This is a short account of how we spent our Boracay vacation in the middle part of July, 2003. The travel package we bought included return plane tickets for the Manila-Kalibo trip, plus transfers from the airport to Caticlan and the banca ride to Boracay.
We caught the early morning flight to Kalibo, Aklan which took around an hour. When we arrived at the Airport, the van to take us to Caticlan was already waiting at the airport. Peddlers boarded the van before it took off selling us all sort of things from food items to beachwear.
A little girl selling rubber sandals convinced us to buy a couple of pairs. We're glad we did because we weren't expecting to wade in knee-deep water to go ashore in Boracay. (Note: With the new "One Entry, One Exit" policy in effect, you won't be expected to wade through knee-deep waters like we did.)
Our hotel resort, we were told, was situated just close to the disembarking point in the Boat Station 2 area. However, because of the rough seas, the outrigger boat dropped us off at the eastern side of the Island.
And to make matters worse, it was raining when we got there. Our vacation didn't really turn out the way we expected it to be. On a good note, there were tricycles waiting at the landing point to take us to our hotel resort.
Our Hotel-Resort In Boracay
We stayed at a place called Imperial Beach Resort. It was situated right in the central part of Boracay Island, just a few minutes walk to the middle of White Beach.
Our room in that resort had very basic facilities -- a fan-cooled room, with no hot water. But the room had its own toilet and shower and screened to keep the pesky mosquitoes away! If you're on a budget and used to the humid tropical conditions so typical in most places in the Philippines, you could probably live with having only an electric fan cooling system.
For most other visitors — especially those so used to temperate climates — it is advisable that you get yourself an air-conditioned room. You'll be glad you spent a little bit more &mdash especially during those warm humid nights.
First Day In Paradise
We got up early on the first day of our vacation. We wanted to go for a stroll on the beach to catch the cool sea breeze, so we appreciated the early full breakfast.
That first day of our vacation, they served us fried rice with fried longanisa (local sausages) and tomatoes. We loved the fresh mango shake which was a specialty of the hotel. We were told the hotel was famous for their fruit shakes.
Getting Around and Exploring Boracay
During the day, we would just stroll along the sandy Beach Path enjoying the scenery. Our resort wasn't that far from the main shopping area, called D' Mall where we shopped for personal items or souvenirs to take back home with us to Manila.
Tricycles were handy and cheap. They could take you practically anywhere you wanted to go on the island. After going around a bit during the day, we would usually end up having lunch or dinner in some distant part of the Island.
Places to eat were not hard to find. We feasted on the local fresh seafood which was abundant and affordable -- something unheard of in big cities like Metro Manila. Note: If your vacation happens to fall on a local feast, you could end up savoring local delicacies of the place.
What we missed most was venturing out on boat trips to visit the famous bat caves, or to other Boracay sights accessible only by boat. Neither were we able to go sailing on account of the rough seas. Most of the time, we would just laze away the hours watching children swim and play on the beach, or the kiteboarders doing their acrobatics.
That, in a nutshell, is our short vacation in Boracay. It was short but satisfying. We could have enjoyed it more had we been better informed.
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