Mabuhay Boracay Trip 2015

It was 2015. As an annual trip, my friends and I (which consist of my schoolmates Lina, Kayrie, Fizah and also travel mate Miss Yar) decided to go for Holiday at Boracay, Philippine. Why Boracay? Initially we planned for ala "backpack" trip to Koh Lipe, Thailand since it is nearer but considering Lina & Fizah who also travelled with husband and child, we changed our plan for trip that less hassle and comfortable.


For introduction, Boracay is a small island located in the south part of Philippine. The island comprises the barangays of Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak in the municipality of Malay, in Aklan Province. Boracay was awarded as the 2012 best island in the world from the international travel magazine Travel + Leisure. In 2014, the resort island was at the top of the Best Islands in the World list published by the international magazine, Condé Nast Traveler. Boracay is famous for its beautiful beaches which are often compared to paradise lost because of their white sand that’s incredibly soft and nice. And for that reason, Boracay was listed in my travel list and recommended this place to my friends for our annual trip. Luckily it was accepted by all and so happy that one of my wishlist became reality!!


Before we start with the travelogue, as ussual, lets me share with you some usefull tips on the trip.


TIPS

1.The exact pronounce for Boracay is "Borakai".

2. Boracay Island is quite a big island so it's quite impossible to walk all around the island. For tourism area, it is divided into 3 stations :

a. Station 1 – Mostly for luxury hotels. Some of the hotels are provided with private beach just for their guess.
b. Station 2 – Average class hotels
c. Station 3 – Budget hotels and backpackers

3. The cheapest transport is by Tuk Tuk (Tricycle). Chargest for transfer from 1 island to another is around 100Peso per Tuk Tuk, or 20Peso/person.

4. Most of the locals in this island can speak English (at least at the basic). So don't worry if you got lost and couldn't speak Tagalong. Just ask them. Surely there's help.

5. Tour Guide won't be necessary if you just want to spent on this island as most of the interesting activities are available within Station 1 to 3. You just have to find these packages depends on your budget and choices.

6. There are lots of activity you can try during your stay at Boracay like Snorkeling, Skuba Diving, ATV ride to Mount Luho, Zip-line and lots more. As above, you can survey the packages offered by the local agency at every station. You can also book the packages earlier with various travel agency online. We on the other hand, didn't do that as we were not yet decided on what activity we wanted to do before reached there. I will tell you about this later on.

7. Philippine is famous of it's typhoon, so it is advisable to check the weather forecast at BoracayWeatherStation beforehand and plan your date properly.

8. The journey to Boracay Island will take one whole day. The flight by AirAsia will start early in the morning so there's not much of activity to do once arrived. Better to rest and re-charge energy and started the activity on the next day.

9. Summary of the journey as follows :
4 hours flight with Air Asia from KL – Kalibo.
2.5 hours journey with shuttle van from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Jetty.
15 mins boat ride from Caticlan Jetty to Boracay Island

10. I would suggest you to book transportation for van and boat transit from Kalibo to Boracay earlier to avoid hassle, especially if you're traveling with a big number of people like us. However don't worry if you didn't, as there are lots of transportation counter available outside the Kalibo Airport once you reached there. Infact, they will called and offered to you their services. Normal price is around 250 Peso for shuttle van and boat transit/one way.

11. Boracay time is the same with Malaysia, however night fall a bit faster in Boracay like in Sabah.

12. Get ready as early as 5pm in the evening to catch a beautiful sunset view here.

13. You can easily differentiate the beaches of Station 1, Station 2 and Station 3. The white sand at Station 1 is more fine and soft, while the sand at Station 3 a bit rough.

14. There are 2 shopping locations in Boracay which is D’Talipapa and D’Mall. Base on review, the price at D’Talipapa is cheaper. You can bargain so use your skill to get better price ok!

15. Remember to spare around 700 Peso on the last day for Airport Tax that needed to be paid at the airport before going out from Philippine.

16. Recommended to bring action cam with waterproof casing so that you won't miss a chance to take photo or record a beautifull underwater view and also during doing the water activity. Lucky as now there are lots of action camera in store. If U can't afford Go-Pro, you can opt for other's China brand with good quality also.

17. There are few Halal restaurants in Boracay which I will explain later in next post. Among the Halal restaurants that you can try here are The Kingdom of Boracay (located at Station 1) and there are 2 restaurants at D’Talipapa (Station 3) - Kedai #75 Kim-Nor Souvenir Shop and Kedai #106 Halal Food.
Note : By the time I'm writing this post, I bet there are more Halal restaurants available in Boracay due to lots of Muslim (to be exact, Malaysian) visited there. We also found more Halal restaurants during our trip there which I will write it in details later in my next post.


Read next post on the preparation to Boracay.


Trip to Boracay, Philippine Fast Link Here
Preparation before Trip
Day 0 – The Journey KL to Boracay Island
Day 0 – 1st Night and Emmer Mosa Birthday Party
Day 1 – Island Hopping Starting Point & Crocodile Island
Day 1 – Cliff Jumping at Magic Island
Day 1 – Crystal Cove Island Resort
Day 1 – Luncheon at Puka Beach
Day 1 – 2nd Night at Boracay Island
Day 2 - ATV to Mount Luho
Day 2 – Fairway, Bluewater & Happy Planet ZIPLINE
Day 2 – Strolling Along White Beach
Day 2 – Last Night, Shopping at D’Talipapa and Paluto Dinner
Boracay Last Day
Boracay 2015 Total Expenses