HOW WE ENDED UP IN BORACAY

We really wanted to go to Coron, Palawan. At the time when we were planning to book for that trip, RT-PCR tests were still needed, and the cost of the said tests were a little prohibitive at that time. So we ended up deciding that it was time for my daughter to see Boracay (’cause we’ve already been there before).

WHERE & WHAT IS BORACAY?

If you’ve been living under a rock, Boracay is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. It lies 0.8 kilometers (0.50 mi) off the northwest coast of Panay Island.

HOW TO GET THERE

The best way to get to Boracay is via PAL, Air Asia, or CEBU PACIFIC. Book online with them.

HEALTH PROTOCOLS

The Aklan Local Government Unit (LGU) limits the number of people coming into the island on a daily-basis. You’ll need to apply for and download an Aklan QR Code Tracker, Health Declaration with QR Code, have a soft copy of your Vax Cert/Vax Card, and a soft copy of your accredited accommodations (place of stay). By the way, as of this writing, there is a mask mandate on the island.

WHERE TO STAY IN BORACAY

There are a lot of places to stay in the island, from high-end, mid-end, to budget hostels, they abound in Boracay. But it is best to book online in advance. We chose to stay and checked – in to our accommodation, the Boracay Ocean Club Resort in Station 3.

ARE THE BEST DAYS OF BORACAY BEHIND IT? MAYBE…but MAYBE NOT

With all due respect to Siargao, Boracay is still probably the most famous island destination in the Philippines.

Tales of food havens, pub crawls, and rave parties till the wee hours of the morning abounded in its heyday. It definitely was the epitome of what a party island should be.

All of this set amidst the most sparklingly clear sea waters and soft, powdery, creamy white sand.

So much so that in a 2016 poll of 300,000 travelers from ALL OVER the world, none other than Condé Nast Traveler put the island at the top of a list of 20 best beaches in the world, besting places such as Tahiti, Santorini, and Bali for the top spot.

Well past this writing, SIARGAO has also been bestowed with the same accolade already. 

SUCCESS COMES AT A COST

A mere two (2) years after being bestowed such a prestigious accolade, the island was shut down to tourists April of 2018, due to an imminent threat to nature herself. Businesses encroached the shores of Boracay. A lack of waste management by the businesses led to garbage and sewage spilling onto the waters of Boracay, so much so that President DU30 himself labeled the island waters, “a cesspool”. It was hard to “un-see” the image of garbage strewn on the waters of Boracay.

I have never been a fan of Pres DU30 but, as much as I hate to admit it, he was right.

WHAT I REMEMBER

I recall coming to the island 17 years ago, Year 2005 (the precise date escapes me now…sis, can you DM me when we were here last?) courtesy of my sister, Dawn. I remember the spectacular sunsets, the seafood spreads, breakfast buffets, the creamy-white powdery sand, the music permeating the nights, the Boracay Regency, and not a lot of people….yet…

Of course, para-sailing, jet-skiing, banana-boating, paraw-sailing, scuba-diving were already there but kite-boarding wasn’t a thing yet. Yeah, it was that long ago that we’ve set foot on the island.

Boracay had a certain magic to it then because it was less dense, just a few shops here and there, pubs didn’t really turn-on music full-blast just to let tourists know they were there, exceptional food can be had but first you had to get there to get a table because locals and foreigners alike knew the go-to places to eat such as KASBAH, EPIC, and many others. My sister and I didn’t really venture far from where we were billeted (Boracay Regency).

This time, though, I made sure to capture awesome sceneries and places to go to here in Boracay.

MARCH 29, 2022 TUESDAY DAY 1

THE CHANGES I NOTICED

When we first came over to Boracay, Jetty Port, where you pay Environmental Fees, get a boat ride to the island was just a not-more-than-5-minute-walk from the airport. Now it’s a seven (7) minutes tricycle-ride away. The port today was, shall we say, bustling with people wanting to get to the island. There’s a system in place (pay environmental fees / pay boat fares) but controlling the crush of people needs to improve. Calling on Jetty Port authorities, please do something about this.

All boats from Jetty Port to Boracay now drop off passengers at Station 3, whereas before, we were dropped – off at Station 2 itself, where the Boracay Regency was. The reason behind this is that making frequent boat trips to the main shore line of the island may damage the waters and the beach itself.

Hey, you got my vote on this, guys!

Nowadays, to get to your accommodations, you have to take an E-Trike, which are very environment-friendly, less noisy, and literally no smoke emissions. Again, it’s a great idea! The ride takes you along the main road, the Boracay Circumferential Road, where almost all businesses, hotels, shops, stores, marts, malls, are situated.

Another noticeable change: beach front establishments are now at least 10-15 meters away from the shores and sands of Boracay.

LATE LUNCH

After checking in, we had a late lunch at TITA MAGZ just a few minutes walk from BORACAY OCEAN CLUB, where I ordered a “silog” meal:

At about 3pm, we walked over to the Food Hub Festival near Station 2 to sample Jonah’s Fruit Shakes. These shakes are famous in Boracay:

At about this time, we were walking along the beach making our way to D’Mall to check it out and I must admit, closing the island to tourists for 6 months was probably the best thing for the island.

The sands along the beaches of Boracay are, I am at a loss for superlatives, really…

Sunset-watching on the shores of Boracay reminded me of that movie-scene in City of Angels, where the “angels”, clad in all-black get-ups, would flock to the shores of the beach to strain their ears and listen to “music from God”, but in this case, to watch the sun set over the horizon:

We were famished come 7pm and we made our way to TWO SEASONS but unfortunately because of an overflow crowd, they had no choice but to impose a cut-off, that only customer pick-ups and deliveries are to be served.

We made our way to nearby MAYA’s and partook of their sinigang na baboy, inihaw na liempo, and baked oysters, and it did not disappoint:

Day 1 is in the books, guys.

MARCH 30, 2022 WEDNESDAY DAY 2: ISLAND-HOPPING

I’m an early riser.

I like to beat everyone else just to get that tranquil and relaxing feeling of being alone with my thoughts and nothing in front of me but the ocean, feel the cool breeze on my cheeks, breathe, and just listen to the waves:

Walking along the shore, I chanced upon SUNNY SIDE CAFE opening their store, ordered a pour, a pastry, and sat down fronting the ocean.

Heavenly.

I went back to the resort, just in time for their breakfast buffet. Leni, anyone?

I befriended a local and he goes by the name Boy Godly (yep, that’s the name he gave me), and he became my contact for the island-hopping we planned to have today.

After going through the routine listing at the manifest, and checking-in with Coast Guard, our island-hop itinerary took us to:

CROCODILE ISLAND

The island-hopping tour started out 8:30am and ended about 3:00pm. We made our way back to the resort and slept till about close to 5:00pm.

We made our way to EPIC-BORACAY @Station 2 for an early 6:00pm dinner watching the sunset:

Dinner @EPIC Boracay consisted of:

That dinner @EPIC- Boracay made us want to just walk-off our full stomachs and it was quite a ways-off to Station 3, and we took our sweet time getting there, taking in the sights and the sounds of Boracay @night.

I couldn’t help but go back with my thoughts to the beaches of PUKA and Crystal Cove, as they certainly swept us off our feet.

In case you missed it, a few years back, there were news that a conglomerate was planning on putting up a !!@$#$%!!! casino right at PUKA Beach, and thank God that never got off the ground due to vigorous protests from locals and environment groups. I couldn’t imagine having such an edifice smearing the beauty of PUKA Beach.

Back at the resort, I needed a night cap, so I ordered a double Jack Daniels straight up with ice, and yep, that knocked me out.

MARCH 31, 2022 THURSDAY DAY 3: LAND TOUR

Take a look at this sunrise:

BREAKFAST @SUNNY SIDE CAFE

This time we made sure we ate breakfast here:

After breakfast, Boy Godly set us up with an E-Trike for a land tour of Boracay. First stop was:

Next stop was The Grotto. The sand here is ridiculously white, even under the water:

3rd stop of the day: NEWCOAST and its spectacular panoramic views:

The KEYHOLE rock formation

4th stop of the day: Ilig-Iligan Beach

5th stop: DINIWID BEACH

The land tour ended at around 10:15am, and we were able to score a table at TWO SEASONS:

We ordered their famous Four Cheese Pizza:

Their Angus Beef Stroganoff is to die for:

After that great lunch, we took an E-Trike back to the resort, where we rented a paddle board and soaked up the sun and surf:

We returned to our accommodations to rest up a bit, and I fell asleep for about two (2) hours. We freshened up and made our way down to CAFE MARUJA / JOE’s Restaurant for dinner.

Ordered their CAJUN BOIL SEAFOOD PLATTER:

Acoustic night music was great, so…

Back at our accommodations, we were treated to a fire dance:

We retired to our room and talked about extending our stay for a few more days hahahaha because we felt like we haven’t really seen all that Boracay has to offer.

APRIL 1, 2022 FRIDAY DAY 4 CHILL DAY

Just watching the sun rise and how colors react to the play of light:

Got breakfast at Boracay Ocean Club Resort’s buffet:

My daughter made her way to CHACHA’s SUNDOWN Cafe:

Took some more still photos:

Hit the waves

Finished off with 10 laps at the resort’s rooftop infinity pool, I had it all to myself that morning

Freshened up and had Lunch @SENSI besides CALYPSO Dive Center

Lunch with a view of the beach

After the late lunch that day, I went back to our accommodations, and slept till about 5pm. We freshened up and decided to try out a buffet dinner at LA-UD Restaurant located at the HUE Hotel Station X:

That night, we seriously considered and talked about extending our stay for at least two (2) more days but ultimately decided against it because of, of course, the need to go back to work (my fault, really). The night was spent talking about the days spent on the island amidst packing for tomorrow’s flight back to Manila.

APRIL 2, 2022 SATURDAY DAY 5

I just had to see you one more time…

Our flight back to Manila was scheduled 11:45am that day. We had an early checkout so that we could have one more of the same breakfast we had at SUNNY SIDE CAFE.

We took the boat from Station 3 back to Jetty Port, hopped on a tricycle to the airport, checked in and took off just in time. Cebu Pacific is awesome.

MUSINGS

When I came back to Boracay, I honestly did not know what to expect.

Now I know why my daughter chose a Station 3 accommodation. It was for the peace and quiet.

I was kind of shocked on our first day when we were walking along this path as we made our way to Jonah’s Fruit Shakes.

When we were nearing Station 2, it was wall-to-wall souvenir shops, restaurants, hotels, scuba diving academies, tattoo shops, paluto stalls, hawkers offering services such as massages, hair-braiding, sunglasses, island hopping, paraw-sailing, paddle-boarding, para-sailing, banana boating, jet skiing, and the like. It was, well, noisy.

The Boracay Regency is now the Henann Regency.

The brand Henann seems to be everywhere in Boracay.

And I haven’t even described D’Mall yet. It’s an alley way with wall-to-wall of the same: restos, shops, dive centers, drug stores, 7-11s, the works. It certainly felt like a mall: blaring music, smoke from ihawan, pet dogs, pet cats, lots of people, like Divisoria during Christmas season. Everything’s there, even a cellphone repair shop.

Station 2 can be likened to the ultimate tambay-place. And that’s putting it mildly.

Hey, I am for progress. But sometimes there is such a thing as over-commercialization of an area. It’s all so…“touristy“ now.

The one thing I really noticed that was good. even great, and I can’t reiterate this enough, is how far back from the sands and shore these establishments are now situated. And people seemed to be really aware to throw garbage at the proper bins, as BORACAY’s shoreline, beach, and the walk ways are very clean.

This is now the new BORACAY community, commercialized and all. And it’s somewhat of a turn-off for me.

But that’s just me, who still recalls the Boracay of ‘yore, when it wasn’t all that crowded. And for this reason, for the moment, I’ll choose the community of SIARGAO, where people are more ready to give you a smile, more approachable, more laid-back, and seem to genuinely care about what you think of their island.

On our second day, I ventured out at about 2:30am all the way down to Station 2 from Station 3 and you could hear a pin drop.

It was that silent. Gone are the days of the pub crawl and beach parties that lasted till sunrise.

BORACAY is paradise for the food junkie. The food at the places we ate are reasonably priced but so, so good.

EPIC-Boracay? Don’t forget to try out their EPIC Cheesecake. AWESOME dessert.

SUNNY SIDE CAFE? Go for the Champorado, Kitamaya Beef Tapa.

SENSI? The Chicken Inasal was really good.

CHACHA’s SUNDOWN? Try their iced-coffee.

CAFE MARUJA / JOE’s Restaurant? The CAJUN BOIL platter was superb.

TWO SEASONS? Four Cheese Pizza and that Angus Beef Stroganoff, again, is to die for!

MAYA’S? Their Inihaw na Liempo is fantastic, grilled just right.

BORACAY’S NATURE OFFERINGS

I’ve been to SIARGAO, and the sands of DAKU Island are made up of crushed corals and is soft and almost fine. I’ve seen the white sand beaches of BANTAYAN Island, specifically Sugar Beach, and it is also made up of fine white sand, coupled with the fact that BANTAYAN Island has both fantastic sunrises and sunsets. KALANGGAMAN Island also is such a sight to behold, both for its sand and the waters surrounding it.

But BORACAY’s powdery sand is definitely superior in terms of how it feels to the bare feet, and BORACAY’s crystal-clear waters reminds me of the waters surrounding KALANGGAMAN, she with a deep blue hue, turquoise-green, and crystal clear color once the waters hits the shores.

For me, BORACAY’s powdery white sand and sparkling waters are still the best I’ve experienced.

So ARE THE BEST DAYS OF BORACAY BEHIND IT?

I would not bet against this jewel of an island making a grand comeback.

And to all of you DIYers out there, here’s a list of expenses that we incurred for a group of three people:

Whoever said that “It feels good to be lost in the right direction” is a genius.

Till next time. Be good to one another.