How much to budget for Sao Tome
I endlessly googled several variations of “How much to budget for Sao Tome” for our trip without a definite answer because there are no international ATMs on the island.
As with any trip, each person’s spending is a little different. However, Sao Tome and Principe is a unique destination to travel back to a time without ATMs or Visa (cue my internal scream). Read my Sao Tome guide for my tips to visit the island.
It’s true folks! Sao Tome is not connected to the international ATM or Visa/Mastercard system. How is this possible? I have no clue. Apparently, there are plans to connect the country one day but for now, you’ll have to arrive in Sao Tome with all the dollars or euros you plan to spend in this lovely country.
I took notes throughout our 7 (ish) day stay in Sao Tome to prep for this blog post. Hopefully, it comes in handy for you!
My one takeaway if you’re just skimming this post: The most important thing you can do to reduce the amount of money you carry is to ask your accommodations if you can pay your deposit and final bill via bank transfer.
Notes on my Sao Tome Budget:
- I’m using a mix of euros and dobras when quoting prices because that’s how we were quoted, however, I’ve added the euro equivalent whenever necessary.
- I’m favoring using the euro vs the dollar for this post because that’s what is preferred in Sao Tome.
- Conversion: 100 dobras is around €4.
- We are not big spenders but enjoy having good food, cute accommodation, and fun experiences. These costs could be dramatically reduced if you stay at lower budget accommodations (that don’t have set prices for meals like ours did) and use public rather than private transport.
- Peeps, I’m so bad at math so if I have any additional errors, please forgive me and let me know.
- Pair this with my 7-day Sao Tome Itinerary for all the deets on what we paid for below.
This post contains affiliate links.
Dollars, Euros, and Dobras
For any street seller activity like buying corn or plantains, you should use dobras. Local restaurants will also prefer dobras. However, accommodations that also have a restaurant on-site will accept euros or dollars. Euros are preferred between the two.
The market in Sao Tome city is pretty chill.
Paying in Advance
As you decide what accommodation to stay in during your time in Sao Tome, ask if you can pay via bank transfer. In our experience, 3/4 of our lodges had bank accounts in Europe (Italy and Portugal) and so we were able to cut out carrying cash for these.
My American bank makes me pay an additional wire transfer fee of $30 for each international transfer, so watch out for that. However, Wilhelm has a European bank account that had no transfer fees.
We were also able to pay for some activities and private transfer to these lodges directly when we checked out. Ask your accommodations in advance if they will accept that.
Although there are few and far between, check out sites like Viator and Get My Guide to pay in advance for activities. These tours weren’t available when I visited, as the country becomes more popular (and hopefully connected to the international marketplace), this should be easier.
Money Exchange
When our flight arrived at 6pm, the money exchange kiosk in the airport was closed. Instead, with our Spanish/French language mash-up, we were able to communicate with the driver from our lodge to help us exchange dollars to dobras. He called a friend who met us at a gas station. Although slightly sketchy at the time, he gave a really great rate and we exchanged USD $400 for 9,700 dobras (whereas our xe.com app said the equivalent was 9,200 dobras).
How Much to Budget in Sao Tome
Overall, we spent €1,739 on our trip (not including our flight ticket) for 2 people. That’s around €124 per person, per day for food, accommodation, and activities.
Of that, we were able to pay €424 of our accommodation in advance, and later €227 via bank transfer at check out at Mucumbli. That meant that we used around €1088 cash in a mix of dobras and euros in Sao Tome.
We only exchanged USD $400 (at the gas station) for our entire trip. Additionally, we carried €1,500 (mostly out of paranoia of being without access to money). We used the euros to pay for lunches at the nicer restaurants, some hotel bills, and transfers.
I felt that $400 was a good amount of cash to convert only because we had euros and knew we could use them. If you don’t have access to euros, then you can estimate what you think you’ll need to convert based on my day-by-day costs below.
Accommodation Budget in Sao Tome
- 3 nights at Mucumbli (breakfast included): €290
- 1 night at Gente d’Aqui (light breakfast included): €51
- 3 nights Gombela Eco Lodge (breakfast included): €165
- 1 night Residencial Des (no food): €35
Total spent on accommodation: €541
Day-by-Day Costs
These costs are what we paid for 7 (ish) days for 2 people. For a complete picture of what we did and the activities we are paying for, check out the Ultimate Sao Tome Itinerary.
Tipping isn’t common in Sao Tome for meals, however, for ease, we usually rounded up to avoid small change.
I haven’t included what we were able to pre-pay for the accommodations below as part of the total price. Just add this back into the total if you need to bring the cash instead.
We were able to pay our entire food and activity bill via bank transfer at the end of Mucumbli so that also made a big difference to our cash budget because we had 3 dinners, activities, and transfer using their services.
If you’re renting a car, expect to add on €45-€70 per day. The island is small and you’ll likely only use a tank or two at most.
Day 0
Day 0 barely counts because all we did was arrive at night and then eat dinner. I haven’t included it totally in my ultimate 7-day Sao Tome itinerary because of this. However, we still spent money!
- Airport transfer via Mucumbli Lodge: €25
- Dinner and drinks at Mucumbli Lodge: €30
- Prepaid 3 nights at Mucumbli: €290 (breakfast included)
Total: €55 (excluding prepaid Mucumbli)
Day 1: Bike riding, cacao plantation, and the picturesque tunnel
- Renting bikes from Mucumbli: €16 (€8 per person)
- Diogo Vaz chocolate tour: €10
- Chocolate bars from Diogo Vaz: 300 dobras / €12
- Drinks at small shops while biking: 200 dobras / €8
- Dinner and drinks at Mucumbli Lodge: €30
Total: €76
Day 2: Bike riding with beaches and crabs
- Renting bikes from Mucumbli: €16 (€8 per person)
- Lunch at Petisqueira Santola with beer: 660 dobras / €26
- Grilled plantain: 10 dobras
- Dinner and drinks at Mucumbli Lodge: €30
Total: €72
Day 3: Day trip from Mucumbli to Gente d’Aqui with stops
- Private transfer with driver/guide for 3 stops and drop off at next lodge: €80 and 350 dobras/ €14 tip
- Roca Agostinho Neto guide for 10-minute tour (kinda mandatory if you visit): 300 dobras / €12 for guide (100 dobras per person suggested)
- Botanical Gardens guide (again, kinda mandatory if you visit): 200 dobras / €8 (100 per person suggested)
- Monte Cafe: 200 dobras / €8 (100 per person)
- Coffee at Monte Cafe: 100 dobras / €4
- Coffee bean purchase at Monte Cafe: €6
- Lunch (with beers and juice) at Casa Museu Almada Negreiros: €42 (€15 per person and the guide eats for free)
- Dinner at Complexo Mirador with 4 beers: 280 dobras / €11
- Prepaid 1 night at Gente d’Aqui (light breakfast included): €51
Total: €236 (excluding prepaid Gente d’Aqui)
Day 4: Day trip from Gente d’Aqui to Gombela Lodge with stops
- Driver from Gente d’Aqui to Gombela Eco Lodge with 3 stops: €110 and 300 dobras/ €12 tip
- Juice at Praia das Sete Ondas: 50 dobras / €2
- Lunch with water and coffee at Roca Sao Joao de Angolares: €45 (€20 per person, set menu)
- Dinner with drinks at Gombela: €30 (€12 per person)
- Half of Gombela Eco Lodge payment: €83
- Prepaid via bank transfer 3 nights at Gombela Eco Lodge (breakfast included): €82 out of €165
Total: € 282 (excluding ½ of the accommodation)
Day 5: Rolas Island Tour
- Half-day boat tour to Ilhéu das Rolas (Rolas Island): €120 (€60 per person with stops and lunch included), 100 dobras / €4 tip to boat driver
- Equator landmark: 100 dobra / €4 tip (visit is free but the guy who sweeps the leaves away will ask for a donation
- Visit to Botanical Garden: 300 dobras/ €12
- Tip for island tour guide: 200 dobras/ €8
- Dinner and drinks at Praia Inhame Eco Lodge: €45 (€15 per person)
Total: €193
Day 6: Chilling at Gombela Lodge
- Lunch at Vanha/ Tourism Rural: €15
- Dinner at Gombela: €24 (€12 per person)
Total: €39
Day 7: Sao Tome City
- Private transfer from Gombela to Sao Tome City: €70
- Tip for Gombela staff: €20
- Souvenirs at Ossobo: 300 dobras/ €12
- Diogo Vaz Cafe (two cakes and two coffees): 330 dobras / €13
- Chocolate bar at Diogo Vaz: 100 dobras / €4
- Lunch and drinks at Restaurante Papa-Figo: 600 dobras / €24
- Donation at CACAU art center & museum: 100 dobras / €4
- Drinks at BBC/Abaya da Boo: 100 dobras / €4
- Dinner at Noventa Graus Esplanada Bar: €20
- Drinks at Pico Mocambo: 300 dobras / €12 (100 dobras for the signature drink)
- Paid in cash to Residencial Des: €35
Total: €218
Read the blog on what to do in Sao Tome City.
Instead of Residencial Des, which was basic though had AC but no wifi, you can stay at one of the nicer hotels like Omali, though it is outside town. Pestana São Tomé and Pestana Miramar São Tomé are both well-located and also good options for hotels in Sao Tome City.
Day 8
We left at 7am on our 8th day.
- Taxi from Residencial Des to the airport: €15
- We spent the rest of our dobras at the airport gift shop, buying some chocolate: 300 dobras / €12
Total: €27
Got any other questions about how much to budget for Sao Tome? Let me know in the comments or send me an email!