# Location advice.



## RePetenBob_2 (Mar 14, 2018)

We are a retired Canadian couple currently settled in Vietnam for about 6 months.The last many months have been spent on the road after living in southern Mexico for the previous 6 years. The plan now is to spend 3-6 months somewhere in the Philippines when our apt. lease is up here. We have never been there and wonder where to start. Obviously we would like to pay a visit to the islands to get an idea of where we might like to stay for a while but it's a pretty spread out place and we don't have the budget to be hopping around for several weeks, searching for the ideal location. 
We would like to continue our beach lifestyle but be reasonably close to decent shopping, hospitals and entertainment. I won't ask about cost of living because I can do that after we have an idea where we'll be. I am aware of immigration requirements and medical insurance etc., I just need a couple of suggestions concerning locations. We used this site years ago, when deciding to move to Mexico and it was very helpful. Any and all advice gratefully accepted.

Gracias


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Hi Bob 2

That is a hard question to answer since everyone has a different taste on life. I would stay away from the Luzon region especially around Manila. Very congested with people and traffic. The Luzon region gets hammered with several typhoons a year. Farther south you go less typhoons. I lived in the Davao city region for over a year and liked it. but, now they are having several earthquakes. I think the Cebu island is probably the all around best place to live. That is my personally opinion. You have a lot of resort areas, modern shopping with large malls and very safe. 

We will see what others think on this subject. I am sure you will get a great selection on opinions what is the best place to live.

art


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Fellow Canuck here.

It sounds like your criteria for a place is very similar to mine, a nice beach location outside a city but somewhat near a city for the things a city has to offer.

You may want to rethink the traveling around part. Local travel can be pretty cheap here, bus and ferry rides will usually be less than 1,000 p (CDN 25). You can get airbnb places at a good price, especially taking one for a month or more. I am in a studio place in Panglou Island in Bohol now and it is about 20k p a month all inclusive electricity, net, cable and water). This is actually less than I was paying in total for a high rise in Manila last year.

That would let you get to somewhere, have a place with a kitchen for self supported living and take a look around to see if the place is to your liking.

I am on a road trip to look for my place. I drove from Manila to Bohol, i should have planned it differently as I liked the look of Legaspi ( south east of Manila about 450 kms). Some pretty nice scenery on the drive through Samar and Leyete as well but no time to explore too much.

I will be on to Cebu next, not to spend much time in the city but to look around the island. Then south to Dumagette, lots of expats there so it must have some attractions. I will proceed up top Bacolod City on northern ******, then over to Iloilo City working my way back to Luzon so I can head north of Manila before returning to this part of the country through Legaspi, Samar and Leyete spending time to look around. (At least that is the plan as far as have planned for the near future.)

No real plans to go further south, but if I don't find a place that tickles my fancy I just may go on to Davao. 

All these places have good sized cities with malls, shopping, medical care and airports. They are on islands so lots of beaches around as well. 


I guess at the end it will come down to a place that I like, it may be on some pretty small criteria like a nice view or a good dive shop near by. I will then just pick a rental for a 6 month rental to find a permanent place. I may never find the permanent place but move around on 3 to 6 month rentals for a while.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Welcome to this side of the forum Bob. You did mention Hospitals and make sure that if you're not close to Manila that the area you are in can handle your health concerns.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Manitoba said:


> Fellow Canuck here.
> 
> It sounds like your criteria for a place is very similar to mine, a nice beach location outside a city but somewhat near a city for the things a city has to offer.
> 
> ...


Our road trip from Manila took in all of those places, and whilst OK to visit, none of them appealed as somewhere to live full time. Our original idea was Dumaguete as its close to my wife family home, but that didn't appeal, partly because of the large number of foreigners.
When we landed in Davao, I knew that I had found the place I was looking for. International airport, good hospitals, great shopping. Many bars and good restaurants, but not full of drunken expats or tourists. It's safe it's friendly and doesn't get hit by all the typhoons that hit the rest of the country. Yes there have been a few earthquakes this past month, which is very unusual, but for us at least, nothing more than a bit of shaking and rattling of the windows. Cost of living here is also cheaper than most of the rest of the country.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

hogrider said:


> Our road trip from Manila took in all of those places, and whilst OK to visit,
> ....
> 
> When we landed in Davao, I knew that I had found the place I was looking for. International airport, good hospitals, great shopping. Many bars and good restaurants, but not full of drunken expats or tourists. ...,.,


I may just end yo there in about 6 months or so.


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