Summer Vacation on a Budget

This is a guest post from my VA Clarisse. Let me know if you would love to guest post on Savvy Scot!

S-U-M-M-E-R is already here and I just came home from a great vacation with my daughter, my younger sister and her BF. We decided to visit our hometown Cebu because it’s been almost 10 years since the last time I visited; my sister and daughter went there 3 years ago.

Let me give you a little idea about Cebu City, it is the capital city of the province of Cebu and is the “second city” of the Philippines, being the center of Cebu, the second most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines after Manila.

The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu island, so it has a lot of beaches. We love going to the beach, so we picked a beach that is part of the province of Cebu. We prefer to choose a beach that is not too crowded and featured white sand. It was our first time there and we were very excited about it!

In order to reach our destination, we had to travel 1 hour by bus and 2 hours by ferry boat. This is a no brainer, but picking a close by destination would definitely help you a lot! A few weeks ago before going to the beach, I made a lot of research about our destination, like how to go there and read some tips from those who already visited the beach. Since it was our first time there, I wanted to make sure that everything would be hassle free.

I read on a blog that the ferry boat that will bring us to Camotes has specific schedules, so we had to get there before departure, or else we would have to wait for another 2-3 hours. Travelling by ferry boat during the morning is really wonderful, we even saw a group of dolphins who showed their talents in swimming and whistling!

When we arrived at the island, there were lots of motorcycle and multi cab drivers from which you can pick to get a ride. We negotiated with a motorcycle driver because it’s cheaper than riding a multicab. When arrived at the resort, all I could say was “WOW”, the long trip was totally worth it!

We were really mesmerized by beautiful the beach was, and the place was really clean. We noticed that there were lots of foreigners who enjoyed the white sand and sun bathing. One amenity that the resort we stayed at offers is complimentary use of the swimming pools. I admired their management and securities, their staffs are really friendly too!

Setting a budget plays a very important role when you are planning to have a vacation. I had made a budget before we went there and thankfully I managed to stick to it. I made a reservation 2 weeks before our trip and I picked a room that fit our budget. Since I made a lot of research, I had an exact idea of how much would I spend going there, like the bus fare, how much are the ferry boat tickets and the motorcycle fare.

Also, I looked at the menu prices of the carenderia, so I knew what food I was going to order and could set a price range every meal. They offered very affordable rooms and I can say that it’s really perfect for those who don’t want to spend too much, just like me.

The good thing is, there are a lot of carenderias on the beach, “a carinderia is an eatery that serves home cooked Filipino meals, offering variety of viands, rice and beverages to its customers.” Actually, the resort’s foods is pretty delicious but if you have a tight budget you can choose to eat at the carenderia, they also offered yummy food. One of the beach activities is snorkeling; the price is $19 good for 10 persons for 2 hours.

It was my first time snorkeling because I’m not the adventurous type, I couldn’t imagine myself riding a pump boat and jump in the middle of the sea! My eight year old daughter was so afraid to jump in the water, and I couldn’t forget the first time she jumped in the sea and started to scream ”Help me, I think I’m going to die, there’s a shark!”, but I’m still proud of her when she said that she wanted to swim and let go of the rope.  After three days of staying in the beach, our summer escapade was totally superb! We left the Camotes island with a big smile and full of great memories and hopefully we can go back next year.

I also include some prices for you to have an idea if you want to visit this paradise beach resort.

Bus fare from Cebu City to Danao “where you can ride a ferry boat” : $0.90

Ferry Boat: $4.28

Santiago Bay Resort Camotes – Room Rates Per Night

• Standard Non-Aircon – $23 net good for two (2)
  
• Standard Aircon – $35 net good for two (2)
• Oceanview Aircon – $40 net good for two(2)
• Deluxe – $47 net  good for two (2)
• Deluxe Family – $61 net good for three (3)
  
• Bayview -$66 net good for two (2)
• Villa Standard – $59  net good for three (3)
  
• Villa Family – $119  net good for five (5)
  
• Bungalow -$71  net good for three (3)

Meal Prices:

1 Cup of  Plain Rice: $0.2

Plater Rice : $0.90

Chicken Menu: $2 – $2.5

Pork Menu: $2.5 – $3

Fish Menu: $2 – $2.5

Sea foods: $2 – $3

Drinks, Refreshments and Juice: $1.5 – $2

They also offers breakfast combo meal from $1.5 – $2.5

 

Are you planning already for your summer getaway?