Boracay - Station 1, 2 or 3? And hotel recco's please

[Baas Babelaas]

I'll be in Borocay later this month for a week-long holiday.

My friend has found a place in Station 2 at $42/night.

Another friend recommended a place in Station 3.

As far as I know Station 2 has the nightlife...?

Any suggestions for places to stay at about $40-50/night?

And I want to avoid the mainland Chinese locusts ... tourists as much as possible. I'm leaving China because I despise them (if that is racist, well then it's racist). There's a strong chance I'll get into an altercation with a rude Chinese person, and I want to avoid that.

Suggestions please, and thank you!

[katie23]

Hi! If you're after nightlife and entertainment, pick Station 2. If you want peace & quiet, go to Station 1 or 3. Depends on whether you want solitude or entertainment, and whether you have a partner going with you.

As for hotels, I've heard good things about La Carmela de Boracay. I don't know the price range, though. My colleague stayed at a lower end "sister hotel" of La Carmela, and it was adequate for their needs - visit was early June 2014.

I haven't been to Boracay, so I can't give a personal account. I asked my colleague about Boracay and filed the info for future use. BLD has a good thread about Boracay, check it out. You may also want to check out some promos at metrodeal . com. ph - it's like a Groupon site. I've used it for some stuff, but not in the travel/getaways category.

Can't promise about the Chinese tourists though (presence or absence). According to another colleague, when he visited, there were a lot of Koreans. Btw, I'm a native.

Cheers and enjoy your holiday! Post a pic thread when you can.

Edit:
La Carmela de Boracay http://www.lacarmeladeboracay.com/
Boracay Travelodge (sister hotel, lower end) http://boracaytravelodge.com/rates/

[Baas Babelaas]

Thanks Katie. We were in Palawan last year and my friend found it too sleepy. I enjoyed the tranquility and lack of Chinese torturists/tourists.

I guess we'll book into somewhere in Station 2 and if it's too hectic we can go to Station 1 or 3.

[beerlaodrinker]

Yep station 2 if you need a bit of nightlife, but station 1 and 3 aren't all that far from each other anyway. Don't know what you get for $50 a night or thereabouts, we were staying in a fairly flash place that had 4 pools and right on the beach, I was travelling with the 2 kids and wife so my needs were a bit different, should be lean season anyway so rates are down, I've also heard good things about la caramel a as Katie suggested. Another place in station 2 that looks ok was the red coconut, but I think it's about $ 80 , maybe just book 1 or 2 nights somewhere online then wander around to see what's what. If places are quiet they will negotiate for longer stays, don't think the chinaman has invaded yet buts there's definitely a lot of Koreans, They can fly direct from Seoul to Kalibo, hope you enjoy it, can't beat it for a beach holiday I reckon

[Baas Babelaas]

Cheers BLD. I'll look into La Carmela. Says PHP16100/6 night in high season.

Should be cheaper now..

[crocman]

BLD has put you on the right track with the Red Coconut. We stayed there a while ago and can recommend it as a nice clean place that is laid back and has good service. It is only a couple of yards to D'Mall and is next door to a pretty good watering hole called the Bombom bar. If you are looking for something a little cheaper try Ngi Ngi Noos,still in station 2 and has a top bar to boot.

As BLD has mentioned you will be tripping over Koreans more than Chinese.

[Baas Babelaas]

Agoda has the Red Coconut priced at $200+/day. Bit pricey, but may be worth a day or two there.

[beerlaodrinker]

$200 seems a bit much for the red coconut i just googled the place we stayed at and most of july was booked on agoda but one date came up with $120 a night for a premier room, fantastic hotel and great location There are some pics of it on my thread Beaches, Beer, banca boats, and babes we went in june and i think we paid about $160 0r $170 a night the place katie recommended la carmela de boracy was going for about $80 another place for a night or 2 might be Grand boracay resort not on the beach but not far, i reckon just book somewhere that looks halfway decent for a night and wander about checking out the options


Thats the one we were at

[Baas Babelaas]

That's the plan - we'll stay at a gaff called Isla Gecko, then wander around and see what's on offer. I'm not too fussy, friend slightly more so (and vastly more coined up than me)..

[Jofrey]

We stayed up at station 2 last time....bit too busy for my liking. We walked down the beach to station 3 to chill everyday. There's a great German bar right on the beach....sells draught San Miguel for about 30 peso all day.

The beach is fantastic but the food on Boracay is overpriced and crap. Don't expect anything decent for under 300 peso.

[beerlaodrinker]

A lot of Filipino food doesn't inspire but there're some real gems to be had if you look, either way in boracay you are really only going to get a westernised Filipino dish anyway. The seafood in boracay is excellent, reasonably priced and fresh, can't go wrong with that, Joffrey I don't know what you expect for 300 pesos mate? That's only about 6 or 7 $ if you've made the effort to get to boracay, which I consider one of the best beach holidays to be had in Asia then you are surely missing the point. Plenty of options on boracay from the 5 star to the backpacker rates, I saw boracay in the early 80s and it was undeveloped, loved it, love it even more now that it has electricity and a cold beer ,decent food etc, To be brutally honest all the beach resorts I've been to in Thailand don't compare, and I've been to most of them over the years, last time I went to boracay wewere thingking about koh Samui but when I done the sums it was cheaper to fly the whole family to boracay, blame the Bangkok air monopoly for that ( an absolute disgrace they don't allow any competitor) TIT, Just telling it like it is mate, if you go back order up a dish of kinilaw and tell me you don't like it, Katie can tell you more she is a national. Just one gringos point of view. Don't take it personell if I suspect your a Kuripot

[Baas Babelaas]

No slinging fellas. We'll hit Isla Gecko for a night or two, and if it doesn't suit our fancy we'll upgrade.

Money aint an issue, comfort is. 50-100/night is fine by me.

Just wanna get a feel for Boracay.

[Baas Babelaas]

Sounds like we gonna have a good holiday. Loved Palawan, especially Port Barton (had to drive a 25km rutted dirt track in a jeep to get there). Once we got there it was pure bliss.

Boracay sounds very commercial to me, I guess I've been to Samed and Samui. Bit jaded.

But it should be fun with my travel partner who is full of fun.

If we get bored we're jetting off to PP or Siem Reap.

Love it when life gives gives you CHOICES.

[Jofrey]

I consider one of the best beach holidays to be had in Asia

I agree. However, in comparison to similar spots in Thailand the food is total gash.

Only so much pork gristle a man can eat

[Baas Babelaas]

Agreed - Philippino nosh aint the greatest. But there's plenty of choice in Boracay for other fare.

[Jofrey]

The pizza is pretty good there.

Actually found one decent local joint there which had edible food...number 3 on this list....Where to Eat Happy in Boracay: 10 Food Places to Try - PhilippineBeaches.org


I forgot about the seafood market place too....pick your own fish/crab and they cook it there. Nice grub.

[crocman]

Agoda has the Red Coconut priced at $200+/day. Bit pricey, but may be worth a day or two there.

That's crazy mad money for the coconut. On our last trip to Boracay we stayed at the Boracay Regency resort for a shade under $200, a much bigger resort with more on offer than the Coconut.

When we stayed at the Red Coconut we paid about $2000aud for 7nights with brekky and that was airfares from OZ as well.

If you are looking for a good place to waste an afternoon with a cool drink, a great view and a cool swim all in the same place get yourself to the Spider House at Diniwid Beach,just next door to Manny Pacquios place.

[Baas Babelaas]

Boracay Station 1 is proving to be crap - lots of noisy construction, touts, and way too many Chinese and Korean tourists.

Unfortunately my friend booked Red Coconut for 7 nights on Agoda, and it's guff - super noisy. They won't refund her as she booked on Agoda, but she will be contacting Agoda to register a complaint.

Our last two nights will be spent on the far end of Station 3 or the other side of the island, away from the crowds.

For the next five days we're gonna get blitzed on booze.

Palawan, Lankawi and Koh Chang are all WAY BETTER than here. Lesson learnt - won't be back.

In fact Malaysia was really good - better than Thailand or the Philippines. Definite first world vibe to it without all the sleaziness.

[katie23]

^ Sorry to hear that the Chinese have invaded Boracay too. There shouldn't be a lot of local tourists, since school started last June in most areas. However, for the Chinese & Koreans, it's still their school holidays, so I guess that's the reason for the invasion. Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacay, and may you have good weather.

[Baas Babelaas]

So we moved to the Astoria Hotel in Station 1 - quieter, but a little pricey at 6200 pesos/night.

Oh well, you only live once. Less touts and tourists here, which is good.

[c4hilton]

If you want to avoid the tourist then you probably should avoid Station 2. It's nice though and unless you leave the area entirely your going to have the tourist. I had a good time.

[Scottish Gary]

I've noticed that a lot of hotels charge per person as opposed to a room price. The Boracy lodge looks good at 1400 a night but when you look closely it's actually per person so if you go on your own the room would cost 2800 a night

[Neverna]

Surely if it's 1400 per person and there's only one person it should only be 1400 (and 2800 for two people).

[katie23]

Just got back from a short holiday from Boracay, travelled with friends. We were all young backpackers. Stayed at Alice in Wonderland Beach Resort in Station 2. It's ~5 min walk from the beach. Room price (this is lean season) is 1,008 pesos, or around 22 USD. This charge is per room, not per person. This resort was recommended by a colleague, and it's good. Bungalow type rooms (duplex type; 2 separate rooms per bungalow, 2 single beds per room). Each room has its own shower & toilet (with hot water), small fridge, small TV w/ cable, verandah. Resort has a pool. Breakfast not included in room rate, but you can have it for an additional 145 pesos.

My group didn't take the resort breakfast, since there was a local eatery nearby which serves Filipino breakfasts at 60 pesos. Example of Filipino breakfast is longsilog - longganisa (local sausage), rice & egg. Food in Boracay is overpriced; I can have a longsilog brekky in my town for P35. But anyway, I was on holiday and it was Boracay! Most of the people in the resort were local tourists. Just saw 2 older white guys with Filipina partners.

Alice in Wonderland has a sister hotel, Alice Boracay Resort Hotel. The hotel has slightly higher prices. For more info see:
aliceboracay at yahoo dot com
w w w aliceboracay dot com

For those with more expensive tastes, I would recommend La Carmela de Boracay as it certainly looks nice from the outside!

If I have the time, inclination & good internet, I may do a short pic thread of this recent Boracay trip. Didn't take too many pics, though, as I was bone tired prior to the trip and I just wanted to relax with friends. Saw a lot of Chinese & Korean tourists.

Btw, my group didn't take the plane to Boracay. We travelled by ship, 2gotravel dot com. Ship leaves Batangas city port at 9pm & arrives at Boracay around 8:30 am at Caticlan port. Then ~10 min speed boat ride to Boracay island. Then tricycle ride from Boracay port to Station 2. If you're more adventurous, there are motorbike taxis (they call them "single") that can bring you to Station 2. No helmet is provided. Our group took motorbike taxis going to Station 2, as there were no trikes available at that time. It was an adventure & I enjoyed the breeze & the scenery. On our way out of Boracay, our group took a trike from Station 2 to the port. If you're staying at a posh place, some hotels provide airport or pier pick-ups & transfers.

[baldrick]

^ good info

photos would be excellent