boracay philippines
why the philippines

What makes Boracay island famous?

The more than 200 establishments that abound the area are mostly located in what is known as the sunset side, along white beach affording visitors spectacular sunsets at dusk. For someone who has taken the setting sun for granted too many marrows, the interplay of both color and light is truly a touch of the divine. It never seemed to duplicate itself. It's either a softer glimmer of pink or a flaming hue of red. Providing guests with the exotic islander charms, some of the resorts and cottages that line up the beaches are artistically constructed using local palms and grasses for walls, ceilings, floorings and furnishings. Roofs are made of rainproof leaves pinned together without the use of nails while rooms are made out of a hundred bamboo poles. In another section, cottages provide a more modern ambience. Convenience for tourists is a prime consideration. Most of these cottages have three-shaded nooks and hibiscus- enclosed sunbathing gardens. On the "wilder" side of paradise, rocky coastline along Sibuyan sea provides visitors with rougher terrain suited for windsurfing, parasailing and paddleboating. Other sports such as archery at the northwestern coast, bicycling, horseback riding, sailing and yachting, tennis, volleyball, scuba diving, jetskiing, snorkeling, are also popular.

The island boasts an array of delectable American, Australian, Austrian, Belgian, British, Canadian, Filipino, French, German, Israeli, Spanish and Thai cuisine. Food adventurers can sample morsels of Kasseler and haxnstelze, sashimi, bon loi and curries. For those who prefer the more familiar, hamburgers, stews, and BLTs are in most menus. But the best that Boracay has to offer is the plentiful seafood. The tanguingue (Spanish mackerel), lapu-lapu (spotted grouper) and blue marlin are a delight when grilled or steamed until tender and creamy. A more elaborate preparation involves poaching the fish in the white wine then garnishing it with caviar and fresh dill. Boracay chefs can prepare exotic appetizers like tender squid slowly cooked in mango sauce or tiger prawns with coconut cream and pate with wood-ear mushroom. It's guaranteed to make you beg for second helpings. Tourists who are interested to see the heart of the island should stroll along the barrio market. Here they purchase pineapples still on its trunk, sun-dried squid ready for grilling, roasted piglet sold by kilos, buko juices, dried fish and fruits at affordable prices. A pleasant surprise awaits travelers in Boracay's wine and liquor shops. Celebrated for its quality and diversity, the list includes the local lambanog, a native liquor made from palm, which is fast becoming a cocktail base, scotch, brandy, tequila, gin, vodka, sherry and a host of others. A mix of drink flavored with the local Kalamansi (a marble-size green citron unique to the Philippines) instead of the customary lime or lemon is popular among the local and foreign tourists.

How to get to Boracay
Tourists can plan to spend their time lazing around Boracay can get there either by air, land, sea or a combination of these. Flights from Manila to Kalibo, Roxas City and Iloilo City are available daily.Philippine Airlines has two scheduled flights from Manila to Kalibo daily (with 50 minutes travel time) and two one-hour flights a week from Cebu City to Kalibo. Aerolift, Pacific Airways and Boracay Air have two regular flights from Manila to Caticlan.

There are two airports servicing Boracay and the Kalibo airport where tourists travel overland for two hours to Caticlan in air-conditioned bus and the Caticlan Airport which serves small passenger planes. From Manila, boat trips can be taken for Iloilo City, Roxas, Kalibo, Dumaguit and New Washington. Boracay is served by ports New Washington, Dumaguit and Batan, Aklan. From Dumaguit or New Washington (Batan passengers usually proceed to Dumaguit via a five-minute boat ride), passengers will have to take a 30-minute jeepney ride to Kalibo and then take another ride to Caticlan Getty Port.

Estimated time for the whole trip would be about two to three hours. From Tabias, Romblon, passenger jeepneys ply the routes to Looc and Sta. Fe where boats bound for Boracay are moored. Boat passengers taking the Mindoro route can proceed to Roxas, located on the east coast of Mindoro.

It is easily reached from Calapan, Mindoro's town center. From that point, a big outrigger ferry sails for Odiogan or Looc, Tablas daily. Private banca owners at Melco Beach Resort, Roxas offers special trips direct to Boracay at negotiable rates. Adventurous excursionists who desire to see more of the archipelago can travel by land from Manila to Batangas City, then transfer to Mindoro via an island ferry. From Mindoro, a land trip to Mansalay is necessary to catch a pumpboat ride to Tablas, Romblon island and another pumpboat ride to Boracay island. The whole journey will at least take two or more days depending on the regular schedules of ferry and pumpboat rides. Neighboring provinces like Capiz, Antique and Iloilo have regular bus trips bound for Kalibo. Ceres Liner Bus runs almost every hour from Iloilo to Kalibo between 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fares for the four hour trip ranges from P45 to P56 per passenger.

Getting around the island

There are four popular ways to go around Boracay island, you can ride a motorcycle, a carabao and ox-drawn cart or simply walk. Most visitors prefer the latter, enjoying the fine granules of sands on their bare feet. In fact walking has become a fad in Boracay. One can never grow tired looking at the colorful shells washed out by the sea or the small crabs scrambling into their holes. No matter how hot the rays of the sun may be, the sands never scorches the feet. Visitors can also wander off man-made trails into the forest for a little jungle adventure.

What to wear

Like most tropical isles, lightweight cotton and linen clothing is advisable. Visitors can wear T-shirts, shorts or sarong over their swimsuits. Sandals on your feet can take you anywhere in the island. For those people with sensitive skin, bring hats and sunshades for additional protection. And don't forget your mosquito repellant....

Flights to the Philippines..

Extreme Sports Cafe has an exclusive agent for providing both local and international flights to get you to Boracay. Please contact Extreme Sports Cafe about your trip to the Philippines and to Boracay for great rates on flights and transfers.

Extreme Sports Cafe is now proud to be able to offer our UK customers discount flight services, hotels and car hire at great rates through Expedia.co.uk.

In the near future we will also be able to offer similar discount flight services to customers elsewhere in the World. We are currently thrashing out rates and discounts for European Customers. Do be aware that people anywhere in the world can use the services of Expedia above, as long as they have a UK delivery address...

For those with a US address please use this service...

Travel Light
The Boracay dress code is definitely casual-24 hours a day. 90% of the time you'll be standing on sand, even in restaurants, so bring sensible walking shoes.

Remember the old packing maxim - "When vacationing pack two cases but only take one " - this definitely applies to Boracay since most tourist bits and pieces are readily available.

Typical Weather
Mid November to Mid May : Dry season-average mid-day temp. 32 degrees celsius - blue skies - calm seas - cool sea breezes (that render airconditioning unwarranted)

Mid May to Mid July : Mixed season, breezy with showers 1 hour per day - blue skies.

Mid July to Mid November : rainy season - average mid-day temp. - 30 degrees celsius - blue-cloudy skies, fresh and breezy, choppy seas, normally rains 2 hours during the day and 1 or 2 hours at night. This is also the typhoon season which brings stormy weather periodically which normally lasts about 3-4 days.

Health
No current health warnings (Do contact Extreme Sports Cafe for last minute updates). However while on Boracay its advisable to drink sealed bottled mineral water only. Ice is O.K. since it's made from chlorinated water. Remember to drink a lot while in a tropical climate, particularly if you're exercising or exposed to the sun. The biggest health hazards on Boracay are sun-burn and the day after effects of alcohol - both self inflicted wounds - so take it easy. It's particularly important in a salty-tropical environment to keep all skin wounds covered. A small, common sense, medical kit is a wise travelling companion.

Boracay Service Facilities, include -
A Provincial hospital, medical clinic, 3 pharmacies, small supermarket, fresh veg. and wet seafood market ( buy some fish or perhaps a lobster and have it cooked by Nigi Nigi's kitchen magicians ), 3 one hour photo shops, 3 churches, small gym, small library, office-computer center, Real Estate office, 2 banks (banking hours 5 days/wk. 9.0 a.m. till 4.0 p.m.), 3 exchange bureaus, laundry, post office (5 days/wk.), International kindergarten, Department of Tourism and Police assistance office, Travel service ( Boracay Suntan Travel at Nigi Nigi ), wide selection of souvenir stalls and specialist restaurants.

Additional Activities, for hire -

Voltage :- 220 V.

Credit Cards :- American Express & Visa widely accepted. (Do expect a handling charge in most locations.)

Money exchange :- U.S. dollar travellers checks are the easiest to exchange. You need to present your passport to exchange travellers checks. Cash and travellers checks in other currencies suffer a significant exchange rate loss compared with Manila.

Visa extensions :- Please contact Extreme Sports Cafe.

Departing :- remember to reconfirm your exit flight 72 hours in advance. Allow 2 hours to transfer between the Manila Domestic Airport and the International section. The International Airport (called Ninoy Aquino Airport) charges 500 pesos (cash only) airport fee.