Visa regulations	If you don´t stay longer than 21 days in the Philippines you get your passport stamped free of cost at your entry in Manila or Cebu. If you want to stay longer you can either apply for extensions or obtain a Visa for 59 days from the closest Philippine Embassy in your country. The fees vary depending on the nationality. Visa are expired after 6 months if they are not used. Visa application by (registered!) mail can take up to 2 weeks. Passports must be valid for more than 6 month from the date of entry! Visa extensions can be done in the Immigration offices in Manila, Cebu, Dumaguete and other mayor cities. The maximum possible extention is 59 days. Important: be sure to wear decent clothes, i.e. no rubber slippers, shorts, dirty clothes etc. - otherwise the trip is useless because the guard will not let you pass!
Money	There is a rule of the thumb: the farther you are from Manila, the lower is the exchange rate. That´s why it is good advice to change larger amounts in the big cities. Even if professional money changers often offer better rates in comparison to the banks we can only warn to use their service. Even if some money changers may be trustworthy there are too many frauds and the legal position of the tourist is more than questionable. (Even in the banks you should recount your change!) Nobody should carry larger amounts (more than 2000 US$) in cash. Most major banks in the cities offer lockers. If you intend to stay longer you could open a Dollar- or Euro-account. On Siquijor there is only one affiliate of the Allied Banking Corporation and one of the Landbank. Meanwhile both offer a teller machine. The amounts withdrawable from teller machines are ridiculously small - sometimes the limit is 4000 Peso. In Dumaguete you can find most major banks. Bank-to-Bank transfer is very slow and seldom used in the Philippines. Credit cards like VISA, American Express und Mastercard are accepted by some banks in Dumaguete and Cebu. Most banks ask for an identification (Passport) if you want to withdraw from a credit card. The same rule applies: the exchange rate is dependent from the distance to Manila! Traveller Checks are sometimes difficult to cash - some banks simply don´t accept them. Often there are unreasonable high surcharges. Money transfer by telegraph can be done by Western Union, but for extremely high charges.
Savety	Siquijor is often regarded as "peaceful" whis means save as well. But nevertheless everybody should take care. Of course we are not dealing with the criminality of the cities. Thefts by pickpockets or even violent crimes on tourists are sparse. In our road village everybody knows everyone. If an unknown person is showing up the gossip is starting immediately. This may be annoying but nevertheless it is the best insurance against persons with bad intentions. This is different in the cities. One cannot issue enough warnings about tricksters, pickpockets, snatchers, fraudulent money changers and other gangsters. There is one rule: never trust anybody! Many people only want to nip off some money from the rich foreigner. Borrowing is one of the strong points of the Filipinos. Many of the storys they tell are really heartbreaking and they sound pretty authentic. Often a good deal of knowledge of mankind is necessary to find out about truth or fairytale.
Health	Additional Health Care Insurance can be worth while. Take care to choose an insurance valid for the complete length of your journey. Usually the patient has to pay the expenses for hospital bills and medicine. That´s why it is good advice to have enough money for emergencies at hand. The cost for a longer admission in a hospital and the medicamentation can exeed the costs of the whole trip - even if you are insured, you get the refund normally after returning. In the Philippines care for the patient is generally taken over by the family - that means the relatives are caring for food and beverages! Common drugs are usually available. In some cases you have to travel to Dumaguete or Cebu if the necessary medicine is not available in the couple of pharmacies and drugstores on Siquijor. Unfortunately orders are not accepted. If you need a special or rare drug you should bring it in sufficient amounts. You should know the name of the active substance in your medicine, if you intend to buy it in a pharmacy. The brand names often differ here. With the exeption of strong narcotics prescriptions are generally not necessary. Check at least 6 weeks before travelling for the necessary vaccinations with your doctor or tropical institute. It is good advice to have a combination vaccination for hepathitis A and B. In our area hapathitis is very common. You should eventually check for a Tetanus vaccination. Malaria occurs seldom on Siquijor. For a short period you could consider prohilactic drugs. We recommend to bring a good mosquito net. You can borrow one from us, but what happens, if you sleep somewhere else? One of the reasons for it is the wide spread dengue fever transmitted by day-active mosquitoes.
Air Transport	Manila: Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Terminals of the Domestic Airport are approx. 2 km apart. If you need a connecting flight there is a counter on the international airport giving you further guidance about tickets and shuttle buses. NAIA is approx. 10 km distant from Ermita / Malate. Domestic flights: be careful to enquire from the travel agent from which terminal your flight is departing. There are 2 domestic terminals, the old domestic and the terminal 2! Cebu:Mactan International Airport is on Mactan Island approx. 15 km from Cebu City. International and domestic flights are handled in one building. There is much less international traffic in comparison to Manila. The trip from the city to the airport takes approx. 30 minutes, but it is good advice to reckon 1 hour during rush times. Be sure to keep enough money for the international Airport Tax (500 Peso) and other fees on your departure! Dumaguete: The small airport approx. 10 km from the city is handling only a couple of domestic flights per day. So be sure to do your booking in time - especially during public holidays!
Sea Transport	The main traffic from Manila via Cebu to Mindanao is operated by vessels in fairly good condition. If you travel upper deck (there is always a roof on top!) you have the advantage of natural air condition - much to be preferred from the noisy and unhealthy machines giving you goose pimples and flu. Tourist class ist usually lower deck including aircon. Within the Visayas there is a number of shipping lines operating the small distance traffic. Some of the ships are more than 50 years old and in appropriate shape - but they still run. For details on the connections to Siquijor see How to find us and Timetable.
Land Transport	Taxi: Cab drivers in Manila, Cebu and other cities need to be convinced to use the meter. Usually they offer a fixed price - the only winner in this deal is the driver. So insist on the meter where it´s possible. Trips from the Airports are often severely overcharged. There are several attempts to "regulate" the transport prices to the cities, i.e. to standardize the charges - but the companies doing this are always private! This is the reason why a ride from the airport to the city costs more than double than the ride from the city to the airport. Jeepney: these cheap public transport vehicles can be found on almost ervery island. They have fixed routes - mostly written on the side of the vehicle. There are no fixed timetables: the Jeepney will start when all places are occupied. Be careful in the cities: Jeepneys are often the workspace for pickpockets and snatchers! Easy Ride: this is a privately operated small vehicle with several seats. They operate on fixed routes and can be flagged down and stopped on every point. Prices are inexpensive, but it is better to fix the fare before you board. Easy Rides can be hired (including driver) for "special rides" apart from the fixed route. Tricycles: are motorcycles with attached sidecar. They are very common in smaller cities like Dumaguete. They are slow, noisy and inexpensive, but they bring you to every location you want. Usually they are shared by several passengers with a similar destination.
What to bring?	- clothes should be lightweighted, easy washable, well ventilated, but nevertheless protecting from the sun - all necessary drugs and medicines in sufficient amounts, especially medicines for emergency cases! - small first-aid-kit for treatment of wounds - glasses, reading spectacles, contact lenses (don´t forget cleaning solutions) - sun glasses - sunblock (at least faktor 18, dependent on skin type up to factor 26) - wash kit or culturebag (if you need these things: don´t forget special toothpaste, antiallergic soaps, shavers, sufficient supply of razor blades) - (Swiss) pocket knife (always in the main luggage!) - a small torch light with standard batteries and spare bulb (we have sometimes brownouts!) - swimsuits, snorkel, mask, flippers (you may as well rent the snorcling equipment from us...) - small day hiking bag