Sentosa is South-east Asia’s most expensive island

SINGAPORE’S Sentosa island is South-east Asia’s priciest island for an overnight holiday, found a recent cost comparison study.

TripAdvisor’s TripIndex Island Sun 2013 totalled the costs for two people for a one-night stay in a four-star hotel, a two-course meal, beers, massage as well as rental of bicycles and snorkel equipment as a benchmark of comparison across markets in the region. Prices are accurate for the period September 16 to October 3, 2013.

According to findings, such a holiday on Sentosa will set the traveller back by 26,815.2 baht (US$856). While hotel rates make up the lion’s share of the TripIndex basket items, bicycle and snorkel equipment rental are the most disparate between markets.

Bicycle rental in Singapore costs 3,657.7 baht or 18 times more than in Koh Phangan, Thailand, where rentals are 200 baht. Snorkel equipment rental is not available in Singapore, but the rental of two kayaks is 4,108.6 baht or 34 times more expensive than on Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand, where snorkel equipment rental is 120 baht.

On the whole, Thailand was found to be the most value-for-money holiday destination with five islands falling within the list of top 10 most affordable islands. Koh Phangan tops the list with a holiday costing a mere 7,322.50 baht, followed by Koh Tao in second place (7,766.9 baht), Ko Chang in fourth (8,737.4 baht), Koh Lanta at eighth (9,961.8 baht) and Koh Samui at ninth (10,082.5 baht).

While Sentosa has claimed the honour of most expensive island in the region, four Malaysian islands are among the top 10 most expensive island destinations in South-east Asia. Langkawi is the second priciest after Sentosa with holidays costing (17,447.1 baht), Pulau Tioman is fourth (14,886.3 baht), Pulau Redang is fifth (14,712.3 baht) and Penang is sixth (14,293.9 baht).

However, the least expensive average hotel was found in Malaysia’s Penang, charging 3,947.4 baht. On the other hand, the most costly rooms were found in Palawan, the Philippines with rates nearly thrice the cost at 10,649.4 baht.

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