Who doesn't like Boracay? It's the first beach I wanted to visit the moment I was earning my own money. True to that, I was there on September 2010. The beach was good alright. But I was expecting more. Maybe because the weather then didn't cooperate with us? The beach looked so gloomy under the dark skies. The rains also made the beach not so pleasing to my sight. And most of all because of the
bed weather, we missed a bunch of watersports. So I promised myself that one day I'll come back.
That promise came true earlier than expected. Well, going back to Boracay was not my priority. I was dying to visit Coron, El Nido or Camiguin first. But who am I to decline this one heck of an opportunity? It was an all-expense paid trip to Boracay for just the weekend - you guessed that right! Our foreigner friends wanted to go to Boracay and they will spend some cash just for us to take them there. Apparently, Boracay is the most famous beach to visit in the Philippines according to them. In fact, Mark Sailing (Noah Puckerman of Glee) once visited its shores. Whoa! So there, although I was really insisting on going to El Nido, the trip was set to be Boracay. D and I set all the other necessities - airfare, resorts, watersports, etc.
So for the kwento, a week earlier we booked our ticket in the CebuPacific booth in Megamall. But we were given AirPhil tickets for a cheaper price (weird huh?). I didn't know that tickets are that expensive - imagine 30,000php for RT Mnl-Caticlan of 4pax only? Promo tickets usually costs only 1500php RT. My golly! Next we booked Two Seasons Resorts. It was recommended by my friend Shiela. The last time we were there we stayed at Boracay Holiday Resort, which was very good. But we had a hard time going to and forth D'Mall where everything else is happening. And it was also not beachfront, so have to walk at least 3minutes to the beach and another 5minutes to D'Mall. So I said I wanted to stay somewhere near Astoria. It is by the way, strategically located just an arm-length away to where all the restaurants are but a good distance also if you want a little break from all the party noises at night. But their prices didn't come cheap, so we chose another resort in Station 1 for 1,000php less. Of course, if budget is not a problem you would want to stay in Station 1- where the sands are finer, the beach is cleaner and Willy's Rock stood gloriously. So taking Sheila's advise, D booked Two Seasons.
GETTING TO BORACAY
Early Saturday morning, we were greeted by the rains and winds of Hanging Habagat. I decided not to bring my DSLR, will just use my phone instead. We met our friends at the airport and boarded AirPhil's small aircraft with really big propellers. The flight was noisier and really unstable. Somehow, I regret choosing Caticlan airport instead of Kalibo Airport which was where we landed on our first trip.
But as we check the airport, I suddenly admired its simplicity. I felt a huge admiration for Shamcey Supsup, our very own Ms.Universe 2011 3rd runner up. Shamcey, before joining the pageant, was a practicing Architect. She was said to be the one who designed Boracay Airport aka Caticlan Airport. It's beauty was magnified by the scorching sun. No rains here! yey!
On our first visit, we were brought from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Jetty Port, which was a 3+ hours of land travel. Van was worth 300php something per person.
I figured out that you can get to Boracay using two airports.
1. Manila to Caticlan Airport - 45minutes plane ride. Then you will endure just a 5-minute ride a tricycle going to either Caticlan Jetty Port or Tabon Port. Then there will be another 15-minute boatride going to the Island of Boracay.
2. Manila to Kalibo Airport - 45minutes plane ride. Then you will ride a van going to Caticlan Jetty Port. This is a very long 3-hr land travel. From there you will take a boat going to Boracay Island.
The Caticlan Airport is obviously better, specially if you are travelling with kids. Only downside - airfares here are usually higher, the planes are smaller which makes them more unstable and the flights here are often redirected to Kalibo once the weather goes bad. There is a difference also in Terminal Fees - Caticlan is only 20php while Kalibo is at 40php.
As I mentioned, whichever route you choose, you are still bound to stop at Caticlan so you can get a boat to take you to Boracay Island. Another two choices -
1. Via Caticlan Jetty Port - this is the usual course specially if you are going from Kalibo. But for safety purposes, some tricycle will take you to another port during the Habagat seasons. Fees in Caticlan Jetty Port are more expensive - 100php/head Terminal Fee and 75php/head. You can choose to ride some normal boats for 25php or aircon boats like Montenegro for 30php.
2. Via Tabon Port - Habagat means more wind, so the sea is bound to get rough. More often than not, they use this port during bad weather. Fees here are cheaper - 25php/head Terminal Fee and 75php/head Environmental Fee. They do not have aircon boats here as the docks are smaller. So you will pay 25php for the normal boats.
This time around, we landed on Caticlan Airport with no hassle. We bought tickets for the tricycle ride going to the port. It costed 80php for maximum of 3pax only. They do not allow 4 persons in one tricycle. It took us only about 5 minutes to reach Tabon Port. In exchange, they gave us 2 free Boracay Island Map. That port was better because the fees were cheaper but I found the boats too small and risky. I wanted to ride another Montenegro boat with aircon and TV, but there were no choices! hah! For another 10minutes, we reached the small Tampisaan Port. This is another two options. There are again two ports from the Boracay side:
1. Cagban Port - this is the usual port. Again more organized but the fees going out of Boracay are more expensive - 100php/head Terminal Fee, no Environmental fees collected if you are going out of Boracay already. From Caticlan, if you rode a boat from Caticlan Jetty Port, this will usually take you to Cagban Port. And vice versa.
2. Tampisaan Port - now this is the usual partner of Tabon Port. This is said to be the backup route or the Habagat route. The waves here are much steadier even on rainy seasons. Fees going out of Boracay here are also cheaper - 25php/head Terminal Fee, also no Environmental fee.
One more ride to the resort - a tricycle going to Two Seasons for 125php.
