Seriously, why is it so expensive to go to/from Siquijor and spend a few nights? It is not that far out. For instance, if one wants to take a motorcycle to/from Siquijor and spend 2 nights without breaking the bank, the options are; Montenegro lines, P680 one way for motorcycle and one passenger, so for two people this works out to be over P1600 R/T just to get there and back. OR, one can now opt to take the Super Shuttle Ferry from Oslob, the cost is P900 one way with one passenger, , plus, from Duma one would have to take another barge to get to Cebu island first, this way the cost is over P2500. Now let's look at another option, Panglao on Bohol. The costs are P500R/T Negros to Cebu, and P500 R/T Argao to Bohol. Total fuel cost on my motor is around P200. Total cost R/T around P1200. Tagbilaran has many decent hotel options at P500-P700 per night. Bohol in general has loads of cheap accomodation options. Siquijor? I have yet to find anything decent there for less than P1000. So for a 3 night getaway Bohol (which has much more to do/see) comes in about one half the cost as the same trip to Siquijor, even though it is much farther away and takes two roro's to get there, one trip of which is farther than Siquijor is to Duma. Bohol and Panglao have MUCH more to offer than does Siquijor. I won't even start to compare it to the cost of going to Sipalay for a break, which in my opinion is nicer anyway. So what is it that makes Siquijor so special? Is it the witches? Your thoughts welcome, Larry
Leave your bike and rent one there... It will work out cheaper when taking the fastcraft from Dumaguete...
What makes Siquijor so expensive, is it the witches? Is it because they're targeting a market who they think have money to spend? When they see people with long noses, white skin, blond hair and blue eyes, I think the price automatically goes up. They think that all tourists have money.
We used to do that, but numerous flat tires (had 4 flats on one trip), and a broken shock determined that it was much cheaper and wiser to take my own, so that I didn't miss the boat back due to problems with rented bikes! Also my bike gets twice the fuel mileage of anything one can rent there. On a three day trip it will never be cheaper to rent a bike there, and will certainly be much more troublesome... Bike aside, why are all the resorts so expensive, where are the places with cheap accommodation? I can rent a nice cottage in Sipalay or Bohol for P500, a nicer one with aircon if we so desire for P800. A sh**hole on Sipalay is P1000? Larry
I just stayed at Metro Central Hotel in Taglibaran, P 1,400.00 for standard room per night, Nice room, great aircon, hot showers, free pickup and drop off to piers/airport, good food, obviously "The In" Hotel to stay for business people in Taglibaran based on the crowd. Not quite as cheap as dumaguete but certainly cheaper than Siquihor and there are many cheaper and still nice options .. Will be taking the family to Bohol for the "annual" look see trip this year, instead of siquihor.
@ pangitpilot Shadow definately meant to say: "A sh**hole on Siquijor is P1000?" That makes sense in the context, especially as he is complaining about excessives prices/costs of Siquijor @ Shadow Considerring the laws of Supply and Demand, prices would be high if demand is high. e.g, if you must book a long time in advance to get accomodation etc, then high demand could be causing high prices. Now i am guessing this is not the case. If accomodation is easily found, but prices are high, then because customers are rare, they may charge like a wounded bull to make as much profit as they can out of every opportunity they get. As far as the witches go, i do know that people do travel to Siquijor especially to obtian the services of magic, so it could be a factor. Summary: dunno cheers PB _____
Agreed Shadow sipalay is way way better although it a long trip from Cebu not much to do on sipalay but ride around and site see a couple nice beachs but the mountain riding is worth the trip once . I rented a bike there from your friend romeo a brand new 125 xrm so that was not a problem 250p/per day. The cool thing about sipalay is no motorbikes,roosters ,or people trying to sell you crap on the beach .I have not traveled to bohol because I hate tourist traps but this trip I,m going to go for a few days .
A late reply but as I occasionally live there I thought I would respond even years later. There are cheaper places to stay on the island like JJs Backpackers in Solangon, rooms at Castaways restuarant in Maite and Das Traum guesthouse in Siquijor town and another place to take a lookat is Diamond villas before Tambisan on the National Hwy. Good cheap food and cold beer at Erik the Vikings place in the market at San Juan. Overall my impression is some of the higher prices arise out lack of competition and the other is the added cost of hauling provisions and stuff from Dumaguete or Cebu . My personal opinion after visiting Sipilay when the weather was not at its best was that all you had was a long beach which wasnt very sugary just dirty, I did love the abscence of cocks crowing and kareoke and loved the food at Takatuka. Siquijor offers a selection of beaches and mountain areas some of the nicest beaches are not signposted or prpmoted by the tourism department.
Das Traum guethouse is very cheap at 350 for really quite a nice fan room with cable. With a bigger room, at 400. And the nearby Swiss Inn has an excellent, large aircon room for less than 800. Even beach facing places in the most touristy bit clockwise past Larena are not that expensive. Islander Paradise has fan bungalows right on the beach starting at only 800.When you factor in that motorbike hire can be as low as 250, I would go as far as to say that Siquijor is one of the best value places there is. I got stiffed taking a bike over from Duma to Siquijor port. I think it cost about 800. It would surely be better for most people to rent one there.
