Time check? It's still October and it's been a week since my birthday!
On this week 5 years ago, my girlfriend now wife and I went to the majestic island of Boracay. It is one of the most memorable birthdays ever. Although it was a very short vacation, it was one for the books.
We actually booked a trip early this year for our reunion with the island. But due to covid restrictions and local government's different set of rules for tourists we just opted to cancel it. With the recent updates in vaccination roll outs, we're hoping to have our reunion with the island early next year.
For now, allow me to share with you our short trip five years ago.
On our way to the airport. I can't contain the excitement so I started taking pictures
It was my first time in Boracay, and couldn't help but be ecstatic. My wife has been there once with her mom and brother. So she already knows what to expect. As for me, I knew about this island because it was always featured in local TV shows as the best summer destination. And since then, I kind of think that a trip to this island would be very expensive and too luxurious for my taste. Thank God for promo fares and cheap accommodations, dream vacations are a waking moment away.
From the plane you can clearly see the island's long white shoreline.
Arriving at Caticlan airport, you still need to take a 15-30 minute boat ride to get to Boracay island. The ride can be a bit rough especially if the weather's not good, but it's all worth it once you step on the island.
We checked in on a hotel at Station 1, a walking distance away from the beach. Hotels by the beach are a bit pricey, so we opted for a cheaper one but has a free breakfast inclusion. After checking in, we immediately went to check out the finest white sand Boracay island is known for.
It did not disappoint!
My attempt at making a sand art, see next picture for what I'm trying to achieve
This is the sand castle made by the locals. You need to pay if you want to have a photo with it. And for the amount they are asking, we just think it's a bit overpriced so we just made our own. Hence, the picture above. Haha. The pic is out of focus because we took it sneakily to avoid locals asking us for payment.
By now, I've been to my top 3 island destinations in the Philippines: Boracay, Siargao, and Palawan. They have their own qualities that make them stand out from each other. For Boracay, it has the best shoreline and the best white sand beach.
Boracay also has the best sunset view by the beach.
I mean look at these:
This inspired me to make these NFTs.
Sunset in Boracay digital Postcard
I tried to add the colors of the sunset on the background but I did not achieve what I wanted. I think I need more practice in this new style
The island offers a lot of activities for tourists which include: island hopping, banana boat ride, helmet diving, parasailing, ATV riding and many more. Due to budget constraints we only tried island hopping, banana boat, and sunset ride on a sailboat. I really forgot the name of the last activity but I just called it that because that's what really happened. We enjoyed every minute of it.
Sailboat ride
Crystal Cove, one of the islands we visited in our island hopping activity
Hairflip challenge at Puka beach--one of the islands we hopped on to
My attempt haha
When it comes to food choices, there are a lot of known restaurants and cafes by the beach. Just be prepared for the prices though. I'd like to call it airport price, because you know how expensive meals are inside the airport. I guess that's how the locals earn since most of their guests are foreigners.
Airport priced Yellow Cab pizza
Our hotel's free breakfast meal
One of the shows in one of the restaurants where we had our dinner
All in all, it was a short but sweet vacation. I can't wait to go back there and try the other activities such as parasailing and paddleboarding. Making this post made me relive my experience there and I kind of look forward to visiting the island again in the near future.
Happy.jpg
How about you? What's your Boracay experience? Care to share it in the comments below?
See you on my next post!