Is there anywhere in this entire country that offers peace and quiet?

Yes, it is classical in the country. They start by investing in a one floor house, then having more money they build another floor etc. In my place, 2 homeowners are doing that close to our house. But in a few years I will do it also when I will have more money :-)
It will difficult to avoid noise in the Philippines and in Asia in general... or you will have to go in a remote area where you will have a lot of brownouts ...

Listening to a grinder right now as my wife decided to build a garage for our new van, but it is actually more like a pavilion.  We live in a poor barangay so hardly ever hear construction noise, just the standard "security" dogs, rooster  wild cats. Of course the trade off is electrity out for 8 hours once every 3 weeks and very unreliable internet.  If there is a quiet place with good internet it is a well kept secret.

Seems to me you just need to move to a different subdivision! For example, I lived in a subdivision in Pasig, in the heart of the city and it was very quiet there, no videoke, no noisy neighbors, nothing. Yeah it has high speed boradband as well. just move to an estalished subdivision, not in a new or up and coming one with construction everywhere. Good luck.

Thank you for the response fernandosdesign. I did make the mistake nine years ago of moving to a subdivision that still had empty lots. I am also thinking of moving somewhere with more affluent households, where the houses are already large.

Thanks for the reply mugtech. Living in that kind of environment is not an option .

Thank you for the response geolefrench. Noise, noise everywhere -- no one seems to appreciate the absence of noise.

Having a wife and 2 children, what do they think about moving?  Perhaps it is good that your wife does not want to move close to her family.  That involves a different kind of noise.

Haha, this issue is near and dear to my heart. It is a noisy country for a few reasons  I have seen - the people seem to not mind a lot of noise, they love to celebrate and party, and there are lots of noisy animals and vehicles. They even talk loudly..  my GF can't seem to hold her voice down when she's on the phone or upset at the kids.. it's just part of the culture I think. Combine that with a general lack of concern for others and you have all the conditions necessary for a noisy environment.

It's just amazing to me how loud they blast music for example, ensuring they are deaf by age 40.  Same with mufflers on motorbikes.. who needs 'em? Even here in one of the nicer condos in Cebu, you can still hear barking dogs and karaoke until 10pm, and one can hear cars on the main road a half km away until midnight with the windows open which we do for the awesome breezes. And I consider myself fortunate because it's actually quiet from midnight until 6am.

From what I have seen, the wealthier folks live in areas that are tightly controlled for noise, trucks and access in general. There a few subdivisions here where it's all large custom luxury homes and quiet neighborhoods, but prices are in the range of expensive areas of the US. So much for that option. I have also been to quiet areas of some of the neighboring islands here - Panglao, Bohol, Negros, etc. It's kind of hit or miss.

If you want to frighten the bad spirits you need to create a lot of noise

Hahahaha,

You also forgot to include loud Karaoke from some party starting in the afternoon & never stopping. Loud enough to hear half a kilometer away.

Hopefully your neighbors construction workers are not urinating against the outside walls of your house.

Sorry for the repeats, reread them after my original post & edit this post by adding this last paragraph.

ear plugs man, get ear plugs, think that is bad, wait until the videokee singers start after a night or day on redhorse beer, oh yea its gets worse, when a drunk sing and the volume max out .....ear plugs

Back in the States, I would tell them to turn it down, the next visit will be from the Police.

ken2018 wrote:

ear plugs man, get ear plugs, think that is bad, wait until the videokee singers start after a night or day on redhorse beer, oh yea its gets worse, when a drunk sing and the volume max out .....ear plugs

I have to wear ear plugs all day long.

I live out in Butuan. The part if my subdivision is quiet like a tomb. Gated and safe area.

gordy5938 wrote:

I live out in Butuan. The part if my subdivision is quiet like a tomb. Gated and safe area.

Just waiting perhaps for more construction to take place?

Good evening Jeff,
I am away from noise, and enjoy the peace of an afternoon in my Hammock under my Mango Tree.  I live in San Antonio, Zambales.  We are 35 kilometers to SBMA & Shopping at the mall or grocery outlets.  You can look it all up via google for yourself.  I am minutes away from Pundaquit Beach and when we get the urge (Not Often) we can get in a boat and really get away from it all. San Antonio

Find a MS. Doreen De Leon Panalagao for finding property here.  She is currently offering a nice large house designed by an American.  I am aware of another house with two buildings and a Hectre of land near here.  I totally love the people, the easy going, the peace, and still able to get to what I want when I want to within reason.

We lived in our new house at Leisure Farms near Lemery and it was tooo quiet. Bored after a couple of years and moved to Milas home town of San Pablo where we found a tatty large bungalow that we knocked down and revamped. 200 yds to SM and hospitals is fine and we do hear the locals moving about outside in the subdivision but it is welcome and not all grinders. There are complete homes for sale by developers but they are not large, merely 70 or so sq mts interior and they are finished so no more noises?

Seems like JefrSmith did not do enough research before moving in his house in Cavite. I believe density of population is quite high in Cavite.
There are many places that are quiet, peaceful and serene. After all there are over 7000 islands to choose from.

I was just googling the islands of Romblon. Maybe someday soon upon retirement I could have my toes in the sand and watch the sunset over there.

We have lived in San Pablo for over 10 years and enjoy the position. 2 years ago we began building a small bungalow on a subdivision called Hacienda Escudero named after the famous landowner nearby.   The bungalow we named as "Bluebell cottage" after our English heritage. A relative who planned to join us in the house has become ill and changed her mind about coming.  We are forced to sell the property which is in very peaceful surrounding with lagoons and a Swimming pool etc. Drop me a message if this post is attractive to you.  PS English built!!!

Jackson4 wrote:

Seems like JefrSmith did not do enough research before moving in his house in Cavite. I believe density of population is quite high in Cavite.
There are many places that are quiet, peaceful and serene. After all there are over 7000 islands to choose from.

I was just googling the islands of Romblon. Maybe someday soon upon retirement I could have my toes in the sand and watch the sunset over there.

Jackson4, when I moved to Dasmarinas back in 2006, the population was low. It was still considered provincial, not even a city. So, ya, I thought I was coming to a relatively quiet place. I am not aware of the density of the population, but it does seem to be wall-to-wall people here. A far cry from when I moved here.

Due to the nature of my work, I cannot live on an island without reliable internet and electricity. Hence, I'm asking if anywhere in this entire country could offer quiet with those requirements.

I've been to Romblon before, but it was still quite primitive when I went back in the early 2000's. If it has changed, I would certainly reconsider it. However, as I know, they get hit with a lot of storms over there.  If you have a suggestion, I'd welcome it. That's why I created this thread.

Hi,i am thinking of moving to the Philippines,to be with my partner,we are going to buy our own pace in Iponan does anyone know about this area,thanks Frank.

franco007 wrote:

Hi,i am thinking of moving to the Philippines,to be with my partner,we are going to buy our own pace in Iponan does anyone know about this area,thanks Frank.

Welcome.. Please start a new thread for your question.

Peter Clark wrote:

We have lived in San Pablo for over 10 years and enjoy the position. 2 years ago we began building a small bungalow on a subdivision called Hacienda Escudero named after the famous landowner nearby.   The bungalow we named as "Bluebell cottage" after our English heritage. A relative who planned to join us in the house has become ill and changed her mind about coming.  We are forced to sell the property which is in very peaceful surrounding with lagoons and a Swimming pool etc. Drop me a message if this post is attractive to you.  PS English built!!!

Peter, it sounds beautiful, but I am pretty sure I could not afford such beauty. Could I ask you for a PM with more details? Thank you!

Subic bay town called morong
.they had great internet in camagayan beach..cebu is nice also in the mountains better north of the town..camagayan is great.

The trick is finding a relatively quiet place that still has convenience, reliable power, and decent internet.
We live in a very quiet subdivision in Pangasinan. It's what we thought would be a great region because it is not close to any tourist areas and situated between two small cities that would have most things we would need. Even though these cities are only 10 to 15 kilometers away, it still takes 45 minutes to get anywhere dodging tricycles and jeepneys all the way. You definitely have to take the very good with the pretty bad.

zincity,

Can you tell me the name of the subdivision in Pangasinan?

Just move to the province / country.  There is plenty of rural area in the Philippines.
Internet:  I have to assume that satellite internet is available, anywhere in the world.
Later this year my wife and I will be relocating to a mountain near Davao for some of the reasons you mention.
Good luck.
Doug

Camella Heights Wedgwood. We live in what was a mango grove and still has many fruit bearing trees through out.

What province / near what city is the area you are talking about?
Thanx,

Deltaem wrote:

What province / near what city is the area you are talking about?
Thanx,

I was replying to afparra's question. The Provence is Pangasinan and the are is between Dagupan and urdaneta.

Mount app by chance? Organic capital of Philippines

I can really relate to you, man. Really, especially that *SNAP* feeling. When that hits, believe me, anything you do or say, you will regret it later so find an alternative outlet for the anger. Punch a bag, take a run or a drive, go somewhere, watch a movie, even have some drinks if you are not the angry drunk type and it will calm you down.

Cavite is not too far from Manila, and although you might think Manila would be worse than Cavite, it's not necessarily true. There are rentals in condo residences which MUST follow certain noise restriction rules of the condo residence (only between this time and this time, etc.) Yes, tenants do break the rules, however, in that situation, you can report them to the Administration or security guard for enforcement, they will get a warning and if continue, they will be fined. There are also subdivisions with noise rules too.

You can look for a quiet, remote place as others have suggested, but it seems like you need fast, reliable internet and electricity, so I would suggest buying or renting in a condo residence with soundproofed walls and rules for noise between certain hours. They do exist in Manila and in Cebu and other cities too, I believe.

AlsoNotJoe wrote:

...

Yours has been the most practical suggestion I think I have received on this thread—thank you.

I have always been against living in Manila. I have tried to avoid it at all costs thinking it was a cesspool of unpleasant activities. However, I have heard from more than a few people now that there are places in Manila that are quiet. It seems counter-intuitive, but that is what you and others are saying. Perhaps they are like that because the rules/laws are actually enforced (unlike here in the provincial areas). And yes, you are correct—I need access to high-speed, reliable internet and electricity.

I'll do a little searching and see what I come up with. Any suggestions/ideas?

Even though we live in the province, we spend a lot of time in Manila. Our preference is Makati so we were fortunate enough to lease a condo there at a reduced price from a friend. We spend a month there about every 3 months and use it for all of our travel departures. You don't want to have a car there because of traffic and nonexistent parking but taxi's and Grab are cheap and plentiful.

We personally would not want to live there full time, but it's a great area to get all the things Americans sometimes miss.

JefrSmith, I was just visiting Romblon last Oct 2019 scouting for land to buy for my retirement. Ferrol area on Tablas island is where the expats are concentrated at. The locals think Ferrol is a remote undeveloped area but if you like peace, quiet and the beach, this is it. I also went to Romblon island. People are very nice on these islands compared to Manila and other big cities. The storms are not as bad as it seems over there, however, by comparison, we don't see these kind of storms in North America. The internet and power seems reliable on Tablas island, not sure about Romblon island. I found a beachlot in Tablas for sale (by owner) and debating to purchase it.
I also visited Laoag City, all the way to the north of the country. This city is very rich in history. The countryside is not far from this city and they have an airport. Definitely, electricity, internet and decent healthcare system are reliable here.

Move into an older subdivision where there aren't many expats. My subdivision was built in the 90's and there are only 4 expats living in the entire place. (There's actually only a handful in the entire Barangay.) You have the added security of knowing the place isn't likely to go public. It's a coin toss in a new subdivision.

I live in North Caloocan so I'm in Metro Manila, but it's quiet. When family comes to visit they say it's actually too quiet most of the time.

Yes. You may want to stay in Batanes. Almost zero crime rate. It's peaceful, quiet. Life is simple and the population is small. Clean air, clear skies and clean water. And just amazing views. You will experience the power of the Pacific Ocean and the West Philippine sea. Though typhoons regularly pass through it, but, people there have grown accustomed to it.

Not in any pinoy community but if you get a lot with plenty of buffering surrounding you, might work. But then security becomes an issue. Thieves everywhere, and few people are trustworthy here. As for internet, if near a Globe transmitter, buy a Globe-at-Home router for your home or wherever you go in the Phils, and it will usually work much better than the local hotel or coffee shop does. Small size and standard wall plug-in = good connectability.