Boracay Island Summer Vacation

Boracay is a small island in the Philippines located approximately 315 km from south of Manila, it is located in the province of Aklan. Apart from its white beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the top destinations for relaxation. It is also emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife.

Summer 2012 my friends and I went to Boracay, It was a first time for me so I was really excited. We left around after lunch to Batangas Pier, maybe it took us around 3 hours. We waited around 3-4 hours since our departure time is at 8pm. Did we got bored? NO! you see I was with my longest time friend ever so all we did while waiting was to play cards, exchanged nonsense stories ang bullying one another. LOL. We used 2GO travel to go to Kalibo terminal and it took us 9 hours to arrived, we had a good time though because the boat has an upper deck where a bar can be found so you can drink beer. We spent the whole night drinking, eating and looking at the stars. I was with my good friends so you can imagine how we spent it while waiting. One thing I did not like about the travel was when we arrived to Kalibo we waited for like an hour and half because there was a problem with the pier but I heard that it's been a problem for like a year now so hopefully they can fix it soon.

 

When we arrived to the pier we still need to ride a small boat to Boracay Island and a tricycle ( I don't really know if they call it that way since it's not the usual ones because you can seat also at the back ) to our hotel. We haven't had any breakfast yet that time and it was so HOT i feel like "I wanted to swim now!!" but we had our breakfast after we settled our things in our hotel and that's another 2 hours. Since we were so hungry and we had 2 kids with us we just decided to eat in the first place we'll see and that's Andoks Lechon Manok, we did not look anywhere else. The kids were excited to play by the beach that right after we ate we immediately changed to our swimming outfit. While the kids happily playing and swimming with the adults, my friends and I looked around, took some pictures and decided to look for our team mate way back in college, fortunately he still reside at the same place. He even helped us to find a good deal for our activities and we decided to do the it the next day, we made plans what to do first and what time should we wake up, so on our first day we just stayed by the beach while the kids happily played. That same night there was a fire dance and the kids were so happy and really enjoyed it, I was so really tired that I wasn't able to join them because I came from work when we left plus I haven't had any sleep yet it's just too bad that I was not able to get any picture.

We woke up early in the morning the next day and prepared for our activities, we had our breakfast prepared and brought it with us since the first activity was the island hopping. As mentioned earlier a friend of ours helped us get this good deal. As for the first activity it was fun as always for island hopping, we did snorkeling, fish feeding and went to different resorts. It was amazing to see the fishes swimming around you, the clear blue water and the islands. I always have this thought that my previous life was I am a mermaid because I always like the water, the fish and to swim hahahaha. After the snorkeling and fish feeding we checked other resorts too, we saw Manny Pacquio's resort and many more. After the Island hopping we had our lunch. By the way, I suggest that if you want to do activities it is better to get a package they have like a 5 in 1 package that includes most of the best activities. As for us we got luckily but took us an hour and half to find one and it's worth it.

Here's what we got from the deal:
ATV RIDE
ZORB
HELMET DIVING
BANANA BOAT
and 
ISLAND HOPPING

So after our lunch we continued the activities, the next one was the ATV and ZORB. We took a service ride to the place where we will have the 2 activities, it's only a 15 minute ride. We first did the ATV, this 2 activities was my favorite. The ATV is the 2nd one, we ride it for an hour and we went to different places, the part I enjoyed the most with this activity was when we went to this high place where you can see the whole Boracay Island. We had to ascend a stair that took us 10 minutes to reach the top, it was exhausting, yes, but after you see the view and the whole island you'll forget it right away. You'll see the blue water from the top and of course we did not waste our time and took beautiful pictures plus the fresh air is very relaxing. What so funny though was one of my friend was left behind because she can't continue anymore so she just waited at the entrance, too bad she missed the view but she said that since we took pictures she can still appreciate it from there. BAH!. After the ATV we went to the ZORB area, ooohhh this is my MOST favorite part among all the activities. We did the water zorb, there are 3 people inside the big balloon and then they put water on it and they'll let the balloon roll to the bottom, it's quick but when you're inside it actually felt like you're rolling for 3 minutes. I was part of the last group and I was with my SUPER crazy friend with her daughter, at first her daughter was scared that the first time I screamed she got mad and asked me to stop doing it but when the balloon started rolling she herself can't help but to scream, we both actually scream on top of our lungs and laughed out load! You can tell this is really my favorite part.

 

 

Manny Pacquio's Resort

After that we went to do the HELMET DIVING, my advise is that if you're going to do it make sure it's a day or two before you leave most specially if you'll ride a plane because this activity will hurt you ears after. It's supposed to be fun and all but since you can't barely hear after it's frustrating but then again seeing the fishes swimming around you while you give them fish food (I don't know what they call it) and being under water was FUN!!. Before you do the helmet activity the people who will assist you will give you some guidelines first on what "TO DO" and "NOT TO DO", actually a 9 year old kid can do the helmet diving and it's amazing to see those small kids coming from under the water.

And then the last activity was the BANANA BOAT. I can't say much about this last activity because all I did was to laugh out load. The original plan though was the FLYING FISH but since the kids are not allowed we just chose the BANANA BOAT, but by the look of the FLYING FISH it's FUN to do. After all this activities we were so tired, all day it's the only thing we did. We stayed by the beach for another hour since the kids wanted to play more and swim, it was afternoon already and again and again I was mesmerized by the beauty of Boracay. It's like magic in the afternoon, the water looks like it's being pulled back from the shore. In the morning, the water from the shore is below the knee high but in the afternoon it's only above your ankle (:. Even though we were so tired and exhausted from the whole day activities, after dinner and after the kids fell asleep we still went for the night PARTY! We had a good drink and met some new guys, luckily my team mate from college was able to join us that night, he treat us some beers from different bars and he also invited us to his place to again drink some beers, we actually don't like drinking it's just that ...... we can't stop doing it. (: All night long all we did was to drink and party and drink and party! I love the night life of bora!

The beautiful sunset in Boracay is breathtaking that everybody at the beach anticipated to witness the ever magnificent sunset view. It was really a WOW! The moment I saw the sunset I am in awe of God's wonderful creation. It was a priceless experience! 

The next day we were schedule to go back to Manila around late afternoon that is why we did not waste anytime to explore the island and take more pictures. We spent the remaining hours in station one where the popular grotto can be found. We took pictures, ate our lunch and sat on the sand under the sun. I wish I can go back to Boracay with my family, maybe soon. I taught my sister how to swim and my friend's daughter. Some of my friends just sat on the beach while others looked around the grotto.

One of the place I liked the most was JONAH's, they served different sandwiches and drinks, I recommend they're banana choco shake because I really loved it and it was YUMMY! There are other places to visit too. Boracay Island is not just about the beautiful beach and fun activities, there are zoo as well and different places to get souvenirs from. My friends and I bought some shirts and braces for souvenirs. There are street foods as well in the morning and the evening. There are good places to eat too, they serve sea foods, Filipino foods and many more.

 

All in all the island adventure was soooo FUN and relaxing at the same time plus I have my good friends to spent it with so it was a very good summer vacation for me. The only regret I had was that the day we left it was the full moon party!! It's really too bad we missed it.

We went home with a plan of coming back the next summer! See you!