How much does it cost to live in Moalboal?
Typical Month (Mid Range)
$773 (₱48,600)
Updated September 2026 · Sources cited: airbnb.com, momondo.com
- Typical Month (Lower End)
- $412 (₱25,900)
- Typical Month (Premium)
- $1,364 (₱85,700)
- Furnished 1-bed rent
- $557 (₱35,000)
Panagsama Beach
Good to know
Good to Know
- Moalboal is a small dive/beach town, not a big-city nomad hub — there's no large monthly-rental portal specific to it, so nomads typically arrange furnished monthly stays directly with guesthouses/villa owners around Panagsama Beach, often negotiating a discount off the nightly Airbnb/Booking rate for a month-long stay.
- Locals and long-stayers shop at the Moalboal Public Market for fresh produce, fish and rice, and at Gaisano Town Center for packaged/imported groceries — expect imported or Western products to cost noticeably more than local staples.
- Prices and availability shift with tourist season (roughly November-April is busier and pricier); shoulder/rainy season can mean better monthly housing deals.
- There is no dedicated, fully-equipped coworking space in Moalboal — most remote workers use resort/café wifi (e.g. along Panagsama Beach) or an informal setup like Ooze Studios; don't expect the reliable-desk infrastructure of bigger nomad hubs like Cebu City or Manila.
- Internet and power can be inconsistent, especially in typhoon season (roughly June–November) — a backup mobile data SIM is worth having alongside any resort wifi.
- There's no formal public transit in town; renting a scooter monthly is usually more practical and cheaper per-trip than repeatedly hiring habal-habal rides.
- Budget time (and a Cebu City trip) for visa extensions — the Bureau of Immigration office covering Moalboal is in Cebu, roughly 2.5–3 hours away by public transport.
- There's no cinema, and healthcare is basic locally (small rural health unit) — for anything beyond routine care, plan on traveling to Cebu City.
Monthly Totals
- Mid-range month
- ₱48,600
Includes 4 estimated components
4 components missing
- Lean month
- ₱25,900
Includes 3 estimated components
2 components missing
- Comfortable month
- ₱85,700
Includes 3 estimated components
5 components missing
Living Costs
- Where nomads live
- Moalboal has no large-scale 'nomad cluster' with a dedicated rental portal the way bigger nomad hubs do — the closest thing is the strip along Panagsama Beach Road (dive shops, cafes, bars, guesthouses) and the adjacent Basdiot/town-proper area near the public market and Gaisano Town Center. All figures below are priced against Panagsama Beach / town-proper listings as the best available proxy.
Housing (per month)
- Mid-range 1-bed
- ₱35,000
Estimated
Estimated from mid-tier nightly rates ($30-$45/night) for furnished 1BR apartments/villas near Panagsama Beach found on Airbnb/momondo, discounted for a monthly stay; no explicit monthly figure was retrieved from a listing page.
- Budget studio / 1-bed
- ₱18,000
Off-season or holiday-rate price — not comparable with other cities
Estimated
Estimated by applying a typical monthly long-stay discount to budget-tier nightly rates ($17-$30/night) seen for Moalboal apartments/guesthouses on booking platforms; no monthly-specific listing price was directly retrieved.
- Premium apartment
- ₱65,000
Estimated
Estimated from premium nightly villa rates ($50-$90+/night) seen on Airbnb/Vrbo/cozycozy for Moalboal/Panagsama beachfront properties, discounted for a monthly booking; no monthly-specific rate confirmed.
- Private room in a shared home
- ₱15,000
Estimated
No dedicated shared-house/room-rental listing portal found for Moalboal; estimated from typical long-stay homestay and guesthouse room rates seen on Airbnb/Booking/Vrbo listings around Panagsama, applying a standard long-stay discount to nightly rates.
Groceries
- Groceries for one (month)
- ₱10,000
Estimated
Midpoint of a PHP 8,000-12,000/month single-person grocery estimate from a Philippines-wide cost-of-living guide, applied to Moalboal as no town-specific grocery survey was found. Moalboal's own public market and Gaisano Town Center are the actual local shopping options nomads use, per a Moalboal-specific budget-travel account.
Sample prices
1L Fresh Milk
- 1L Fresh Milk
- ₱100
Estimated
Typical Philippine supermarket price; no Moalboal-specific price list was retrieved.
Dozen Eggs
- Dozen Eggs
- ₱90
Estimated
Typical Philippine supermarket/market price; no Moalboal-specific figure retrieved.
1kg Local Rice
- 1kg Local Rice
- ₱55
Estimated
Typical Philippine wet-market/supermarket price; rice is a public-market staple in Moalboal per a Moalboal-specific expat account.
1kg Chicken Breast
- 1kg Chicken Breast
- ₱200
Estimated
Typical Philippine supermarket price; no Moalboal-specific figure retrieved.
1.5L Bottled Water (Store)
- 1.5L Bottled Water (Store)
- ₱35
Estimated
Typical Philippine convenience-store/supermarket price for bottled water; not a restaurant price.
Eating out
- Cheap meal
- ₱113
Estimated
Midpoint of a PHP 100-200 per-meal range for a Philippines carinderia/casual eatery from a national cost-of-living guide; no Moalboal-specific figure found, but tourist-town eatery prices are likely in a similar range. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 150 PHP reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
- High-end meal
- ₱2,000
Survey / cost-of-living site
Global Health Insurance expat cost-of-living guide states dining at upscale establishments may reach PHP 2,000 per person nationally; Moalboal has very few true 'upscale' restaurants, so this is a rough ceiling rather than a common local occurrence.
- Mid-range meal
- ₱450
Estimated
Midpoint of a PHP 500-700 per-person mid-range restaurant figure from a Philippines-wide expat cost guide; Moalboal's beachfront restaurants catering to divers/tourists may run somewhat higher than this national baseline. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 600 PHP reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
Work, Transport & Essentials
- Venue
- None confirmed — a Moalboal-focused Facebook group ('Moalboal Coworking Project') exists but no functioning paid venue with published rates was found
- Monthly hot desk
- Not available
No monthly hot-desk membership or pricing structure was found for any Moalboal venue; the town has no formal coworking operator.
Coworking
- Venue
- Ooze Studios (informal, self-described as the only coworking-style space in town; no published pricing found) — most nomads otherwise work from resort restaurants or cafés like Smooth Cafe Moalboal
- Day pass
- Not available
No dedicated coworking space in Moalboal publishes day-pass pricing. A Facebook listing describes 'Ooze Studios' as an informal setup with a private Skype booth and decent wifi but no AC, with no rate card found.
Short Stays (per night)
- Seasonal pricing
- Yes
- Why
- Moalboal has a pronounced dry-season peak (December–March) when tourist traffic is highest due to optimal diving conditions, calm seas, and minimal rainfall, contrasting with a sustained off-peak wet season (June–October) when fewer tourists visit despite warm water remaining swimmable.
Low season
- Budget
- ₱1,000
Hotel: KAYAK 2-star from ₱674; Hostelz dorm beds ₱228 ($4), private room hostels ₱1,487 ($26); Airbnb budgets drop to ₱900–₱1,300 June–Oct
- Luxury
- ₱5,500
Hotel: 5-star Dolphin House and comparable luxury resorts descend to ~$65–$85/night (₱3,705–₱4,845) in low season; premium villas ₱5,000–₱7,000 June–Oct
- Premium
- ₱3,500
Hotel: 4-star properties (Blue Orchid, Turtle Bay) drop to $45–$55 USD equivalent (₱2,565–₱3,135) during off-peak June–Oct; villas/Airbnb 4-star tier ₱3,200–₱4,000
- Standard
- ₱2,000
Hotel: 3-star standard (Moalboal Tropics, hotel range) settle at ₱1,500–₱2,500/night Jun–Oct per Expedia/Trip.com low-season data; Airbnb 1BR ₱1,800–₱2,400
High season
- Budget
- ₱2,000
Hotel: Multiple budget 2-star properties via KAYAK, Expedia showing ₱1,500–₱2,500/night; Airbnb budget studios ₱1,800–₱2,200/night in Panagsama/Basdiot during peak Dec–Mar
- Luxury
- ₱9,500
Hotel: 5-star Dolphin House Resort Moalboal, Treeshade Resort & Spa listed $103/night baseline (₱5,871); during Dec–Mar peak, luxury resorts commanding ₱9,000–₱11,000/night per Badian Island Wellness Resort and premium villa Airbnbs with private pools
- Premium
- ₱6,000
Hotel: 4-star properties (Blue Orchid Resort, Turtle Bay Dive Resort, Pawikan Boutique) listed at $64–$82/night USD (₱3,600–₱4,700 base, rising to ₱5,800–₱6,500 high season peak months Jan–Feb on aggregators)
- Standard
- ₱3,500
Hotel: 3-star properties (Moalboal Tropics, Quo Vadis Dive Resort, D'Gecko Hotel) range ₱3,000–₱4,000/night via KAYAK; Airbnb 1BR ₱3,200–₱4,000/night
Low-season months
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
High-season months
- December
- January
- February
- March
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this cost of living research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Moalboal
Data last updated September 2026 · Verify anything important.