This article may contain links to products and services we use and recommend. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For more information, see our Disclosure Policy.
Socotra had been on my travel bucket list for many years. However, the logistics of getting there and the associated costs kept me from proceeding beyond marvelling at photos and dreaming about visiting one day. With us in the region and our tenth wedding anniversary looming, we decided to bite the bullet and spend the money – do it while you can, being our motto.
While super glad we did, we were curious to see what the trip would cost us. This article breaks down the key expenses of visiting Socotra, from the flights and tour package to tips and minor daily expenses, such as incidentals and bank fees. I’ll also share our actual costs and practical (budgeting) tips to help you prepare for your adventure without any surprises later on.
Update for Travel in 2026
Amid increasing tensions on the mainland, Yemen's government declared a state of emergency on 30 December 2025, which included the grounding of flights to/from Socotra, affecting around 600 tourists who had travelled to Socotra over the New Year and were stranded on Socotra until evacuated on Yemenia flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 7/8 January 2026.
While Yemenia Airways provided weekly flights between Jeddah and Socotra for the remainder of the 2025/26 tourism season (and is likely to continue in the 2026/27 season), the Air Arabia charter flights between Abu Dhabi and Socotra remain on hold until further notice. If you are planning a trip to Socotra, your Socotra tour operator will be the best point of contact to help you navigate these changes.
How much should you budget for a trip to Socotra?
Well, let’s rip the band-aid off quickly, shall we? Our two-week trip cost USD 6,771 for the two of us (around USD 3,385 per person, or USD 242 per person per night). For some of you, that’s a typical holiday. But if you’re used to living (nomadically) for around USD37,000 per year in total (that’s us), forking out almost 18% on a two-week trip is a lot.
The key cost components to consider in your travel budget are your flights to/from Socotra, tour package, tipping and incidentals, bank fees and travel insurance costs. Here are our actual costs, broken down into the same categories (prices are for two people travelling together, rounded to whole numbers):
| Budget Item | USD | Due | Payment Method | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour Package | 4,400 | Upon arrival | Cash | Includes Socotra tourist visa of USD150 per person |
| Flights | 1,860 | Upon booking | Online | Wise transfer to Emirates Aviation Services/UAE bank account |
| Tips/Donations | 308 | During tour | Cash | English-speaking guide, driver, cameleer, local guides |
| Travel Insurance | 120 | Pre-Departure | Online | Azimuth Risk Solutions via Insubuy, 14 nights |
| Other | 53 | Pre-Departure | Online | Garmin inReach Plan, one month; Etisalat SIM card |
| Incidentals | 25 | During tour | Cash | Optional activities, food/drinks not included in tour package |
| Bank Fees | 5 | Pre-Departure | Online | ATM withdrawal fees |
| Total | 6,771 |
Socotra is not cheap, but how much would you spend on an adventure of a lifetime?
Currency Preferences in Socotra
You will notice us quoting USD in this article. This is simply because Socotris prefer USD over anything else. We never needed to exchange into Socotra’s official currency, the Yemeni Rial (YER).
You will need to carry enough cash in USD, as there are no ATMs on the island, and credit cards are not accepted. While you can exchange larger USD notes for smaller denominations at one of the bank branches in Hadibu, the capital of Socotra, we recommend to bring plenty of USD1/5/10 notes if you can.
How much do tour packages to Socotra cost?
Typical tour package inclusions and costs
Only guided tours can visit Socotra. For a one-week tour, expect to pay between USD1,200 and USD3,000 per person (excluding flights), depending on the tour operator and the level of service.
Here’s what a typical package includes:
- Accommodation: Options on Socotra range from basic campsites without bathroom facilities to more established campsites with shared bathroom facilities, and from hotel rooms with private bathrooms and air conditioning (though very few in number, and only in/around Hadibu). Most tours involve camping (in tents provided by the tour operator).
- Three meals per day: Generally, all packages include breakfast, lunch and dinner, which are prepared by your guide/driver, your local hosts or dedicated kitchen staff (in the case of larger groups). However, any food considered a luxury, like crustaceans, may not be included in your tour price.
Tours include three meals a day, always freshly prepared by your local tour staff and plentiful
- Activities: All packages include daily guided activities such as hiking, snorkelling, and exploring Socotra’s key attractions. Some activities may be optional and require separate payment—for example, entry fees for the Socotra Folk Museum [Google Maps location] or the cost of hiring snorkel equipment in Dihamri. Likewise, tips are not included.
- Transportation: Ground transportation, including airport pick-up and drop-off, is included in your tour price. Throughout the trip, 4×4 vehicles (usually Toyota Land Cruisers) navigate the island’s rugged terrain. On trekking trips through the Hajhir Mountains, camels carry all the gear (but you’ll have to walk).
- Visa: The visa for Socotra is organised through a registered local tour operator, your sponsor, who handles the entire process. It is valid for 30 days (upon entry). You’ll need to provide a copy of your passport, and the visa is typically processed within a week to ten days. Expect to pay between USD150 and USD200 (pending admin fees added by your sponsor on top of the government-mandated visa fee). While many tour packages include the visa cost, some don’t. So, always confirm.
Update 2026: With flights to/from Socotra now operating from/to Jeddah, you will also need a visa for Saudi Arabia (even if you just transit through). While this adds to your travel costs, applying for the eVisa is straight forward. Once approved, you can enter Saudi Arabia multiple times within a year and stay up to 90 days.
Ground transportation is included in your tour price - from 4x4s along the coast to camels on trekking trips in the Hajhir Mountains
To help you decide which tour package best suits your needs and budget, below is a high-level comparison of the package types:
| Package Type | Accommodation | Price Range (Per Person) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Mostly basic campsites | USD1,200–1,500 (one week) USD2,000–2,200 (two weeks) | Most immersive and budget-friendly |
| Mid-Range | Mix of basic and established campsites (and sometimes one hotel night) | USD1,500–2,000 (one week) USD2,200–2,400 (two weeks) | More comfortable but still immersive |
| Luxury | Alternating camping/hotel or hotel only | USD2,500–3,000 (one week) USD3,500+ (two weeks) | Most comfortable but also most expensive and least immersive |
Our actual costs (and process)
We booked a private (mid-range, camping-only) tour with Socotra Eco-Tours for our two-week trip to Socotra. The tour cost us USD 4,400 for two people (USD 2,200 per person), or approximately USD 157 per person per night. The visa fees were included in the tour package, but our flights were not.
On our arrival day, we paid for our tour package in cash at the Socotra Eco-Tours’ office in Hadibu. It was a bit disconcerting to walk around with so much cash, but we distributed it among different places, hoping we’d be all right (and we were). I’ll discuss the cheapest way to get the cash in the Bank Fees section below.
Group size, company ownership and equipment quality are among the variables impacting tour prices in Socotra
How much are the flights to Socotra?
Typical flight costs
To reach Socotra, you now fly to or from King Abdulaziz International Airport (Google Maps location; IATA Code: JED) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. To organise your flights to Socotra from Saudi Arabia, contact your Socotra tour operator. Expect to pay around USD900-950 per person (return).
Flights for the tourism season are usually announced about 2-3 months ahead of time (July/August for October-December 2026). We include Yemenia’s schedule from/to Jeddah during the 2025/26 tourism season (though no guarantees that it will remain the same):
| From | To | Weekday | Flight Number | Departure | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeddah | Socotra | Tuesday | IY 525 | 11:00 | 14:00 |
| Socotra | Jeddah* | Tuesday | IY 526 | 14:45 | 19:10 |
* with a brief stopover at Al Rayyan International Airport, Al Mukallah (RIY)
If you don’t live in/near Jeddah, you must also budget for flights between your home country and Saudi-Arabia. Check the latest airfares here:
Air Arabia charter flights from/to Abu Dhabi are on hold - Instead, Yemenia flies weekly between Jeddah and Socotra during the tourism season
Our actual costs (and process)
Socotra Eco-Tours organised our flights, but we had to pay Emirates Aviation Services (EAS), which managed the Air Arabia flights, immediately upon booking.
We paid for our tickets via Wise, transferring AED6,831.78 (which is close to the official pegged rate of AED3.6725 to USD1) plus AUD21.12 (or 0.75%) in processing fees. Our tour operator provided the EAS bank details on a Monday. We made the Wise transfer on a Tuesday. The transfer took two days to process. And after another four days (with a weekend in between), we received the email from Socotra Eco-Tours with our flight tickets. So, all in all, it took a week to complete the flight booking.
Our travel costs do not include any other airfares, as we used Abu Dhabi as a stopover on our return flight from Europe to New Zealand (and thus didn’t incur any extra costs).
How much should you budget for tipping and incidentals in Socotra?
Tipping
Because wages in Socotra are low, tipping is appreciated. As tipping is not part of our culture, we always seek recommendations, and in our case, these ranged from USD100+ per person for our guide/driver (recommended by Socotra Eco-Tours) to 10% of the tour package price.
We ended up paying USD308 (or 7% of our tour package price) in tips to our English-speaking guide, driver, cameleer and trekking guide, as well as local villagers at Firmhin Village, Wadi Kalisan, Homhil, Hoq Cave and Ayhaft Canyon. So, I guess the 10% would be a sufficient ballpark figure to consider for your cash needs – make sure you bring enough small denominations.
Incidentals
This includes purchasing additional items for your trip, including rental gear and souvenirs.
Mask and Snorkel Hire: We paid USD6 to rent a mask and snorkel for the day at Dihamri (we shared it between us). If you’re a snorkel enthusiast, consider bringing your own gear. If the Rosh Marine Reserve is included on your itinerary, you’ll have to bring your own, as there is no hire option.
Special Meals: While three meals a day are included in your tour, this does not extend to luxury items, such as crustaceans. Locals often offer fresh seafood right on the beach, and your cook will be happy to prepare it for you. Just don’t buy any lobster or crabs (or anything else) at Dihamri. Our lobster (USD10) was swapped out for a rotten one; our driver/cook only realised it when he started preparing it at our campsite at Arher Beach.
Food considered luxury - like crabs or lobster - is not usually included in your tour price
Optional Activities: Some activities, like visiting the Socotra Folk Museum (where the entry fee is USD3 per person), are optional and may, therefore, not be included in your tour package price.
Souvenirs and Other: We didn’t buy souvenirs (as we are nomads travelling with carry-on luggage only). However, we invited our tour guide for a drink – freshly squeezed guava juice at a stall around the corner from our tour operator’s office – paying USD3 for three juices.
If you might buy souvenirs (like incense burners and frankincense) add (a bit) more cash to your Socotra budget
Dreaming of Socotra? Read About Our Essential Lessons and Must-Know Insider Tips
Don’t miss a thing! Dive into our essential lessons and must-know insider tips to plan your trip like a pro. Learn how to pack smart, respect local customs and preserve Socotra’s unique beauty for future generations.
What other expenses should you consider in your Socotra travel budget?
Bank Fees
After adding up the (expected) costs for your tour package, tipping and incidentals, you will have significant cash to secure in USD. This will be easy if you live in a country where USD is used.
We calculated our total cash needs to be around USD4,765 or 70% of our total budget (and we used it all). With debit/credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees and using ATMs at our Middle Eastern transit point that didn’t charge withdrawal fees, we ended up paying only AUD8 to secure our cash needs. Travelex would have charged us more than AUD120. That’s a huge difference.
While we withdrew AED (as we accessed Socotra via Abu Dhabi) and were able to use AED on the island during our trip, now only USD seem to be accepted (please let us know if this information is incorrect). There are foreign currency ATMs in Jeddah (operated by Riyad Bank and Albilad Bank) but, as far as we know, they only accept Saudi (mada) cards.
If you have successfully withdrawn USD from a foreign currency ATM in Jeddah with a foreign card or exchanged foreign cash into USD at a Money Changer in Jeddah (at a good FX rate), please get in touch.
Withdrawing AED from an ATM in the UAE was cheaper than exchanging cash at places like Travelex
If you are withdrawing cash in Saudi Arabia, remember that
- if you’re using a credit card for the withdrawal, it needs to be in credit (for the amount you want to withdraw). Otherwise, you’ll be slapped with hefty cash advance fees.
- your daily withdrawal limits only reset at midnight – the local bank’s at midnight in Saudi Arabia, and your home bank’s when it strikes midnight in your home country.
What to do if you run out of cash on Socotra
If you run out of money, your best option is to send funds to yourself via Western Union. There is an agent office in Hadibu [Google Maps location], where you can collect your cash. Ask your guide to take you somewhere with an internet connection, and then to the agent when passing through town. Transfers typically arrive within minutes, though delays can occur due to local conditions - so don't leave it until the last minute. Fees vary depending on the sending country and method.
Travel Insurance
Comprehensive travel insurance is necessary for any trip, especially to a remote destination like Socotra.
While our annual policy (provided by Tower Insurance and underwritten by Allianz) listed Yemen as a covered country, the fine print stated that countries against which the government had issued travel advisories were excluded. Always read the fine print, hey?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that a civil war has been raging in mainland Yemen for the past decade, our government advised against travelling to Yemen (including the island of Socotra). This meant our annual policy did not cover our two-week trip to Socotra. So, we searched for an additional policy and, using Insubuy, found an appropriate one from Azimuth Risk Solutions, underwritten by Lloyds, for USD120 (for the two of us).
Without mobile phone reception, a PLB is an important communication device, especially in case of an emergency in the Hajhir Mountains
Other budget items
First Aid Kit: Medical help on Socotra can be hours – or even days – away. Carry a proper kit, not a token one. Ours includes wound care, antiseptics, and basic pain relief, but the real value is being able to deal with small problems before they become trip-ending.
Water Filtration: We travelled with a water filtration system (ours cost just under GBP100), mainly for multi-day hikes. It reduces reliance on bottled water, which is especially important in a place already struggling so much with plastic waste.
Satellite Communicator (PLB): Mobile coverage on Socotra is unreliable at best. We carried the Garmin inReach Mini because it allows two-way messaging and location tracking – not just an SOS signal. It cost just under EUR300, with a one-month plan at USD36. In practice, it became our only dependable way to communicate outside Hadibu.
While we bought the latter two specifically for this trip, all three items are being used on many other trips and multi-day hikes. In our trip cost summary, we have therefore only included the cost of the one-month PLB plan (plus the cost for an Etisalat SIM card, which turned out to be useless on Socotra).
Our water filtration kit was a life saver in the Hajhir Mountains (and reduced our plastic waste in Socotra by at least 20x 500ml bottles)
Drone Permit: If you’re taking your drone to Socotra, you will also need to budget for the permit fee. Expect to pay USD100-150 for your Socotra permit (plus potential additional permit/registration fees in Saudi Arabia). Your tour operator will organise the Socotra permit for you (and be able to advise you on the latest rules in Saudi Arabia).
Pre-/Post-Trip Accommodation in Jeddah: Finally, you may also want to budget for (at least) one night hotel accommodation in Jeddah before AND after your trip. We did not include our pre- and post-trip accommodation in this article, as we stayed in the Middle East much longer than someone would on a standard stopover.
Here are our recommendations for quality accommodation – all in easy reach from Jeddah Airport using Uber:
| Name | Property Features | Type | Price Indicator | Book Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindah Apartment | One-bedroom apartment The entire place is yours | Apartment | $$ | Book Now |
| Reef Apartments - North Obhur | Spacious apartment Full-day security Room service | Apartment | $$ | Book Now |
| Clarion Hotel Jeddah Airport | Exceptional Facilities Rooftop Swimming Pool | Hotel | $$$ | Book Now |
| Rose Oasis Hotel | Kitchenette Balcony with city views Free WiFi | Hotel | $$ | Book Now |
Calculating your budget for a trip to Socotra?
Don’t forget to check out our detailed guide on everything you need to know before you go (including travel logistics, cultural tips and essential packing advice) and our advice around booking the best Socotra tour that’s right for you.
Before you go, if you liked our article and found it helpful, we would appreciate it if you could share it with your friends and family via the Share buttons below. Even better: Leave a short review on Trustpilot or Google, which would help us further build our online reputation as a (trustworthy and helpful) travel and lifestyle blog.