Living in Carcar, Cebu

[Alexander]

Hello everyone!
First of all I'd like to say thanks to all of you guys, the information from this forum always was very helpful for me  Now my time to relocate has almost come, and I'll be in Cebu in 2 weeks from now. I know about terrifying road traffic there, and I actually prefer a province instead of large cities, so I finally decided to stay in Carcar. There's no tourist infrastructure, and I barely found a guesthouse to stay for first weeks, but I finally did it. However, I expect some problems with housing search. I'm going to find something cheap there, for a long term rent, but I honestly don't know how do you do it in the Philippines. It always had been easy in Thailand, but Phuket is full of tourists & longstayers... Probably someone of you lives there, or you just know somebody in Carcar who can assist with my search? Even if there's nobody from the forum there, I would be very grateful for any advices about housing search. How do you do it? Just walking around, looking for notifications and asking locals? Or hiring a helper? That's what I've been doing in Phuket, but I doubt it will work in Carcar

Thank you all in advance! Greetings from Moscow where I am at the moment, and I honestly can't wait to fly back to Asia

Edited May 8, 2019 by Alexander

[sonjack2847]

1 hour ago, Alexander said:

Hello everyone!
First of all I'd like to say thanks to all of you guys, the information from this forum always was very helpful for me  Now my time to relocate has almost come, and I'll be in Cebu in 2 weeks from now. I know about terrifying road traffic there, and I actually prefer a province instead of large cities, so I finally decided to stay in Carcar. There's no tourist infrastructure, and I barely found a guesthouse to stay for first weeks, but I finally did it. However, I expect some problems with housing search. I'm going to find something cheap there, for a long term rent, but I honestly don't know how do you do it in the Philippines. It always had been easy in Thailand, but Phuket is full of tourists & longstayers... Probably someone of you lives there, or you just know somebody in Carcar who can assist with my search? Even if there's nobody from the forum there, I would be very grateful for any advices about housing search. How do you do it? Just walking around, looking for notifications and asking locals? Or hiring a helper? That's what I've been doing in Phuket, but I doubt it will work in Carcar

Thank you all in advance! Greetings from Moscow where I am at the moment, and I honestly can't wait to fly back to Asia

I would ask the tricycle drivers to take you around they get about a lot so might know of some places.

 

[Mike J]

10 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

I would ask the tricycle drivers to take you around they get about a lot so might know of some places.

Agree completely.   No problem finding tricycle drivers at or near the roundabout on the main highway.   If looking for provincial, I would recommend to go south from the roundabout.  The road basically follows the east coast of the island.  Just getting several kilometers from the downtown area will give you a less crowded environment.

[RBM]

There is a nice little resto called sugars, it's on the road going to Moalboal about 15 minutes walk from down town. From what I remember berry it's pretty much the meet up place for foreigners and has excellent food. The owners are very nice and helpful.

Best of luck with your search, watch out for the tricycles there.

[Alexander]

Thank you very much everyone! I will follow your advice Hopefully I'll find something decent for an acceptable price there. I guess there is no huge choice of housing, but anyway Carcar is a city with ~120k population, not a village, so... Well, time will show

Edited May 9, 2019 by Alexander

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Alexander said:

Carcar is a city with ~120k population, not a village,

Far from a village, Carcar is part of Metro Cebu   That simply means it is part of the main urban center of the province of Cebu.  Perhaps a suburb of Cebu City is more appropriate?

[Alexander]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Perhaps a suburb of Cebu City is more appropriate

Thank you for the advice, Dave! I've been thinking about Minglanilla also, but I'd like to live away from Cebu City,  in my humble opinion it's too crowded. I'm used to live in a village in Phuket, Thailand, and I honestly wouldn't like to live in a large city anymore... Moscow was enough for me People also told me that I can get a cable internet there in Carcar (DSL connection at least), it's important for my internet job. Cities closer co Cebu, such as Minglanilla and Talisay, really look a bit crowded for me... There's a huge choice of apartments and condos, but I'd prefer to rent a house and buy all furniture needed. And a motorbike, of course... Something cheap and small, it will be useful until I'll be able to buy a big one I miss my last Harley

Edited May 9, 2019 by Alexander

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, Alexander said:

I'd like to live away from Cebu City

Many people like to live in the places you mention, from Carcar all the way up to Danao.  That whole area is urban.

There are some expats who want to live about an hour and a half from Cebu but not live close to Cebu.  They have found out that it is possible to drive over the mountains to Balamban on the other side of the island in about an hour and a half.  It is a steep and winding road but you have all the convenience of living in a small town with the advantage of being just over an hour from the City. 

[Alexander]

Thank you!

I've been told that Carcar is kinda like the last frontier of the good internet in south of Cebu. That's one of reasons why I've chosen it. Anyway we will take a look in person...

I will follow an advice you guys gave me earlier, and try to talk to tricycle drivers. This idea likely will be useful, I believe they know a lot, and they can assist me for a reward.

12 hours ago, RBM said:

There is a nice little resto called sugars, it's on the road going to Moalboal about 15 minutes walk from down town. From what I remember berry it's pretty much the meet up place for foreigners

I would like to visit this place It would be great to find new friends there someday.

[Mike J]

When you get moved please let us know of your progress.  It is common for future expats to want information on "where to live".  Your input would certainly be valued  and interesting reading for the group here.