What to Pack for the Philippines: Three Packing Lists for Islands, Cities, and the Rainy Season

Seven Things Everyone Needs, Wherever You Are Going

Whatever your destination and however long you stay, these seven are the shared foundation, and missing any of them affects your trip on day one.

• Passport and eTravel QR code. Passports generally need six months of remaining validity and you should hold a return or onward ticket. eTravel registration is completed online before arrival — save the QR code offline. See eTravel registration for the Philippines.
• Small peso notes. Cards and e-wallets are widespread in cities, but tricycles, market stalls, local government fees, and essentially everything on a small island are cash only, and change for large notes is chronically short.
• Sun protection. Tropical UV is stronger than most visitors expect, and reflection off the water adds to it. Physical protection — rash guard, wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses — is more reliable than sunscreen alone, and some protected areas restrict sunscreen ingredients.
• Insect repellent. Dengue is present year-round, mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk, and repellent containing DEET or picaridin is standard.
• A light jacket or long-sleeved layer. Not for outdoors — for the aggressive air conditioning in malls, cinemas, buses, and domestic flights, and for covering up after a day in the sun.
• A dry bag. Phones, documents, and cash all need one on an island-hopping boat, in a downpour, and during any water activity. It weighs almost nothing and can save an entire trip.
• A basic medical kit. Anti-diarrheal, painkillers, antihistamine, and wound care — details in the medication section below.

Add one more strongly recommended item: a reusable water bottle. Tap water is not recommended for drinking, hotels and restaurants generally provide potable water, and some island municipalities restrict single-use plastics.

Documents: Passport, eTravel, and Which Copies to Carry

The rule for documents is three layers: originals locked away, copies on you, digital copies in the cloud.

What to prepare:

• Passport, generally with six months validity remaining, plus a return or onward ticket itinerary, which may be requested on arrival
• eTravel QR code, completed online before departure — screenshot it in case you land without connectivity
• Two photocopies of the passport data page, plus a photo of your entry stamp, stored separately
• Accommodation confirmation, useful for arrival forms and immigration questions
• Travel insurance policy with the emergency number and policy reference, in both paper and digital form
• Driver's licence and English translation, only if you plan to drive — which translations are accepted follows current Land Transportation Office rules and the rental company's own requirements
• Two passport photos, occasionally needed for local SIM registration, replacing documents, or certain site registrations

Do you need to carry the passport daily? Usually a copy is enough and the original is safer in the accommodation safe, but banks, currency exchange, some government offices, and long-haul flights require the original. Full guidance in carrying your passport or a copy in the Philippines.

Two things people forget: email yourself the passport page, tickets, policy, and hotel confirmation so you can retrieve them from any computer if your phone disappears, and write your embassy and insurer emergency numbers on paper for your wallet — when the phone is dead, paper is the only medium that still works.

Electronics: 220V at 60Hz, Plug Types, and Power Bank Rules

The Philippines runs 220V at 60Hz, with Type A sockets — two flat vertical pins — most common, and grounded Type B also frequently seen. A few practical consequences follow.

Most visitors from mainland China can plug in directly. Phone chargers and laptop supplies with two flat pins fit straight in, and since the voltage matches, no transformer is needed. However, the Chinese three-pin plug does not fit and needs an adapter, as do UK-style three-pin plugs used in Hong Kong. The 50Hz to 60Hz difference is irrelevant to essentially all modern electronics; only a handful of older appliances with synchronous motors are affected.

Three things worth bringing: a universal adapter, a multi-port USB charger (hotel rooms often have one or two awkwardly placed outlets), and a short power strip so a family can share a single adapter.

Power banks have their own rules: cabin baggage only, never checked. The common threshold is 100Wh, above which airline approval is required and larger capacities may be refused outright, with some carriers also limiting quantity. Philippine domestic sectors apply the same logic. Follow your airline's current policy — checking the website before you leave beats arguing at the check-in counter.

Other useful electronics: a waterproof phone pouch (essential for island hopping), a compact torch or headlamp (island lighting can be limited and outages are more likely in typhoon season), and spare charging cables, which degrade fast in heat and humidity. Drones require caution — protected areas, airport vicinities, and many resorts restrict them, and the Philippines has registration and operating requirements, so follow current civil aviation rules.

For connectivity, buy a local SIM on arrival or an eSIM in advance. Globe and Smart have the widest coverage and registration is a legal requirement: Philippine SIM cards and data plans.

Island Packing List: Boats, Snorkeling, and Sun

For Boracay, El Nido, Coron, or Bohol, the packing question is not how many clothes but how you solve two problems: getting wet and getting burned.

• Quick-dry clothing — cotton barely dries in this humidity; two or three quick-dry sets are plenty, and laundry services are everywhere
• A rash guard or long-sleeved sun top — the most effective sun protection while snorkeling, and it guards against stings and scrapes without constant reapplication
• Water shoes — reef, sea urchins, and fire coral cause most island injuries, and water shoes prevent the majority of them while making boat boarding safer
• Waterproof phone pouch and dry bag — outrigger boats have no dry storage
• A quick-dry towel — small, fast, and more practical than a hotel towel
• Seasickness tablets — the pitching of a bangka in swell is stronger than expected, and they need to be taken about an hour ahead
• Your own snorkel mask, optional — rental masks frequently leak or are perished, and there is no swapping them at sea
• Small denomination cash — most small islands have no ATM and local fees are peso cash only
• A reusable bottle — several island municipalities restrict single-use plastics

Check your sunscreen ingredients. Some protected areas require reef-safe products and restrict certain chemical filters in the water. Whether it is enforced and which ingredients are named varies, so follow current local rules; leading with physical protection remains the simplest approach.

Leave behind: bath towels, hairdryers (most accommodation provides them), valuable jewellery, and heavy formalwear. For preparing the island-hopping day itself, see the island hopping guide.

City Packing List: Cold Air Con, Dress Codes, and Business Settings

Two things are consistently underestimated for city days: how cold indoor spaces are, and how real the dress codes can be.

Air conditioning. Malls, cinemas, buses, and domestic flights in Manila and Cebu run cold enough that you will be uncomfortable in a T-shirt while it is in the thirties outside. A light jacket is a requirement for city days, not a contingency.

Dress codes. Churches, some government offices, and certain office buildings enforce them, and shorts, sleeveless tops, and flip-flops can get you turned away. If you plan to visit a major church or handle business at an immigration or tax office, pack trousers below the knee, a sleeved top, and closed shoes. Business settings are more formal still — the traditional barong tagalog is common at formal events, while a shirt and trousers are perfectly acceptable for visitors.

Other city essentials:

• Comfortable walking shoes — pavements vary in quality and malls are enormous; twenty thousand steps a day is unremarkable
• An umbrella or folding rain jacket — brief downpours are likely in any month
• Wet wipes and hand sanitizer — many small eateries and street stalls have no handwashing facilities
• A coin purse — small notes and coins go fast on jeepneys, tricycles, and tips
• A light day bag rather than a large backpack — in crowds it is safer worn on the front. General guidance in safety preparation for a trip to the Philippines

About the suitcase itself: if your itinerary includes Philippine domestic flights, confirm cabin and checked allowances first. Budget carriers enforce much tighter cabin limits than international flights, checked baggage usually has to be purchased separately, and buying it at the airport costs considerably more than pre-purchasing: Philippine domestic flight baggage rules.

Rainy Season List: A Rain Jacket Beats an Umbrella

The first thing to unlearn about the Philippine rainy season is umbrellas. Rain here usually arrives with wind, and a light rain jacket works far better.

The wet season runs roughly June through October under the southwest monsoon, overlapping typhoon season. But the rain tends to come as intense short bursts rather than all-day drizzle, alternating with bright spells, so the wet months are not a write-off — they simply require a few extra items and more schedule slack. For the seasonal picture, see when to visit the Philippines.

Add these seven for the rainy season:

• A light rain jacket or poncho — more reliable than an umbrella in wind and packs down small
• A waterproof pack cover or large dry bag — for cameras, laptops, and dry clothes
• One pair of shoes you can soak — sandals or well-draining clogs, plus a dry pair to change into
• An extra set of clothes — nothing air-dries quickly in this humidity
• Quick-dry socks and spare insoles — overlooked, and they make a real difference
• Several zip-lock bags — for separating wet clothes, electronics, and documents
• A compact torch — outages are more likely in the wet and typhoon months

One health warning belongs here: do not wade through floodwater. Urban floodwater can be contaminated, and wading carries a risk of leptospirosis and other infections, particularly with any break in the skin. If you cannot avoid it, wash thoroughly with soap and clean water afterwards and watch for fever. Full guidance in rainy season and flood preparation in the Philippines.

Two scheduling notes: put weather-dependent activities such as island hopping and hiking early in the trip so you can reschedule, and check the change policies on flights and ferries. Typhoon-related booking changes follow their own rules: typhoon refunds and rebooking.

Travelling in typhoon season and worried flights and boats collapse? → Philippine trip planning

Medication and Health: Kit, Repellent, and Bringing Prescriptions

Pharmacies are dense in Philippine cities and common over-the-counter medicines are easy to buy, so what you actually need to carry is the handful of things you cannot buy at two in the morning, plus your own prescriptions.

Recommended kit:

• Stomach medication — anti-diarrheal plus oral rehydration salts, since dietary and water changes are the most common travel complaint
• Painkillers and fever reducers — covering fever, headache, and post-sun discomfort
• Antihistamines — for bites, seafood reactions, and jellyfish contact
• Wound care — antiseptic swabs, plasters, waterproof dressings, antibiotic ointment; coral and reef scrapes infect readily in the heat and humidity
• Motion sickness tablets — useful for both boats and mountain roads
• After-sun care — aloe gel or similar; sunburn is more common than people plan for

Bring prescriptions properly: keep the original packaging, carry an English prescription or doctor's letter, and bring only the quantity your trip requires. Be aware that medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic ingredients fall under strict control in the Philippines and may require prior authorization to bring in. The rules follow current Food and Drug Administration and Customs requirements — if this applies to you, confirm with your airline or the embassy well before departure rather than hoping for the best.

Vaccines and mosquito protection. Dengue is present year-round and peaks in the wet season, and there is no specific cure, which makes bite prevention the actual protection: repellent, covered skin at dawn and dusk, screens, and air conditioning. For other vaccinations, consult a travel clinic or your national health authority and follow current official advice.

Insurance is not optional. Private hospital care here is not cheap, island medical facilities are limited, and serious cases are often evacuated to Cebu or Manila. Check the water sports and diving exclusions and whether emergency evacuation is covered: travel medical insurance for the Philippines.

What to Leave at Home and What Needs Checking First

The fastest way to cut baggage weight is to delete what should not be there.

Leave behind:

• Voltage transformers — the Philippines runs 220V like mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, so you need an adapter, not a converter
• Heavy clothing — it is warm year-round; one light layer covers the air conditioning
• Towels, hairdryers, and basic toiletries — provided by most accommodation, though a quick-dry towel is handy at small island guesthouses
• Large quantities of food — supermarkets and convenience stores are well stocked, and fresh produce, meat, and seeds are subject to agricultural quarantine and may be restricted
• Valuable jewellery and watches — you will not wear them and they add risk
• Large amounts of cash — carry what you need per day and lock the rest away; do not change all your money at the airport, see is airport currency exchange worth it

Check before packing:

• Drones — many restricted areas plus registration and operating requirements; follow current civil aviation rules
• Vapes — regulated under dedicated legislation covering sales, public use, and advertising; follow current rules on carrying and using them
• Two-way radios and satellite communicators — may require frequency authorization
• Controlled medication — see above; prior permission may be needed
• Fresh produce, seeds, and raw meat — subject to agricultural quarantine

One last practical tip: leave room for the trip home. Dried mangoes, banana chips, coconut products, woven crafts, and guitars are popular souvenirs, and plenty of visitors discover on departure day that nothing fits, then pay double for airport baggage. Experienced travelers arrive with about a third of the suitcase empty.