵 Sweaty (73%) = feels 36°C 97°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 53 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 PHP in USD	USD 1.76
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	PHP 10,000 = USD 176
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Starbucks
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Dojo8
☕️ Best coffee place	Itoy's Coffee Haus
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Island Coffee
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	Ardent Suites Hotel and Spa
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👎1% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	850,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$2,951 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 71% 👱‍♀️ 29%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Lazada
🏠 Apartment listings	Ayosdito
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Cebu Pacific
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Philippine
🏥 Best hospital	Palawan Adventist Hospital

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,473 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$993 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,293 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$655 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$743 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,185 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$588 / month
🏠 Median home price	$79,373
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$35 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$39 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$255 / month
🍛 Dinner	$4
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$1