Sun, sand, and seawater… Boracay in October

Just reminiscing the fun time Emar and I had in Boracay in 2010. October is our wedding anniversary month and this year, 2016, would be our 11^th year together as a married couple.

We celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary in Boracay and this was I wrote about our experience.

Sun, sand, and seawater… Boracay in October

I know that most people troop to Boracay Island during the hot, summer months but did you know that the off-peak season has the most beautiful of sunsets and the weather is much more tolerable?

In the famed island of Boracay, October weather is enviable. Yes, it was sunny but it wasn’t too hot compared to May or June, our tour guide, Jojo related. We did experience some rain showers but these were intermittent and happened only the night before we were to leave, which made me conclude that the island is pure bliss and worth visiting whatever time of the year you so desire. The beach is home to all sorts of people all year round. It’s like a fiesta there from January to December, day in and day out.

The first night we were there, that was October 30, Halloween parties were everywhere. The Boracay Island mall named D*Mall hosted a Halloween Costume Contest held in partnership with the mall’s newest store, Fila. It was so much fun and people in costumes were everywhere.

My husband, Emar, and I were lucky enough to have our photos taken with a man (or was it a woman?) who took the role of a headless person who carried around with him his decapitated head. It was one scary sight, which a lot of Boracay visitors took in jest.

So, why were Emar and I in Boracay anyway in the middle of the typhoon season?

The Boracay trip was in celebration of our fifth wedding anniversary. We got married on October 6, 2005. What more, the month of October is the last month of Boracay’s off-season, which meant that airfare to and from Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay, was a lot cheaper compared to other months of the year, and Boracay hotels cut their regular room rates in half.

Because of the island’s popularity, and probably as part of its tourist attraction strategy, the island had to divide the “visiting time” in the year into three, namely, peak season, off-season, and high season. The peak season happens from May to June while off season is from July to October. The high season, meanwhile, is from November to April. Holidays, however, such as the Holy Week and November 1-2 are considered as peak season. Airfares as well as room rates during these times are triple the off-season rates. This was based on a conversation I had with our very nice and friendly tour guide Jojo, who also happens to be managing the budget hotel beside the resort where we were billeted, the Orchids Resort (another budget hotel).

Both are considered as budget hotels because their rates were not only affordable considering that these were located in Boracay but because these places were situated at Station 3 and weren’t “beach front” ones, meaning these were hotels located a few meters away from the Boracay beach. These were hotels located at the back of other establishments.

Being at the back, however, didn’t mean the service weren’t good or the rooms were dirty. In fact, a lot of foreign tourists who plan on staying for months at time in Boracay Island preferred these places over the “beach front” ones because of the privacy it provided. It was away from the all-night beach parties and the service was more or less the same as the “beach front” ones. It wasn’t first class but it was alright already. Besides, if you were in Boracay you wouldn’t want to get holed up in your room, right? You would want to spend as much time outside under the sun, the sand beneath your feet, and the seawater caressing your tired limbs.

This was exactly what we did. The moment we landed at the Caticlan airport, around 11:20 A.M., I knew we had to make the best of the few hours of sunlight we had left to explore the island. We were fortunate enough to have been able to arrange for someone from the Orchids Resort to pick us up from the airport because we didn’t know our way around yet.

From the airport, Zan, the resort personnel brought us to the Caticlan port. There, she bought us tickets from the boat fee of P25.00 per person to the required environmental fee of P50.00 per person. I can’t recall the names of the other fees that we had to pay just that we were required to pay these charges before we could enter the terminal or be able to board one of the boats outside; and so, pay we did.

The sea wasn’t the friendliest at the time we boarded the boat. It was windy and the waves were really huge. What aggravated the situation some more was the violent swinging of the ledges that we were supposed to walk on to be able to get to the boat. One foreign tourist even got wet because she fell off the ledge that connected the port to her boat. Good thing she didn’t hit her head on one of the rocks or received any serious injuries. That would have been a total disaster! Haayyy… We, Filipinos, really are such daredevils. We have the “habal-habal”, the overloaded jeepneys, and, in Boracay, unsafe ledges.

But thanks to our very skilled boat captain, we were able to reach the Boracay port safely – huge waves and all. The boat ride wasn’t that long really, just about 10 minutes or so. So, from the Boracay Island port, it was P100 tricycle ride to the nearest Station 3 entrance and in a matter of minutes Emar and I were already inside our rooms, hurriedly changing our attires to ones that suited beach fashion. No, he wasn’t in swimming trunks; and no, I didn’t wear a two-piece bikini. I don’t own one and will never will most probably. I have post-partum stretched marks all over my belly and some tummy fat to boot. It’ll take about 1 million sit-ups to get rid of the fats. So, why waste my hard-earned monies on a branded bikini when I wouldn’t be able to wear it in this lifetime. I’m perfectly happy wearing a beach shorts and shirt.

Lunch was two delicious Andok’s meals. Then, we went off sight-seeing but around 4:00 o’clock, our tour guide, Jojo, whom we met while walking around Station 3, brought us to a Helmet Diving site. We paid P500 each for a 30-minute exhilarating (and oxygen-filled!) walk on the beach floor. Afterwards, Jojo took us to Boracay Island’s own version of the Zipline. It wasn’t that long, about 300++ meters, and we paid P700 each. I know it’s too expensive for a 300-meter zipline but hey you get to have a breathtaking view of the “virgin”, unoccupied part of the island even just for a few seconds. So, it was worth it in a sense plus there was the adrenaline rush and the terrified looks on our faces. That’s totally priceless!

The one other activity that Emar and I did was going around in a buggy car. For P1,000, you get to drive one (and in my case ride one with Emar who was driving) towards the highest point in Boracay Island. The tour took us to an exclusive (and luxurious) condo-tel where we were made to use the establishment’s rooftop to take in the view of the entire island. There we saw how “people-less” the other side was. We also saw once again the Zipline landing pad. It would be nice to go swimming in that part of the island but I doubt it. I think that the land there is private property, owned by some other wealthy person in the country. Oh, to be rich and famous!

So, since we were penniless already. Hehehe… Emar and I had to settle with experiencing the island using our two sturdy and excited feet. We walked from Station 3 all the way to Station 1. It was there that we noticed how much finer and whiter the sand in Stations 2 and 1 were. Must be the reason why the food and the accommodation in the area were way more expensive than those found at Station 3. There weren’t a lot of people too though Station 2, which is considered the “center” of the island, is an exception. It was at Station 1 that we first experienced the island’s cool and refreshing seawater.

Other fun and interesting (expensive but not in Boracay standards) activities that one could do in Boracay is the 6-hour island-hopping, which happens from 10:00am to 4:00pm, at P600 per person that already includes a sumptuous buffet lunch. There is also the parasailing at P1,200 per person for 15 minutes and the Banana Boat ride at P200 per person for 30 minutes.

I forgot how much these activities cost but I think if you had enough time and money with, you’ll also enjoy driving a Jet Ski, going on a Scuba Diving experience, or do some Snorkeling.

So there you go… some of the activities that you and your family or friends could enjoy in Boracay, whether off-season, peak season, or high season. You also don’t need to get your own tour guide because these activities could be availed of without the help of a guide. We discovered later on that the “desk people” lining the beach fronts were actually “dispatchers” or the ones managing the various water sports activities. It is these same people too that you pay and it will also be them who will take you to your boat or who will lend you the sports equipment in the case of Jet Ski rentals and Banana Boat rides.

But if you are new to Boracay like us and don’t know how to take advantage of your time there, a tour guide is really helpful. You only need to tip the guide and you’ll have an honest assessment of the best activities to take that are within your budget or within the bounds of the limited time you have got in island.

Or you always have the option to not do anything at all the whole time you are there… You could just go swimming, do some sunbathing, or go strolling from Station 3 to 1. A majority of the foreign tourists in Boracay do this on a daily basis, Jojo said. The beach is very public in Boracay so you could go swimming (or sunbathing) anywhere you want.

There isn’t any need too to stay in a beachfront hotel. Those are quite expensive and if you aren’t staying long, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy all of your room’s amenities anyway. When in Boracay, your hotel room serves only as a sleeping quarter. Beach side parties there are from late afternoon until the ungodly hours of the morning so who needs a cable television or free wi-fi? You wouldn’t want to miss all those sexy ladies dancing and grinding about the whole night through? Or the eat-all-you can food parties?

A budget hotel will do even if you have to walk a few meters to get to the beach. That’s free exercise and something to warm your limbs up for the day’s activities. Until our next visit… Hopefully then we would already be able to take our two children Paul Daniel (who is now four years old) and Phoebe Dawn (who just turned nine months old) to this famous island.

P.S. – This article came out of the November 8-14, 2010 issue of the Eastern Visayas Mail. Please check out their website here: http://www.evmailnews.net/.