5 of the most expensive dates you can do in the Philippines

by Christian Ong

How about dinner on your own island?

 

We covered the cheapest dates you could do in the Philippines. While it’s fun to save on money and focus on your company (i.e. your date), it’s sometimes just as fun to splurge, and lucky for us, we have plenty of opportunities to do just that.

Most of these would be too expensive for a normal date (unless you are related to one of the principals in the Pork Barrel scam), but they would be appropriate for more festive occasions, such as anniversaries.

Prepare your wallet because without further ado, here are five dates that will break the bank:

 

1| Stay at your own island

 

 

The Philippines, I’m sure someone has told you, is made up of 7,000 or so islands, and this number changes with low and high tide. There’s more to those islands than just Luzon, Boracay, and Palawan.

In fact, if you want to live out your own Adam-and-Eve style fantasies, you can rent your own island. That indeed means you stay for vacation and do whatever it is stranded couples do on their own islands.

How does the interested islander rent an island? There is no central hub, but a good starting point is Rent Private Islands Online, where you can rent a room on Amanpulo Resort for USD 850 (PhP 37,000). Those who want to reserve the whole island should be ready to shell out USD 20,000 (PhP 877,000).

 

2| Charter a yacht

 

 

Perhaps you don’t have time to get to one of the Philippines’ more remote islands. That’s fine – you can have the next best thing: a yacht.

There are many such companies offering yacht rental services in the Philippines, particularly for Manila Bay. You can rent your own yacht, have a romantic dinner aboard one, or even conduct a couple’s photoshoot on board.

Rates vary highly between companies, but luxury meals on Private Yacht Dinners start at PhP 11,000. You can add a musician, who can play romantic music as you cruise along the bay, for just another PhP 2,500.

 

3| Fly over Manila

 

 

Maybe you get seasick, so a yacht isn’t the best option. A better choice for you and your date would be a helicopter tour over Manila.

To make it truly special, you can schedule it at sunrise or sunset, so you’ll be treated to some amazing vistas of the awakening (or setting) city. There are fewer helicopter tour companies, as this market is much smaller (it costing more to fly something over buildings than to float something over water), so those that do exist tend to charge a premium.

A Manila helicopter tour via Seize the Trip, for example, will cost you a minimum of PhP 11,650.

 

4| Reserve a restaurant

 

 

Perhaps your significant other has a favorite restaurant in Fort or Makati. What better of a gesture than to give that restaurant all to herself (and you, of course) per day?

Yes, you can be Donald Trump / LeBron James and book the entire restaurant. It will cost you, of course, seeing as how the rental rate will be equivalent to or above than the total gross earnings they would have made with patrons during that time.

Still, it may be worth it once you see your date enjoy her favorite meal and still be able to hear the sound of her own voice. To give you an indication of what renting your favorite restaurant might cost like, it costs PhP 20,000 pesos to reserve Carmelo’s Sports Bar in Dasmariñas.

 

5| Book her (or his!) favorite (famous) band

 

 

In the United States, it’s common practice for people (well, really wealthy people) to book their favorite bands, oftentimes as part of a date. For example, you can book a show by Jessica Simpson for a little over USD 150,000, while getting a private concert from Madonna will require more than USD 1,000,000.

Luckily for us, we live in the Philippines, where everything (including your significant other’s favorite band), is cheaper. Another bonus is that most Filipinos bands, even small-time ones, are ridiculously talented (it’s our famous penchant for performing). Renting a talented local band should cost between PhP 2,000 and PhP 10,000.

 

Are these dates too expensive? You can always have a date with your date where you dream up dates that you would like to take in the future.