Philippine Travel

This year, I’m thankful that I was able to visit two of my top beach destinations here in the Philippines – Palawan and Boracay. I’ve always wondered what’s the deal with Boracay and why it’s so popular. Now I finally understood why.

Really fine white sand is spread along Boracay’s long and wide shoreline. No wonder why a lot of beach bummers are so attracted to the place.

Just look at that sand!

Where to Stay?

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be expensive to stay in Boracay Station 1 which is famous for its long sand bar. There are several places offering affordable accommodation for those who want to get a good deal. We chose to stay at Mito’s place. It’s not a fancy resort but rooms are clean plus it’s in a nice and almost beachfront location. They can be contacted through their Facebook fan page.

Mito’s Place
Station 1 Boracay Island, Brgy. Balabag, Malay, 5608, Aklan

How to Get to Boracay Island From The Airport

To save money, you don’t have to ride a van. Just beside Caticlan airport are tricycles that can bring you to Jety port. Once you get to the island, ride another tricycle and inform the driver the location of your resort.

What to do and where to go?

There are a lot of activities to chose from like parasailaing, helmet diving, jetskiing, island hopping, banana boat riding and more. We only had little time so we weren’t able to try all the activities but still it was a very fun experience.

ATV & Buggy Car Riding

Boracay’s aerial view can be seen from Mt Luho and the mountain can be reached by driving an ATV or a buggy car.

Paraw Sailing

We were lucky that a paraw was used for our island hopping instead of a motor-powered boat. So somehow we were able to experience paraw sailing.

Crystal Cove

Crystal Cove is one of the destinations in island hopping. It features caves and coves.

Puka Beach

Puka beach is every beach bummer’s heaven. In the very wide stretch of white sand, there are only nipa huts and no buildings. However, drinks and food here are pretty expensive. The mango shake I bought was worth 200 PHP.

Snorkeling

When talking about corals, Palawan really has the better seabed compared to Boracay. But hey, I’m sure everyone would agree that these fish are beautiful.

Helmet Diving

What’s more fun than watching fish through an aquarium? The obvious answer is to watch them swim in their natural habitat while you’re underwater.

Where to eat?

If you love seafood, try to drop by at D’talipapa. You can reach the place by riding a motorcycle or through your own feet. I prefer the latter because it’s fun walking at the shoreline of Boracay!

They have lots of fresh seafood like lobsters, prawns, shells and crabs. Be sure to learn the skills of bargaining since it’s quite expensive there.

Then, find a restaurant who will cook it for you.

Garlic Butter Prawns

What more to do?

Boracay is never a boring place and there’s much to do even if you’re not engaged in any of the activities mentioned above.

You can just relax and enjoy the view.

Or you can simply stroll around and enjoy the sand.

You can also watch fire dance at night.

The Free Lunch at Astoria

When we first stepped foot on the white sands of Boracay, we were greeted by a staff from Astoria and invited us for a free buffet lunch. In exchange, we were told that they’ll tour us around the resort for two hours so we could take pictures and post them on social media for their advertising. Sounds like a good deal right?

In reality, it’s actually a two-hour salestalk about a membership they want to sell. But still, it’s free lunch so it’s up to you whether to accept that or not in exchange for listening to the presentation. But for me, the free lunch is not enough to compensate for my two hours listening to something I will never be interested with. I wish they had been more honest that it’s really about a membership offer and not a tour around the resort.