Beautiful Boracay, Philippines

As mentioned in our last posting, our scheduled flight was cancelled and we were booked on another flight with a carrier called SEair. Their fleet of planes consist of all small prop planes (STOL- short take off and landing), the type of plane that you need to land in Caticlan which is the closest airport to Boracay. The plane was the smallest that I have ever been on. It was pretty basic, there was 19 seats but only five passengers and a pilot and co-pilot were on it. No crew and no toilet. As we checked in we had to stand on a scale with our hand luggage so that our weight could be distributed evenly throughout the plane. After a short flight we landed in very windy conditions safe and sound. We then headed to the pier where we took a boat to Boracay. There are no cars on the island and the only method of transportation is tricycles, which are motorbike with small metal side carriages. Andrew and I loaded our bags on and squished in. There are tons hotels and resorts on the island, luck for us we were recommended to a place called Bonzai Resort by Cameron and Nicole. Thankfully our driver knew where to find the hotel as it is located a little off the beach and is tucked away behind two other resort. We settled on a basic bamboo bungalow, without air conditioning, but with cable t.v and wifi access.

White Beach:
This is the most famous beach on the island of Boracay, with it's white sand and gorgeous beach it is easy to see why it has so much popularity. All the restaurants and shops are located along the main strip that follows the beach so there are endless possibilities for "foodies" like us to dine at. We are in monsoon season right now and the west side of the island with White Beach is very windy and the waves are extremely high. During the mornings the tide fills most of the beach until the afternoon when it goes out. Because of the strong wind there are wicker fences along the beach to stop the wind. The plus side of the wind is the island felt much cooler than it actually was, which made lying on the beach very comfortable.

Boat Trip & Snorkelling:
On our first day in Boracay we met a local named Eddie, a vendor who sells boat excursions around the island. After two days of listening to Eddie's offers we decided that we should go to the other side of the island to see his boat. I was very skeptical of going on a boat ride since the water was so choppy and rough, but Eddie assured us the other side of the island would be calm. He was right... the other side was just like he promised, calm with barely any wind. Amazing that a short tricycle ride across the island could have such drastic changes in weather conditions. We agreed on a 2 hour trip with snorkelling and 1/2 hour lunch at a restaurant that was only accessible by boat. We were glad that we picked an excusion with Eddie as his boat was the nicest one on the island. It was small and only a few months old and had only sails no motor. It had a crew of four and they we all very friendly and experienced at boat handling. The boats that they have in the Philippines are similar to a Catamaran, the entire time Andrew and I sat on the wing. This day I tried snorkelling for the first time... I have passed up on many opportunities in the past but for some reason that day I was feeling adventurous. We were fortunate to see some pretty fish and enjoyed being in the gorgeous water.

The Fabulour Fish market ~ D'Talipapa:
On our first night in Boracay we were hungry and heard there was great seafood on the island. We went on a hunt and literally let our bellies do the walking. On the main road we saw a sign that said "D'Talipapa" without knowing what it meant we decided to follow it down a long alleyway away from the beach and down a dark path that lead us to a market with vendors selling clothes and food. Evenually we found an area where there were people selling all types of seafood imaginable. Not your regular type of seafood... but jumbo sized. The concept was easy... you buy per kilogram and then walk across the street to one of the restaurants and they cook it for you any style you want for a small fee. Needless to saw, we enjoyed D'Talipapa every night that we were there.

Everywhere you go on the island you can not avoid being asked by vendors to buy pearls, get your hair braided or have a massage. After researching the type of pearls that they sold I decided to splurge and get myself some jewelery. The quality of the pearls are not as good as types from other bodies of water, but they are real. So now I have a great pair of pearl earrings for only a fraction of the cost it would be at home and I love them!

I definately recommend going to Boracay Philippines... it's definately a hot tourist spot but the beach is beautiful and it's a great place to spend a vacation.
Click here to see photo album in Picasa

From Boracay, Philippines

~Nicola