Boracay

BORACAY ISLAND

PHILIPPINES

Boracay Island – one of the top ten best island destinations in the world, according to Travel and Leisure Magazine.  Famous for its sprawling white beach with soft sand and turquoise waters, it is a a must visits in the Philippines.

Getting There

Boracay island is only one hour away by plane from Manila.  It is located in the northern tip of the larger Island of Panay in the Visayas region of the Philippines.  However getting to most of the island destinations takes much longer, and requires several modes of transport to get there.  There are two airports you can use to travel to Boracay – Caticlan and Kalito.  We chose to go to Kalibo which is farther away from Boracay.  After we landed, we boarded a bust from Kalibo to Caticlan port.  From there a 20 minute boat ride to Boracay Island, after which another bus ride to the hotel.  We arranged our airport transfers in advance and used Southwest Tours – they were punctual and efficient.  Therefore it took us half a day in total to arrive at our hotel.

The Hotel

We chose to stay at Villa Caemilla Beach Boutique hotel.  Boracay island main beach stretch, the white beach, is split into three areas – Station 1, 2 and 3.  Station 2 is the oldest and most densely populated stretch with many hotel, hostels, bars and restaurants.  We chose to stay near Station 3, which is less developed, quite a bit quieter and not as crowded as Station 2.

White Beach

The beach in Boracay is spectacular.  The sand is indeed white and very fine.  The only downside was the weeds on the white beach.  During the spring, the wind direction blows the weed to the beach.

We ended up going on the opposite side of the island to the New Beach.  The hotel had a sister property that we were allowed to use.

The second day in Boracay we hired a sailboat to take us on a snorkeling adventure.  The locally built catamaran sail boats are pretty cool – wooden hull with bamboo mast. Seemingly delicate, I was amazed how well it sailed around the island in both light and medium breeze.  We snorkeled at the crocodile island and along the white beach shore at the coral reef.  The water was amazingly clear and we saw some nice marine life.   There are also plenty of dive shops that offer dives at various spots near the island.  They also do sunset sails.

Local Sailboat near Crocodile Island

Food

There are many bard and restaurants along the beach offering variety of cuisine choices. Many specializing in fresh seafood and Filipino cuisine staples.

Tree House Bar
Main Stretch Station 2

The traditional Filipino breakfast – tapsilog – which is an abbreviation for “tapa, sinangag and itlog” – beef, rice and egg.

The seafood is also good – fresh choices and catch of the day.

Another Filipino specialty is Lechon – roasted suckling pig.  It is roasted for hours over charcoal, which makes the pig’s skin very crispy while the meat is still moist and tender.

Lechon

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