Boracay Sept 2015

[katie23]

Hi all,

Just returned from a trip to Boracay. It was a short holiday spent with friends. We're all young local backpackers, so we stayed at budget accommodations and didn't eat at swanky places.

It was a great trip, and I'm still a bit tired and catching up with some work. However, I might as well post a few pics. I don't know if this will be a full-blown pic thread, as it depends on my time, inclination and internet connection.

At best, I'll first post the pics of the place where my friends and I stayed, and other "digs" that I saw, so that people who are interested in Boracay can have options aside from the 4- or 5-star ones that BLD and crocman posted. I might as well promote tourism in my own country and contribute to the local economy. lol This forum has been very helpful to me in terms of info of prices & places to visit, so might as well put up this thread to help people.

[Horatio Hornblower]

Be interesting to see,was there in 86/87 no electric and water was limited but what a great holiday.

[katie23]

We travelled by ship to go to Boracay, via Caticlan port. We didn't fly into Kalibo. Instead, we took the ship from 2go travel (2gotravel dot com). The ship leaves Batangas city port at 9 pm and arrives at Caticlan port ~8:30 am the next morning. You should be at the port at least 1 hr before departure. We were in the "tourist class" section, which has bunk beds and A/C. The beds are around 0.6m x 2m (or 2 x 6 feet) so not good for very wide or tall people. There are cabin rooms or staterooms, good for 4 people (I think), but I think you have to pay for the whole room and not by the bed. The ship fare to Boracay costs ~1,000 Php or ~22 USD (I'm computing at 46.8 pesos = 1 USD).

This was a DIY trip and we didn't rely on tour agencies. We just relied on info from the net and word-of-mouth, since some other colleagues/ friends have been to Boracay.

After disembarking from the ship at Caticlan port, you have to pay the terminal fee + environmental fee amounting to 225 pesos. Then you'll have to ride a small speedboat for a 5-10 min ride to Boracay island. If you have a lot of luggage (esp the wheelie cases) then it may be a bit difficult to maneuver the cases in the boat. My friends and I travelled light and just had 1 backpack each.

After the speedboat ride, we rode motorbike taxis (they are called "single" there) to go to Station 2. We could also have ridden tricyles, but at that time, there were no trikes and the local eatery (where we ate brunch) recommended that we ride the motorbikes, if it was ok with us. So we rode the "single" (also called habal-habal in some places). Helmets were not provided. The motorbike drivers weren't wearing helmets either. (In my town, helmets are a must - seems the laws aren't as strict in Boracay.) But anyway, it was quite an adventure and I enjoyed the breeze and the scenery.

After the short vacation, we hired a trike to take us to the port. We were brought to a different, smaller port (Tambisan port) which was also good since we got to see the 2 different ports. The boats at Tambisan port are bigger, older and slower.

If you're staying at a posh hotel, most of them provide airport or pier pick-ups and transfers. There are also minivan services going to Kalibo, Iloilo City or Roxas City.

[katie23]

We stayed at Alice in Wonderland Beach Resort. Room rate at that time was Php 1,008 or ~22 USD, inclusive of taxes (it was lean season). Alice in Wonderland Beach Resort has a sister hotel, Alice Boracay Resort Hotel, which is a bit higher end w/ higher prices. Alice resort was recommended by a colleague.

For more info: aliceboracay at yahoo dot com, w w w aliceboracay dot com

Alice Resort has bungalow type rooms, has grounds and a pool. Rooms were basic but comfortable, good enough for our needs. Rooms had A/C, small TV with cable, small fridge, 2 single beds, toilet & shower w/ heater, verandah. One bungalow is a duplex; it contains 2 rooms. One room is around 5 x 9m, inclusive of the verandah which is ~2m.

The room rate doesn't include breakfast, but you can have it for an additional Php 145 per person. We didn't have breakfast at the resort since we found a cheaper eatery down the street, which serves Filipino breakfasts for 60-70 pesos.

Anyway, here are some pics of the room and surrounds.

[katie23]

More of Alice in Wonderland Beach Resort

[katie23]

We were four in our group - 2 girls, 2 boys. We had 1 bungalow; girls in one room, boys in the other. We were just friends and we all paid our own way. We split food & transportation expenses evenly.

[katie23]

[chassamui]

Nice pics and informative reportage Katie. Thanks for sharing.

[david44]

Yes thanks always wanted to viit but never ever had such awful food as with the Pinoys over the years

[Stinky]

^ The only pinay dishes I liked were kinilow and the bbq, the rest was muck.

Great photos Katie that for sharing

[reinvented]

agreed; looks lovely Katie
but the food resembles Thai food once the Dementors of Azkaban have been at it

[terry57]

Nice Katie.

I can never work out why the food is so Bad.

How did this come about. ?

I have never been there but everyone says the same.

[mikem]

Nice Katie.

I can never work out why the food is so Bad.

How did this come about. ?

I have never been there but everyone says the same.

People basically eat just to have something in their stomach unlike Thai, Malaysia etc where eating is a big deal.

Not much effort goes into cooking. And many places use the cheapest ingredients partly to keep prices low. If it's chicken it will be a bit of neck.

There is a very good rice called 7 tonner. It costs more so not in many restaurants.
Also to save money the rice is cooked on a fire. It often means the bottom of the pot has burnt rice and the top has uncooked rice.

There is an ok dish with mung beans cooked in coconut milk. That's about as elaborate as it gets.

The PI is the only place I have eaten pizza.

[patsycat]

I would love to send a postcard from there to my family saying I am staying in Alice in Wonderland Resort!! And it looks great.

[beerlaodrinker]

Great post Katie, good to see that boracay can be done on a budget, that place you stayed at looked alright and wasn't way expensive, bet it goes up in the high season though, keep the pics coming

[aging one]

Well done, makes me want to go. Could it be with the food the predominate spice used is vinegar?

[katie23]

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Wow, for the first time, I have a 5-star thread! (not that it matters, lol) I'll try to post the pics while my workload is still relatively light and I'm not swamped. Just this morn, I learned that I was given a new responsibility, which means more work. I don't know if that'll mean more $$, harhar. Anyway, more $$ means I can save more for future holidays.

With regards to the food - LOL on the Harry Potter reference. If you don't like Pinoy food, there are many other food choices in Boracay - check out BLD's thread. There are also places where you can choose live seafood and they'll cook it for you. I didn't take many pics of the establishments as I just wanted to relax with friends. Prior to the trip, I had very stressful weeks, so the holiday was good.

@BLD - yes, I thought too that Boracay was too expensive and beyond my budget. However, my colleague went last year and he recommended Boracay Travelodge. He also took the ship to go to Caticlan, but going back, they took the plane from Kalibo. So I had some ideas and recommendations. And yes, it was good that my group went during lean season as rates were low. Several resorts had promos and postings of "vacant room available". The only risk of going during low season would be the weather - there might be typhoons. Fortunately for us, it was mostly sunny during our stay and only rained slightly during our last day. We had calm seas too, for the ship travel.

@AO - yes, we use vinegar. Soy sauce too, as well as fish sauce (patis).

[katie23]

As I've mentioned, breakfast can be had at Alice Resort for an additional P145. We didn't take the resort breakfast, as there was an eatery on the main road which served cheaper food. Everyone is saying Pinoy food is bad, but hey, if you don't like it, then don't eat it.

With regards to prices, everything is more costly in Boracay. The Pinoy breakfast that we had (longsilog: longganisa sausage, rice & egg) costed P60. Same meal costs P35-40 in my town. Even stuff at 7/11 or McDonald's are 15-20 pesos higher. My friend asked at McD's: Why are your meals more exp? The server answered in an apologetic tone: Sir, Boracay po ito. (Sir, this is Boracay.) I think the local tax is higher.

Btw, 1 baht ~ 1.3 pesos. So if I'm quoting in pesos, subtract a little to get baht prices.

On my last day, I had a 1-hr massage. It costed me P500, while in my town, it costs P300-350. But heck, I was on holiday and it was Boracay!

Anyway, this was my longsilog breakfast for P60. It was good, cheap & filling. Does it look too terrible? lol
Btw, I like my eggs well done, so this was good for me.

[katie23]

Crystal Ocean Resort, also along that alley going to Alice Resort.





My guess is that prices of the "gaff" (accdg to Terry57) along that alley are similar since they are in competition for clients. All the gaffs along that alley had "rooms available" since it was lean season.

[katie23]

And now, the beach pics



This is in the direction of Station 3


Direction of Station 1


It was lean season and there weren't many ppl on the beach. Accdg to our boatman (we hired a boat on the 2nd day), during high season, you could hardly see the sand bcos of the number of ppl. These were taken late afternoon, ~5pm. The sand is white and very fine. Best beach that I've been to, so far.

[fishlocker]

Looks like a nice place and the price is right. 160 usd per person per month is cheap living no matter where your from for a poolside pad. With the money you save on lodging you can surly find some good eats.

Belut in Philippines, kielook (sp?) In Laos is considered a delicacie. Different strokes for different folks. My gf would rather eat some stinky paste over a greasy pork chop.

More pics please. And thanks for them. Allways nice to get a fresh perspective on places I haven't been. Admittedly I'm no Jonny Cash..............I Haven't been everywhere man.

[Smug Farang Bore]

One of my more stupid moves was to tell a Scottish mate of mine to fuk off and sober up when he called me in 1991 to say there was a bar for sale on the beach there. One of the only ones at the time.

He even offered to go halves.... doh!

[beerlaodrinker]

Ok, we will just refer to it as oil silog then

[Davis Knowlton]

That'll work.....

[Dillinger]

some good eats to be had though if you take the time to look

corned beef