Blogs from Boracay, Philippines, Asia - page 18

Hello Again - I left Puerto Galera after several great dives; took a 4-hour public commute to Roxas; spent the night. The next day, I traveled by boat to Borocay. The trip was not too exciting and was uneventfull, except for watching the local 10-13 year old boys from Roxas jumping 30 feet off the ferry boat to dive for your spare pasos. Boracay is quite the Philippino and international destination. The beautiful 4km white sand beach is palm tree lined and full of bars and international restaurants. People sail board on the east side of the island. The beach front and resorts have recovered from the last typhoon. Inland is still somewhat recovering, but unless the tourists rent mountain bikes and cruise around as I did, they are not likely to know, except for the ... read more

For Christmas Uncle Dave decided to treat us to a flight to Boracay (thank you very much). Boracay is a tiny island 35 mins flight on a wee plane south of Manila. It's famed for it's mile-long white sand beach which is so fine that it doesn't get hot even under the tropical sunshine. The island was hit by a typhoon just a few days before we arrived, but the massive local clean up operation had been in full swing from the minute the wind and rain stopped so we didn't see the worst of the damage. The only major obvious problem that we saw was there being no power for most of our stay (although our hotel had a generator so we were not really affected by this). Our hotel consisted of wee semi-detached huts ... read more

boracay island was a very pleasant change from manila. almost everyone i talked to had only good things to say about it. i thought it would be too touristy and the beaches would not be everything that they have been famed to be. i was wrong. luckily, i arrived one month before the tourist season starts there, so there was only a small crowd of people. the main destination there is white beach. it is a huge stretch of powder white sand and crystal clear water. it is also where almost all the bars and nightlife is. very good food there too. it is more expensive there than the rest of the philippines, but still very budget friendly for US standards. the people there were very kind and there was a mix from around the world. ... read more

One jeepney journey, two ferries, one taxi and three motorbikes later.. The Philippines is the perfect place to visit for for island hopping and traveling from beach to beach, just what we need after a New Zealand winter. Of course nothing is ever as easy as it sounds though and despite our determination not to visit too many places and therefore cut down on the traveling it does take a fair amount of time, money and effort to move about this amazing place. On leaving Bacolod we had another epic journey to our next destination, the beach resort of Borocay. The first stop was a ferry to Iloilo City on the island of Panay, we caught a jeepney to the ferry terminal (a barginous 7 pesos) from there it was a mere two hours of hard ... read more

Well, what can I say? Bora is Bora - even when it was stormy! Stayed at Station 2 resort La Carmela, shopped for trinkets, learned to skimboard, played with local kids, took photos, sunbathed (if you can call it that), did all things Bora - braids and tats! This is my second time in Bora, the first being nine years ago (I know it’s unforgivable for some but hey, I’ve been around the Philippines, seen beaches many people haven’t even heard about so cut me some slack) and it’s not much different. Still the same Bora vibe - beautiful, liberating, exhilarating - even when the waves are so high you can actually surf and even when there is no beach until 2pm when the tide ebbs. And the best thing about Bora? What happens in Bora, ... read more