A beach vacation on Boracay
The Philippines is a fascinating country — an archipelago consisting of over seven thousand islands.
The main starting point is the capital Manila — a bustling, thriving city that somehow manages to blend a modern business environment with the chaos and confusion that seems to define the streets of many Asian cities.
The island of the Philippines are not particularly easy to get to — it takes time, flights, ferries, and other modes of transport. Things move fairly slowly in the tropical humidity of this country, so if you are looking for a quick mini-break from Manila then your options are relatively limited.
One of the most popular islands is Boracay — while it is stunning, it isn’t necessarily the most beautiful island that the Philippines has to offer, but it is probably the easiest to get to if you only have a few days to work with.
Getting to Boracay
The airport that services Boracay is called Caticlan and from Manila you can either fly with Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific. Cebu Pacific is a low-cost airline and while its fares are cheaper it is a bit unreliable, flights are often delayed or cancelled. If all goes to plan it should be an easy one hour flight to Caticlan.
From there you need to get a taxi to the port and then take a ferry for the short journey across the water to Boracay and then a taxi to your accommodation. I say taxi, but they are really motorbikes that somehow carry a small seating area as well. There are porters on standby if you need a hand with your luggage.
Your accommodation can arrange all of your transfers for you, but it is also pretty straightforward to do it yourself upon arrival.
Things to do
The beach at Boracay is a long strip of clean white sand, the water is warm and a brilliant blue colour, and the swell is fairly gently. Perfect swimming conditions.
Kite surfing is also popular here (there are a number of kite surfing schools), also this is a popular area for scuba diving.
A great thing to do is to hire a private boat (the rates per hour are pretty reasonable) and sail to some of the more secluded beaches on the island where you can dive in and do some snorkelling to observe the marine life and some of the small reefs.
The nightlife
All along the beach are bars and restaurants where you can sit outside to drink and eat. It reminded me a bit of Koh Samui in Thailand, but somehow not quite as trashy. After a hard day of sunbathing and swimming you can wander along the sand until you find a restaurant that takes your fancy — the local Adobo style of cooking is delicious.
When you are planning your next tropical island getaway, take a look at the logistics of Boracay — it is well worth making the effort and delivers a holiday adventure that you will treasure.
This is what a tropical vacation should be.
