the first timer’s easiest guide to enjoy boracay

i’m back from sizzling boracay, still missing the beach bumming escapade and all those blahs. like all of my other out of town trips, expect a small trip review post. the usual rant and rave with pictures on the side.

GETTING THERE

during the high and peak season, it’s almost impossible to book accomodations and flights if you do it a month earlier. you’d be lucky to arrange rooms and flights for a large group during summer. i suggest you plan everything ahead and spare yourself the hassle of being waitlisted. there are lots of resorts to choose from, and you can find them easily just by surfing the net. going to boracay is easy, as there are a lot of options to choose from depending on your budget or travel preference.

we got the earliest flight going to caticlan because aside from asian spirit’s promo price, we were too eager to invade boracay. (the small carrier’s propellers scared the hell out of me. i saw them wobble before it accelarated to full speed, and at the same time i was thinking of a scene similar to Final Destination in case it breaks off 0_o. there was even a time when the plane was freefalling for a few seconds. everybody was like, yelping. ANYWAY, anyway…) after we landed on caticlan, we took a 5 minute tricycle ride to the nearby seaport. you can actually walk all the way if you’re not in a hurry and not carrying a lot. (personally, i don’t like having my backpack checked in because i wanted to leave the airport as soon as possible. and yes, i stuffed EVERYTHING inside a backpack hehe! anyway…) at the sea port, we bought bangka tickets, paid for the terminal fee and boarded the boat going to boracay island. the travel was a little rough, much like the sea going to puerto galera, but don’t worry, it’s just a short 15 minute ride.

TREADING ON POWDER

since our flight was very early, the girls and i weren’t able to sleep during the sleepover and blabbed all night instead. we were thinking about catching some zzz’s first thing upon arriving, but when we got there, we thought, “what the hell, screw resting! let’s march to station 1 and grab one of those famous jona’s shake!” XP (we ended up wide awake for 36 hours hehe!)

so we did. after registering with our resort, we quickly changed into our comfy beach wears, put on some sunblock and set for station 1. then surprise, surprise, when we reached station 2, we began to realize that attempting to walk three kilometers on a blazing day was no joke. very excited and new to boracay, we refused to ride a tricycle and continued to walk the rest of the stretch. we not only did this once, twice, or thrice, but four times! hehe. we must’ve been crazy and cheap to do that.

station 1 has the finest sand of them all. if station 3 and 2’s sand were compared to polvoron with pinipig, station 1’s sand is almost comparable to roasted flour. it’s so fine that you’d mistake sand-coated dog crap for espasol or choco crinkles. but seriously, the sand is far better from malapascua’s or panglao’s. totally unrivaled.

BEACH BUMMING

so what’s there to do in boracay? well, aside from doing nothing, there are lots of stalls to buy goodies and trinkets, EAT EAT EAT, go bar hopping, babe watching, water sports, spelunking and island hopping. the list goes on and on.

shopping there is definitely not cheap, and most of the items there can be found in divisoria, greenhills or even the department store. but i guess the fact that you bought something from bora makes it feel sort of different, boralacious! station 3’s talipapa offers the same items from d’mall but at a very low and bargainable price. henna tatoos and tribal art there is not as cool as the ones in puerto galera, but what the heck, why not get one to accentuate your assets anyway? :)

boracay is unforgiving when it comes to food. the damn beach has a lot of yummy variety to offer, and all you have to do is indulge. one of the things that you shouldn’t miss is jona’s famous shakes. you can actually distinguish what ingredients they put into the mix, and it felt like freshly melted icecream! st. michel’s crepe located at d’mall was heavenly, and i think is better than cafe breton. when on a budget, i suggest you go for buffets since a single menu order would cost the same.

there were a lot of eyecandies, and i’m talking about babes with goddess curves. we’re not lesbians, mind you, but there’s not a single hunk in sight. gawd, i so love people-watching! *grin*

ASIDE FROM INDULGING

whenever i see friends of mine post their parasailing pictures on friendster, i so envy them. i was very disappointed when i learned that it costs P2500 each for only 15 minutes of flytime blah. my gawdy, momentary bliss comes at an unreasonable pricenowadays!

before we left, we made sure that we go island hopping. cripes, the sea at that time felt like it’s going to capsize the boat. it’s even worse than the one i had in puerto galera. the waves were rough and the corals were VERY near the surface, so it’s probably not the best time to go snorkeling. so the group decided to proceed to crystal cove island blah to go spelunking. i suggest that you go to both caves, for the sake of experience, it’s not that hard anyway. we didn’t proceed to puka island anymore because we have children on board and their dad was worried about the rough sea.

AND ALL THE OTHER BLAHS

in conclusion, the trip was fun even though things didn’t go as expected. i didn’t expect our accomodation to be somewhere at the end of a small winding alley, the plane ride were both driven by freaky pilots, the resort water supply was a bit salty for soap to lather, and the men there were no adonis hehe. but heck, we had a blast and would gladly return whenever possible :) smoochah borah!


MORE TRANSPO INFO
you can reach boracay by land, sea, and air. here are some affordable choices:

AIR (Manila to Caticlan, small carrier planes, 5 minute tricycle ride to sea port)
Asian Spirit 855-3333
Seair 849-0100

AIR ( Manila to Kalibo, bigger commercial planes, one hour bus ride to Caticlan sea port)
Philippine Airlines 818-0111
Air Philippines 855-9000
Cebu Pacific 702-0888
Asian Spirit 855-3333

LAND (RoRo. 2 hour bus ride to Batangas port + 3 hours Roro to Calapan, Mindoro + 3 hour land travel to Roxas port, Mindoro + 5 hour Roro to Caticlan port. From there, you’re just 15 minute ferry ride away from Boracay)
Rodastco Vans 0921-524-5394 (Cubao to Caticlan, i think it’s P910 one way, inclusive of ferry fares)
Philtranco 851-8077, 851-8079 (Alimall Cubao to Caticlan)
Bachelor Express 731-7287 (costs P945 one way)

SEA
WGA Superferry 5287000 (direct to Caticlan port)
Negros Navigation 245-5588 (costs P899)
MBRS Shipping 2495886, 243-5888, 713-1585 (Manila North Harbor, ETD Manila Friday 5pm - ETA Caticlan 6am Saturday)

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