Boracay & the beach

Boracay, famed for it's white beaches and clear turquoise waters, certainly lives up to it's billing.

Getting there: 

Before we had the relaxing waves of Boracay roll over us, we had plans to get there in Amazing Race style and enjoy a triumph over the scores of other travellers (pointless competition, check). Your route will be as follows: airport --> tricycle to ferry pier --> ferry ---> tricycle (to your resort in Boracay). 

Top tip: after landing at Caticlan, you will need to register, and you can purchase all the tickets you need at the registration counter on the right-most side. The tickets required are the following: (i) tricycle to the ferry pier and ferry pier ticket: 75 php for both, (ii) environmental fee: 75 php, (iii) terminal fee: 100 php. Total: 250 php. 

When departing from Caticlan airport (even on domestic flights), you will need to pay 200 php per person in cash, so make sure to set this amount aside. 

Where to stay: 

The island map is roughly like this:

Most people stay at Station 1, 2 or 3. Station 1 has the more upscale places and Station 3 is developing in the same direction. I may be a bit biased but I'm convinced that Station 2 is the life of the party in Boracay.  This website agrees.

We stayed at Frendz Resort, located between Station 1 and Station 2. This resort really ought to have the tagline "There are no strangers here, only friends you have never met." Incidentally that is the tagline in the photograph near the locker area of the gym I go to. Amusing/inspiring/slightly creepy? You decide.

Anyway, back to Frendz Resort. Great place, located only a two minute walk away from the beach. So it's not a beachfront property but still extremely close. Lodging options are hostel dorms or private rooms in cabana-style living. Simple but clean. There is an air conditioning a fan option. The former will cost you 200 php more a night.  It is super hot in Boracay so we chose air conditioning. Wi-fi is available at the common area but also in the rooms located close to that area (like ours!).

The best thing about the place is the beach chairs provided free for the use of guests at Frendz (it kills me to use this spelling so many times). They also provide beach towels. 

The view from the beach chairs - pretty sweet right. 

If you're minded to make friends or travelling alone, Frendz is great! Within seconds of having our welcome drink (just juice, nothing fancy, but a nice touch), we were chatting with a German girl who was on her third trip to Boracay and was there for two whole weeks! 

What to do:

1.       Relax on the beach.

Obvs. Sunscreen and after-sun lotion are must-haves and can be purchased at D'Mall if you run out.  

The sunset on our last day was beautiful

Which in turn allows for beautiful pictures like this

2.      Beach activities.

If, like me, you suffer from the "itchy backside" syndrome and feel a constant need to DO THINGS and SEE THINGS, after a couple hours of lazing, you'll be raring to go. Thankfully, there is plenty to do in Boracay.

(a)       Paid activities  

·        From diving to ATV tours around the island to banana boat rides, to zorbing and sunset cruises and parasailing, to dragon-boating and stand-up paddling, the range of activities is amazing. After a very short while, you'll become well-acquainted with the gamut of activities, as beach boys will keep coming up to you to push their activities. Top tip: bargain! The sunset cruise started at a price of 6,000 php (whattttt?!) and got bargained down to 300 php. Zorbing started at a price of 1,000 php and went down to 600 php.   

·        Cliff jumping at Ariel’s Point! For more on this awesome activity, see my post here.  

·        Kitesurfing. My sis and I considered this but ultimately did not try it.  We spoke to our friends from Frendz and learnt that it takes around a week’s worth of lessons to be able to stand comfortably, whereas we only had 3 days in Boracay! Guests of Frendz get a discount at Hagabat Kiteboarding.  

·        Be a mermaid! You can rent a tail  from Fisheye Divers (Station 2), take photographs to your heart’s content (700 php for half an hour) or go for swimming lessons (1,500 php for two hours)! For more info, visit the website here. I saw a group of college students don tails and proceed to, without any sense of irony, star in an MTV of the Little Mermaid's 'Part of Your World’. One of the girls proclaimed loudly, ‘dreams really do come true!’. Sadly, not for me as my sister refused to be a mermaid with me and I didn’t quite want to be Ariel by my lonesome self. For the men, you are also welcome to be mermen – I saw this dad sweetly accompanying his little girl on her mermaid swimming lessons.

·         Get a massage. Options: massage on a beach chair for 200 php or inside a beach front establishment (much nicer!) for 350 php for an hour. They are likely to give you an opening price of 400/450 php but will not go below 350 php.

·         Yoga. There is something incredibly calming for mind and body about doing yoga on the beach.  Between Station 1 and Station 2 (closer to the Station 1 side) there is a lady who offers morning yoga classes on the beach (7:30 – 8:30am) for 500 php.  She lays mats on a towel, so your session will be sand free.  Or, if you are comfortable enough in your practice, you can simply practice yoga on your own.  Top tip: bring a lightweight large scarf instead of a beach towel if you intend to practice yoga.  The scarf is less likely to trap sand.  I tried both options (towel on the left, rolled up scarf on the right) and much preferred the scarf. 

·         Shopping! We would not be Singaporean if we did not like to shop. The amusingly-named D'Mall (think 'The Mall') is located at Station 2. This features a whole string of food options (which are significantly cheaper than those on the beachfront), chic boutiques and so many tourist shops that allowed us to get our kitsch on.

  

 A nice little boutique

My sis and I both somehow understood mall to mean an air-conditioned tower block but D'Mall is more of a cluster of shops down a network of small streets. Still for city slickers it is fun to be close to civilisation after a day at the beach. Importantly, if you're like us and prone to running out of money, there are money changers available.

There is also E’Mall, located at Station 3. This has a Mango outlet. Personally, I found the range of clothes rather small, and the discounts not too attractive, but we still managed to snag some items. E’Mall is, in my view, not as exciting as D’Mall as the shops are mainly touristy shops instead of little boutiques.

(b)      Free activities

·       Explore the beach. There is a rocky outcrop known as Willy’s Rock which is located around Station 1. As devout Catholics, the local people built a statue of the Virgin Mary and turned the rock into a shrine. It is extremely picturesque.

·       There is also self-conducted yoga, as mentioned above, or you can join the dragon-boaters in their fairly gruelling warm-up routine. We saw a tourist join in for kicks. He looked pretty winded after a while.  Or, you can generally frolic. 

If I could jump like this boy, I would never walk. I would just jump all the time.

What to eat/drink:

We LOVED Backyard BBQ (at D'Mall) for its pulled pork so much we went there twice. While we didn't eat the prawns the table next to us ordered them and they looked uh-mazing.  

For cheap eats, you can't beat Andok's Litson. It serves up decent (though not fantastic) Filipino fare for good prices.

Top tip: while coconunts (buko) are ubiquitious in Boracay, these are ESPECIALLY yummy when in the form of Buko Shakes (comprising coconut juice, flesh and milk blended together with some sugar). The health conscious can request for less sugar. The Green Buko which serves up the yummy buko shakes can be found at the front of '888 Seafood' within D'Mall.