December 5, 2013

Boracay 2013 Travel Diary: It's Not So Late To Daydream About Summer Days (100th Post!)

When I wrote about my Cebu-Bohol trips (part 1part 2part 3part 4), I said that I hope that 2013 won’t end without me going to the beach, and God very graciously answered my prayers and He made us experience the first luxurious trip of our lives. I was able to go to Boracay last October! Yey!




To be honest, for some reason, we almost didn't push through with this trip. We didn't even have a place to stay in Boracay a week before our flight.  They knew someone who happens to have a time-share at Club Astoria and even if it was on a very short notice, she was willing to let us use the membership. After some paperwork, we got a 3days/2nights accommodation at Astoria Boracay! I’m posting a separate entry about our stay at Astoria Boracaylink here.





Since we’re staying for 4 days in Boracay and our accommodations in Astoria Boracay is good for 3 days only, I've scoured the web for a decent yet affordable accommodations in Station 1 and have found Casa Fiesta. It was a steal for its price since it’s right on Station 1s beach path plus you get to have a balcony overlooking the beach. Perfect! (Review of Casa Fiesta here)




Now we’re all set for Boracay!

This is the second time that I’ll be visiting Boracay, the last one was back in June of 2011, read about it here: (Boracay Trip 1).

Our flight and transfers to Boracay was a smooth one; it’s also our first time to fly with Philippine Airlines (PAL Express). We always book flights with Cebu Pacific and after flying with PAL I've made some observations between the two airlines, read my blog post about it here (Cebu Pac-vs-PAL)

Our four-day stay was more on relaxing and lounging around. Not much activities this time, well except for banana boating with our friends, which I didn't tag along, I don’t like water activities except snorkeling and swimming (if you can call what I do “swimming, hehe).


It was also a vacation of some “firsts”, not many “firsts” because we didn’t do much.
1.) The weather during our 4-day stay was very cooperative. It was sunny the whole time, as if it’s summer, when weeks before this trip several storms hit the Philippines (not to mention the earthquake and tsunami threat that happened in Bohol and Cebu a few days before). Days before our trip, I was joking around with my friends and I was swearing that I will ban Boracay if our stay will be rainy again!


my tribute to Bohol, it suffered a massive earthquake days before this trip


2.) We were able to stay at a very luxurious beachfront hotel in Station 1, Astoria Boracay! (read review here).




3.) On our last night, we stayed at an Inn that is decent and clean, with a balcony and sea view that costs very cheap despite it being in Station 1, that is Casa Fiesta (read review here).


4.) I saw from another blog about this restaurant, Smoke, in D’Mall and was able to try it (read review here).




5.) I finally get to eat at Real Coffee and Tea, one of the famous foodie destinations in Boracay, well-known for their calamansi muffin and all-day breakfasts (read review here).




6.) We get to spend half of our day, every day, just swimming at sea and lounging by the beach!



All the time that we were in Boracay, I felt so blessed, favored and realized how God has been very gracious to us and our marriage (I can’t reiterate that enough). That when we thought we will not be able to encounter such privileges, He is there to let us experience the best things in life, far from those that we can imagine.




But I did have some realizations and I noticed a lot of changes in Boracay since visiting it around 2 years ago. Our last visit to Boracay was somehow a complete blur to me; on this trip I felt like we were first timers. I can’t seem to really remember the details of our last trip, how to go about from one place to another, what we did at the ports, where did we pay, what rides did we take and other stuff.




Most of the time that we went swimming, we always walk towards Willy’s Rock in front of Jonah’s Fruit Shake (best fruit shakes in Boracay, by the way, read review here) and sometimes in front of Pearl of the Pacific Resort Hotel. Which from what I can remember, this part of White Beach has the best beach area in Station 1: clean, fine, white sand… But to my dismay, I've found several garbage floating in the water and got washed-up at the beach. This is so heart-breaking, seriously! Probably due to the influx of tourists and some of them just don’t know the word discipline. I mean, come on, there are a lot of trash cans around Boracay, don’t you have the will at least to walk a few steps to throw them in? If this continues, Boracay will be severely polluted and its beauty will be forever lost. I think they should impose greater authority over littering and do a lot of coastal clean-ups. It is really bothering…




On our third night, we wanted to eat seafood buffet so we walked towards Station 2, where when we were there last time, the beachfront was lined with reasonably-priced buffet restaurants; one after the other. To our disappointment, we already reached Station 3 and no restaurant that offer such was to be found. What happened??? Where did they all go??? Big disappointment really….




When we were walking towards Real Coffee (it’s now in Station 2 with a bigger space above Seaworld Diving) on our last day in Boracay, I also noticed that the alleys in Station 2 got really jam-packed, they were full of inns/resorts. The alleys looked so crowded and suffocating; not very inviting to stay in there at all (well that’s just my opinion). Station 2 used to be the heart of Boracay, now I’m having this notion that it is slowly moving towards the border of Station 1 and 2. Well, I really hope not.




At this time, I’m now having second thoughts of going back to Boracay. Not only that I haven’t been to the other top beach destinations in the Philippines, I don’t think that Boracay is really a place FOR ME to find some relaxation. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m still thankful of this trip, no matter what.) Like what I've said on my previous post about our first Boracay trip, “Maybe I’m just in that point in my life that I prefer a beach somewhere that can calm my mind and soul”. If God will bless us again another vacation, Boracay will not be on the top of our list. But if you haven’t been there, it is just fitting to visit Boracay even once in your life. Maybe my view about it will be different from that of yours.


Backtrack my other blog posts about Boracay here:
Boracay 2013 Travel Diary: “A” For Awesome Astoria Boracay                               
Boracay 2013 Travel Diary: Smoke Resto
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2 comments:

  1. hello dear I am inviting you to join my Oasap international giveaway =) end date will be on Dec. 12, 2013 =) details Here : http://anotsosecretlife2011.blogspot.com/2013/11/oasap-shopping-coupon-giveaway.html

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  2. With so many beaches in the Philippines, I'm sure you'll find one that suits you. Seeing the ongoing construction in Boracay just gets to the nerves sometimes.

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