Road Trip 2 (Subic & Olongapo City) - How much did I spend on this Road Trip?

Actually, this is our second time to visit Subic. The first time we visited the place was in 2009. We had a day tour at Zoobic Safari and lunched at Olongapo City.

However for this road trip, we spent a night at Camayan Beach Resort and Hotel and went foodie at two famous restaurant and cafe at Olongapo City.

This post will tackle our expenses for a 2D1N stay in Subic.





Fixed expenses going to Subic:

NLEX: 45 pesos + 173 pesos = 218 pesos
SCTex (Dau to Dinalupihan): 272 pesos
Tipo Expressway: 22 pesos

Fixed expenses going back to Manila:

Tipo Expressway: 22 pesos
SCTex up to NLEX: 268 pesos (Yes, the toll fee going back to NLEX is cheaper)
NLEX: 218 pesos

Breakdown of variable expenses:

For the entire Subic / Olongapo trip, my 1.8 liter, automatic tranny, Grand Livina clocked 382.7 kms from our place in San Mateo, Rizal. My family car can run at 12 km per liter while on the highway.

Our vehicle has consumed 382.7 kms / 12 kms = 32 liters of Shell V Nitro which costs 54.85 pesos per liter at that time.

382.7 kilometers

Thus, I can say that our gasoline expenses for this trip have reached 1,755 pesos.

It goes without saying that your gas expenses mainly depends on the type of fuel and your vehicle's engine.

For our 1 night stay at Camayan Resorts, their de luxe room is 5,000 pesos per night for double occupancy. Since the room can accommodate up to 5 persons, the hotel charged us 500 pesos for extra person thus the room rate went to 6,500 pesos plus 10% service charge.

I paid 7,150 pesos for 1 night stay with complimentary buffet breakfast for 5.

You can eliminate this cost if you intend to visit Subic during day time only. Usually you need to pay entrance to the resorts to enjoy their facilities. hence, it is preferable to visit the website of the resort or lodging house where you intend to consume your vacation so as to know their rates and entrance fee. Be aware though that they have different rates depending on the season.

Regarding the food, we took our dinner at The Reef Restaurant at Camayan Beach Resort and Hotel. They have a family menu for 1,650 pesos which includes hefty servings of Bihon Guisado, Pinakbet, Beef Caldereta, Fried Crispy Calamares, Grilled Chicken Fillet and Pork Belly. It also comes with rice, soup of the day and a liter of iced tea. To add, there are several family menus that your group can select. Be aware though that in a hotel all expenses comes with a standard 10% service charge.  Nevertheless, I must admit that the food was quite superb and yummy thus the whole family was completely full after dinner.

I paid 1,815 pesos for our dinner.

The wife and kids left me after dinner. I decided to stay behind and enjoy the music. Fortunately, there was a live band and their performance was quite good thus I ended up downing 5 Red Horses each costing 85 pesos plus 10% SC. I asked for a small plate of peanut since I have just finished my dinner.

Chilling cost me 523 pesos or 550 pesos inclusive of tip.

Extra Costs:

The following day my son bought a t-shirt for her girlfriend for 325 pesos.

The cost of going foodie at Olongapo City normally varies from 250 to 350 pesos per person if you intend to forego all those fast foods brands.

For souvenir items, most local tourists landed at different duty free shops. It wasn't in our itinerary since every vacation I used to buy chocolates and other duty free items at Dubai. However, the wife begged me to pass at Royal Subic Duty Free since she found our kids' favorite "Spam" was too expensive in Manila. It costs her 95 pesos each in Manila while in Royal Subic she found them at 88 pesos. I won't tell you how many cans she bought but if you put them all inside a paper bag there is a tendency that the bag will break, lol. In my observation, you can easily find those duty free items inside any SM malls at the Metro.

If you are traveling with kids then don't forget to bring tons of snacks and drinks. Since the trip will last for around 2 hours only I recommend that you avoid dining at any NLEX gas stations but rather dine at Olongapo City and enjoy its city ambiance such as clean and traffic-free streets. Moreover, they have great dining places not found at the Metro such as Xtremely Xpresso, Cocolime and other Korean Restaurants.

first stop first to go while the enforcers are waiting for their free meal, my foot!

By the way, inside Subic and Olongapo City, they strictly implement the "First to Stop, First to Go" in almost every intersection. Whether the car in front of you went ahead you need to stop for a few seconds and make sure that the intersection is clear before you drive ahead. Follow this rule strictly otherwise you will end up coughing at least 100 pesos. Trust me, it is useless to argue with a gun-totting traffic enforcer.






Prepare 100 pesos for traffic enforcers.

Lastly, don't forget to ask for a free map at the tourist office located within the Total gas station right after the SCTex exit.