Boracay, Philippines

If you've heard about the Philippines, it's highly probable you've also heard of Boracay. Boracay is world famous for its pristine beaches. Tourists flock here by the hundreds, even thousands. You'll find people from all over the world here. Some foreigners love it so much, they stay.

We had the opportunity to take a trip there for a few days to meet up with some friends from the States. The first day we got there, we just hung out because we got in in the afternoon. We ate dinner at Tilapia N Chips, located at D'Mall. They had really good fish and chips, and the pieces of fish were BIG. We stayed at a place called Culpepper Lodge in Station 2, which was just a 2 minute walk to the beach. They had pretty nice rooms, our bed was HUGE and the price was within our budget (1,000php).

The following day, we moved to a different hotel that was closer to where our friends were staying, called Swedish Gardens (in Station 2, close to Station 3 and to Carmela de Boracay-- just a 5 minute walk to the beach). The room was ok. With aircon, we got it for 800php. (We ended up staying at this place for the rest of our trip-- 4 nights).

After getting settled in, we ate breakfast at Pancake House at D'Mall. In my opinion, it's overpriced and the food is just mediocre for what they charge. Then we went “island hopping” which really consisted of going snorkeling in a couple of spots, eating lunch on the other side of the island, and snorkeling some more. It was fun-- but compared to the snorkeling I've done in Palau a couple years ago, it was just ok. A lot of the coral was dead (probably because of too much human interaction), but there were a lot of fish (but not as many and not as much variety as in Palau). The lunch consisted of a buffet and the food was good (and it was included in the price we paid for the whole trip).

In the evening, the sunset was incredible!

Then at night, after dinner, we met up with our friends and headed to Guilly's (at Station 1). It was a really good time and the vibe from that place was good.

The next afternoon, we decided to go parasailing. I was a little apprehensive at first. I thought that it was an ordeal- you have to do a running start off the beach, then the boat just shoots you straight up in the air. But boy was I wrong! We were taken on a speed boat out in the middle of the ocean. Then we were harnessed in. They let the parachute out and we SLOWLY floated into the air. It wasn't like what I was expecting at all. It was a nice, relaxing, enjoyable experience. It was such a cool feeling being up so high.

After we got back and got ready for a night out, we got massages. I'm a fan of the Swedish massage and Jason is a fan of Thai massage. After going up and down the beach looking for a place that did both and after haggling with a few places, we finally found one- at Studio 822. The girls were all really nice and they gave us discounts. My Swedish massage, originally 350php, was 300php. Jason's Thai massage, originally 500php, was 400php. (Always haggle and ask for discounts with EVERYTHING in Boracay!). After our hour-long massages, we went to eat at a beach-side all-you-can-eat buffet (there are A TON at dinner time-- we chose one that was 300php). The selection of food was good: oysters, muscles, clams, lechon, sisig, pancit-- and a ton of other dishes. After dinner we went out with everyone to Summer Time Place for some dancing.

The following day, everyone left. Jason and I decided to stay an extra day and spent a quiet night with a nice dinner and walk on the beach.

We left and took a van from Caticlan to Iloilo-- where our flight was out of. While in Iloilo, we were at the mall and saw a fish spa-- something I've always wanted to try! Little fish come and suck off all the dead skin from your feet. Jason joined me. At first, it tickled like crazy and took some getting used to, but after a little bit, it became really relaxing. This place had two different pools- one with smaller fish and another with bigger fish. We tried both. We both really enjoyed it and want to include one in our next hostel. :)

We had a really good trip. Boracay, even with all the tourism it gets, still is very clean. That's what surprised me the most. And it's very safe and family-friendly. And it's affordable. There's stuff that's really expensive, and there's stuff that's backpacker-friendly (my kind of style). I definitely want to go back-- I even could live there. I can't wait to go again.