White Sands and Azure Waters: The Experience

I was never a beach person, but it would never be an excuse to see one of the famous beaches that we could be proud of – BORACAY.

 “Located approximately 315 km (196 mi) south of Manila and 2 km off the northwest tip of Panay Island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, Boracay island and its beaches have received awards numerous times. The island comprises the barangays of Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak (3 of the 17 barangays which make up the municipality of Malay), and is under the administrative control of the Philippine Tourism Authority in coordination with the Provincial Government of Aklan.” – Wikipedia 

Everything started with one deal from Ensogo. We luckily found a 3D 2N stay at La Carmela de Boracay for 1,740.00. Since my friends and I have been eyeing to go somewhere, we chose to explore Boracay. Along with my friend’s in laws and her in laws’ friends, we flew to Caticlan last March 8 and stayed in the island for 3 days and 2 nights.

 I’ve seen numerous images of Boracay on history books, travel blogs and etc but last month was the first time that I’ve seen the island in person. No one wants to make his/her own trip a disaster so I kept on searching the net about the things that I should know during my stay on the island. Travel blogs were of big help. Thumbs up to all those generous travel bloggers! :)

Please forgive me if this entry would contain more photos than texts. I want the photos to do all the story telling.

Day 1: Arrival | Check in at La Carmela de Boracay, Station 2 

Welcome to MPH!

La Carmela's Convention Hall, located across the hotel 

Yours truly (L), with Marekris

Our room 

So I thought “ ah, dito pala kami for 3 days and 2 nights, sulit naman pala ang 1,740.” Our room was clean and enough to fit 4 persons.

We just left our things inside the room and went out at the nearby resort, Villa de Oro for a quick lunch. While waiting for our food to be served, I was looking at the beach. Surely, Boracay was more than that many years back. Siyempre kasi marami ng tao ang nakapunta unlike before.

Picture! Picture! While waiting for our  lunch!  (L-R) Marekris, Princess, Ana, Yours truly

I had to wait for several minutes before the food was served!
Let me do a quick food review:

My food: Spaghetti + Chicken+ Fries (160.00)

I was disappointed. The serving was big enough to fill one hungry stomach, but the taste was nothing compared to what I expected. Mas masarap pa magluto ang mama ko. The spaghetti tasted like noodles with ketchup and hotdog, matabang naman yung chicken. The fries was just ok. I wouldn't mind paying 160.00 kaso sana nagustuhan ko yung lasa. 

Anyway, after eating, we strolled around until we got to D’Mall.

Yours truly 

During that time, I was already eyeing on what souvenirs to bring home. I was also observing some places where my friends and I could eat.

We went back after getting around, changed to our swimsuits and splashed at our accommodation’s pool.We enjoyed the beach afterwards. We had our dinner at Andok’s.

my food + spaghetti (not in photo). I gave the cup of rice to my friends

After eating, I was really tired and sleepy. I wasn’t able to get a good sleep before I left Manila so I fell asleep easily.

Day 2: Island Hopping | ATV | Souvenir Shopping 

I was a bit active on our second day. I had a good sleep and I had gathered enough energy from my breakfast. Our activity for the day started as early as 7 am.

before boarding! hehe (with Marekris) 

On our way to Crystal Cove we passed by waves that were big. We felt like we're on a roller coaster ride! Exciting! lol! My eyes were appreciative of the everything that I was seeing during that time. What made me more appreciate them was the fact that I was with my friends and the trip was from my own pocket, not from my parents.

We reached Crystal Cove for approximately 20 minutes (or should I say even more?). We didn't get inside as there would be an entrance fee of 200.00 and it was just fine with me. It saved our time as well. We just took some time to take pictures.

Mean Girls

Pang cover photo sa Facebook! hehehe

After Crystal Cove, we had our snorkeling near Pacman's property.  Medyo paranoid lang ako kaya di ko naenjoy masyado ang snorkeling. Wala rin masyadong isda at isa pa, may kung anong kumagat sa legs ko. Di ko alam kung ano. Basta after snorkeling, may naiwang tatlong parang kiss marks sa thigh ko, as in mukhang kiss mark, yay! 


After our mini-snorkeling, we're headed to another island, sabi ni manong Puka Beach na daw yon, pero parang iba naman sa alam kong hitsura ng Puka Beach.  From 'Puka' we went to another island near Shangri la Boracay.

More photo ops:

May konting swimming din! Pero mas marami ang photo ops

We had our lunch on the same island (near Shangri La):
Here's one photo while waiting for our quite pricey lunch:

We had itlog na pula +kamatis, plain rice and grilled pusit for our lunch. Ang dami kong gutom, nag-rice tuloy ako! Nevertheless, paying 180.00 for lunch was better than paying a lesser amount tapos di naman ako natuwa. 


We went back to Station 2 after our lunch, rested for a few minutes and enjoyed the pool again. We had our ATV ride to Puka Beach around 3: 30 PM.

Driving the ATV was harder than I expected. Akala ko sisiw lang kasi nakakapag drive naman ako ng van, aba, mas challenging..pero kapag nakuha mo na yung tinuro sa'yo, kayang kaya! 

Mean Girls at Puka Beach, ito sure na ko :)

From our ATV adventure, we asked our free shuttle driver to drop us off at Station 1 so we could explore more of what the island had to offer.

A time for Jonah! 

We also witnessed the sunset at Station 1:

We had our dinner at Mang Inasal before heading back to our room. Inaantok na ko kaya nakatulog muna saglit, took a bath before going out to shop for souvenirs. After that, we called it a night! 


Day 3: More souvenir shopping | Bye, Boracay 


Marekris and I woke up early and we had our brunch together with Princess. We continued to shop for more souvenir items/ pasalubong for the family, boyfriend, friends etc. I suggest that you practice you're haggling skills if you want to bring home more pasalubong. I admit, I was never good at it, buti na lang magaling tumawad mga friends ko. *winks* 

We checked out before lunch and by 1 PM, we found ourselves heading back to the port as we still have to travel to Kalibo for our 4:20 PM flight back to Manila.  While we're on our way back, I said to myself, ay tapos na? Tapos na yung Boracay trip. I waited for so long and the trip ended too soon. Okay ang drama ko lang! :P 


Our flight back to Manila was a bit delayed. We started boarding around 4: 45 PM. We arrived at Manila by 5:30 PM.

Our trip to Boracay, maybe short, was really fun-filled and memorable. It may sound cliche though but I could not find other simple words to describe what my friends and I had there. I might not be a beach lover, but getting there and seeing the images by my naked eyes, would be enough to say that we all have different ways in making the most out of our trips.