Is Cebu City safe for solo female travelers?

Cebu City provides a relatively secure environment for solo female travelers. Like any other place, some precautions are necessary like staying away from isolated areas late at night, staying alert, and ensuring your belongings are secure. Locals are known to be friendly and helpful. There are many safe transportation options and many public places are well-lit and constantly busy. The common tourist spots are also well-guarded. However, occasional reports of pickpocketing and scams exist, so it's important to maintain vigilance.

Safety rating

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How safe is Cebu City for female travelers?

Overall rating

3.7 /5

based on 3 experiences from female travelers

Things to do

4.2/5

Safety

3.7/5

Food

4.2/5

Budget-friendly

3.7/5
Nicole

Nicole

Philippines

Solo travel

Fairly safe because I went to an urban area. Fewer people and less traffic when you go in the middle of the day between 10 am to 2 pm. I stayed at an air bnb in Lapulapu area and it was 1,500 per night. It has a pool area and for the transportation, you can get by with grab taxi, a jeepney or when you're feeling brave like me, I use Mototaxi (motorcycle 🏍️) to get by places. So much faster and affordable. But you can rent a car too if you know how to drive which unfortunately am not. So far, lots of good restaurants everywhere and good food to eat in places like SM and Ayala.

Posted: July 29, 2025Experienced: June, 2025
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Solo travel

Its a really beautiful city. The food is delicious and the weather is nice. Havibg a good time go sightseeing and drinking mango shake. The most unforgettable experience is i had a chance to touch the whalshark.

Posted: December 4, 2023Experienced: February, 2023
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Sharmaine

Sharmaine

Philippines

Solo travel

C in Cebu stands for canyoneering! For 2-3 hrs, you must have this adventure of unlimited jumping, trekking, going with the current, seeing waterfalls. Definitely, best decision to come to Algeria in South Cebu.

Posted: June 26, 2023Experienced: May, 2023
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How safe is Cebu City for women?

Safety index

3.2 /5

Based on 8 local experiences

Crime index

2.7 /5

Based on 8 local experiences

If you want to stay in Cebu City, I highly recommend staying in IT Park, it's generally well lit and since a lot of people work there, it's safer than other parts of the city especially if you want to go out at night. I don't recommend going out late (10pm onwards).

Posted: August 18, 2025
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Locals are friendly, but pickpocketing is very common here. I've never run into trouble in public transpo, but I think I'm just lucky. I've never been robbed or assaulted, but I know enough women who have for me to encourage staying in groups and taking a GrabCar (local Uber equivalent) everywhere.

Posted: August 14, 2025
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Crowded areas such as downtown or in marketplace areas are quite known to have pickpockets. Even public buses have pickpocketers, so please be careful. Late night walks alone are not really encourage. But if you want to do it, better do it with a group. Men are always men whenever and wherever so let's just be careful and stay safe ladies~

Posted: June 10, 2025
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Cebu City is a decent city especially for the working group. It is mostly safe, but given the considerably high population, it's still not 100% safe especially at night and in certain areas of the city.

Posted: June 3, 2025
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There will be places to walk any time of the day, that's IT Park. But outside of that, I don't feel safe walking in the dark specially alone... I'd rather not. Though it's pretty much safe to go around as long as the sun is out still. Just be vigilant with your belongings when visiting downtown(Colon area)

Posted: January 18, 2025
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Safety in Philippines