Boracay: Paradise Island

Day 1: A Stretch of Sand

More than just a stretch of powdery white sand, Boracay island is an escape destination which has it all. It doesn't matter who you're traveling with, whether it be your family, friends, special someone, or just alone, whatever your plan is, this island's got it all for you.

Boracay Sand Castle

On our first day, we arrived at Kalibo Airport. Our airfare was availed as seat sale, and was only worth 1000 pesos per person. We booked a round-trip transport package from Manila Travel Tours, which was worth 950 pesos per person and was inclusive of a tour bus transfer to Caticlan port, an air-conditioned boat transfer to and from Boracay, and a tricycle transfer to drop us off at our hotel. The bus ride was around 3-4 hours, with one stop-over, while the boat ride was around 15 minutes. For our departure, they had a van fetch us from our hotel the morning of our departure, and then we boarded the air-conditioned boat back to Caticlan port. From the port, they gave us a private Toyota Vios (since there are only 4 of us in our group) back to Kalibo airport. The ride was shorter this time, around 2 hours tops because it's a private car and we didn't ask for a stop-over. I suggest that you avail of a transport package such as this so to avoid the hassle of the transfers if you're coming from Kalibo.

We booked a room for 4 pax for 3 nights at La Carmela de Boracay, which was located in the beachfront, so it's a big plus because you're just literally steps from the beach, but a bit far from establishments since it is located at the edge of Station 3. The facilities are good enough, and the service can be rated as average. The room was large enough for four pax, with 2 comfortable queen sized beds. The staff are accommodating, but we had to call multiple times just so they can respond to our needs such as when asking for fresh towels, or when we were asking them to sweep our room clean. The free breakfast buffet was simply cooked and was delicious, but they should add more variety to the food choices. We weren't able to try any of the pools they had but those are a plus too if you prefer swimming pools than the beach (which doesn't make sense at all, because the beach in Boracay is absolutely magnificent especially during -Ber months when it's not mossy).

After unloading our stuff at the room, we decided to explore the establishments along the beachfront. We grabbed a quick dinner at Bite Club located in D'Mall. For a meal of about 230 pesos per person, we had our tummies satisfied with their delicious burger meals.

Dinner at Bite Club

We then walked around D'Mall just to look around, and then headed to PubCrawl at Station 1 to acquire our t-shirts for an epic night out scheduled on our next day in Boracay.

Walking along the beachfront while we were heading back to our hotel is an activity in itself; you can do people watching or just enjoy the evening stroll with your friends. It's really nice to visit Boracay when it's not peak season because you can truly enjoy the island without the hassle of being too crowded by so many other visitors.

Costs for the day:
- Round trip Transport: 950 pesos
- Hotel: 1800 pesos
- PubCrawl: 735 pesos
- Bite Club Dinner: 225 pesos
Total = 3735 pesos