Etape 13 - Whitesand beaches of Boracay Island

Temporary masterpiece
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I'm sorry to tell you my friends but yet again I ended up to a real paradise! :-)

Boracay Island is just one hour flight south from Manila. Asian Spirit airline(www.asianspirit.com) and Southeast airline (www.seair.com) are serving nearby Caticlan airport with over 10 flights a day from Manila. I chose the destination as there were plenty of relatively cheap flights (total fares incl. all taxes was approx 8300 Philippine Pesos or U$160), the transit time from Caticlan airport to main whitebeach of Boracay Island was just 45 mins, and there were plenty of affordable lodging available on the island. Besides I knew Boracay from a few friends who had been there before and told me about its pristine white sandy beaches and turquoise green waters.

Welcoming sight
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And those friends were absolutely correct! Boracay's beaches are very very very very nice. I felt relaxed and at ease. The main beach is about 4 km long and I got a bit of exercise by strolling it from one end to the other and back, a few times. Apart from the beach, the main attractions of the island were all sorts of imaginable water sports activities available. Although there were a lot of local people on the beach trying to sell those services they were respecting 'no thanks' response and leaving me alone.

4 kms nonstop
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I also noticed that there were a lot of dive shops (over 12) and consequently thanks to the competition their prices were not bad at all (U$18-25 per dive with own equipment, eq rental roughly U$3-7 extra), especially if compared to Micronesia. In the end I decided to do one dive in the nearby dive site. Since it was low season (high season is from Dec till Apr) very few dive shops had clients and those who chose to dive received customised service to their needs. In my case I was the only diver that afternoon and two dive instructors went down with me and showed me a very interesting black frogfish (or anglerfish), bright blue nudibranches, blue-spotten lagoon stingrays, moray ells, lionfish and some strange anemone species. After Palau and Yap the diving was not that exciting but since my expectations were low I was positively surprised about the underwater experience I had. Overall there are about 40 dive sites with all levels of difficulty.

Puka Beach explorer
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Apart from diving, I enjoyed the world famous fruitshakes (milkshakes) of Jonah's place, right in the northern end of the whitebeach. Those shakes (I chose banana-pineapple-milk and banana-mango-milk) were just great great great!!! On top you are seated literally a few meters away from turquoise water and feeling one has is that of ultimate relaxation. :-)

There were artists on the beach who were building big sand castles every day from scratch. Those were really impressive.

Happy hour kicked in when sunset approached and naturally I wanted to benefit from the hour at Hey Jude's bar on the beach. Hardly anything beats ice cold San Miguel and tropical sunset on a white sandy beach! And nothing beats second and third San Miguel... %-D Anyway, while watching the sunset I did not watch myself. :) Consequently drinking before eating had its toll a bit later. By the time I realised my little mishap I ended up to one of the many 'buffet eat as much as you can' places. Filled my stomach but then it was already too late. The previous short night in Manila, travel, diving, dehydration and San Miguels forced me to retire to my nipa hut before the real party started. I went initially to bed for a 2-hour power nap but it turned out to be 10 hour recharging nap. ;) I woke up after 2 hours but thunderstorm had kicked in (although at daytime there were no clouds!) and I did not fancy seeing myself walking 4 kms in tropical downpour to Cocomangas shooters' bar or other known party venue. It was just too much for my physics. Maybe I am getting old?

Well, the positive thing was that I was fresh and full of energy next morning. I vacated my room, left my backbag to the B&B and went to another famous beach of Boracay, the Puka Beach. I had read some people praising Puka to heaven but I think it was a bit of too much. The beach was nice, white beach with loads of shells and beautiful corals. It was also much more quiet than the Whitebeach and only 3 souvenir vendors were present. Having sorted out with them I was left alone. I was really beautiful to listen the waves hitting the shoreline and feeling gentle sea breeze on my face. Truly a moment to slow down.

Tricycle (moped with sidewagon) drivers at the isolated Puka Beach were trying to be smart ass*s and ask silly tourists return rates (P100-150) to Central Boracay that were more than double the normal ones (P40-50) and over five times what the locals were paying (P10-20). I refused and started walking back as I was counting on the possibility that in the nearby village and school there will be more tricycles and people sharing them. That was exactly the case and I ended up paying what I thought for a ride back to the main beach. Ok, the amounts are not that big but it is a question of principle for more than anything else.

Finally I picked up my backbag from the B&B, took a tricycle to boat harbour, crossed the strait between Boracay and Caticlan in local passanger boat and walked to the airport all in 40 mins. Originally I had reservation to the last flight of the day to Manila but as I came to airport 1h20mins prior to its departure I was put to an earlier flight that departed within just 20 mins. Overall I got a very positive impression about Boracay and I definitely want to come back to 'better' enjoy its night life and natural beauty. Now I am heading back to Singapore and then to New Zealand..