White beach Boracay Philippines

Philippines: Bulabog beach, Mount Luho viewpoint and sunset at White Beach

Date: 22nd May 2013

Today after breakfast, I decided to walk to Bulabog beach. I chose to stay at Frendz Resort because on the map it showed Bulabog beach was only a few minutes walk away. Bulabog is famous for its strong winds and therefore a popular beach for kite-surfing, wind surfers and para-sailing.

Beach road Boracay morning
I walked down beach road
Bolobog zone entrance Boracay Philippines
Although I had a map, I saw an entrance that said ‘Bolabog’ so I figured I might as well just walk down this road
Bulabog road to Beach Boracay
Only a minute walk later, I could see the sea
Road to Bulabog beach Boracay Philippines
I was excited for some water sports activity and even imagined what a few photos would look like from underwater

But when I got to the beach…

Bulabog beach Boracay panorama
Nothing.

I even came here thinking I’ll go “under water and take awesome photos of people kite-surfing” and even try it myself.

Moonzone Bulabog beach Boracay
Seriously, nothing.

I thought I’d see so many windsurfers.

Bulabog beach Boracay Philippines
No-thing
Boracay Gems hotel Bulabog beach Philippines
Even the hotels by the beach looked dead
Aqua Resort Bulabog beach Boracay Philippines
Very few people seemed to be staying on this side of Boracay

I asked one of the staff at a resort why there was nobody at the beach. She told me the windy season is usually from November to April. So yeah, I was late by a month. She was right though, there were barely any winds to be felt. White beach was windier than this.

Dog Bulabog beach Boracay
Oh well
Hangin kite center mermaid Boracay Philippines
You want to learn how to be… a mermaid?

I decided to keep my bag under a shade and go for a swim none the less.

Pipe going into sea Bulabog Boracay
Wait, please tell me that’s not a sewage pipe going in to the sea
Bag on bench Bulabog Boracay
I left my camera bag on a bench under a tree. It was risky, but I vowed not to go too far or leave sight of my bag. Nobody was on the beach anyway.
Bulabog beach panorama
I took out the underwater camera
Bulabog sea Boracay Philippines
The water was warm
Bulabog beach underwater Boracay
Under water …
Grass under water Bulabog beach
… there was lots of this
Bulabog beach from sea
My bag was still there

I would keep the camera in my shorts pocket for short sprints of swimming. But then after some time, all of a sudden… I couldn’t feel the camera in my pocket anymore! 🙁

I couldn’t believe I lost the camera I borrowed from friend, who herself borrowed it from her friend! I panicked and swam back and frantically searched the bottom of the sea bed. But I realized my frantic movements in the water made it harder to see the bottom. So I let the sand settle and moved slowly so that I wouldn’t create waves or ripples in the water. After some five minutes of increased heart beating, I noticed a bright yellow object at the bottom of the sea bed (maybe 2 feet deep?). It was the camera! I sighed a huge “phew” of relief and picked up the camera. It was absolutely fine and I could take photos as usual. I had enough of this beach and didn’t want to risk losing the camera again. I walked back ashore.

Bulabog road Boracay Philippines
It was time to leave
Bulabog beach hotels rooms Boracay
This road goes uphill

Hayan spa resort Bulabog Boracay

Bulabog village Boracay Philippines
I walked around the village
Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry office Boracay
Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry office in Boracay
Bangus rice meal Boracay Philippines
I stopped by a cosy little eatery for a bangus and garlic rice meal, ₱165 (and a glass of beer, ₱40)
Wanted therapist free rice ad Philippines
Saw this ad banner across the street from where I was sitting. Jeez, free rice is a job incentive here in Philippines! 🙂
Tricycle taxi traffic jam Boracay
I got back on the main road where there was a bit of a traffic jam

Back in my room, I was bored and decided to get some work done. Which was hard, a) because it just as hot inside as it was outside, b) one of my Swedish roommates was sleeping butt-naked next to my bed after a crazy night of excessive drinking. Then came his English friend whom I had met the night before. Today was the Englishman’s dude’s 23rd birthday, and despite being “still drunk,” he wanted to wake this Swedish guy to call him out for more drinks. When the naked Swede wouldn’t budge, the English guy turned his attention towards me. We struck a conversation and talked about every random thing a drunk English guy could talk about with an Indian. Like asking me if I liked curry, because he liked curry too and knew how to cook it. Then denied he knew anything about cooking. Then talking about how much he loved Kerala (my home state), because he had been there. Then no, he hadn’t. All this was funny to both of us. Then finally after managing to create enough ruckus in the room to wake up the naked Swede, he asked both of us to join him for drinks later in the evening. I said I’ll “think about it” — when I actually meant “no thanks”. I worked for a while after the English drunk left and then decided to step out again.

Casamso Frendz resort Boracay
I left the hostel and decided to visit the viewpoint at Mt. Luho
Boracay island road Philippines
I initially thought of walking it but a tricylce taxi approached me and told me it was far. He agreed to take me to Mt. Luho and back for ₱300.
Poseidon resort spa Boracay Philippines
I didn’t know just how far the viewpoint exactly was
Road to Mount Luho Boracay Philippines
It seemed like a 2 km ride, half of it going uphill
Dune buggys Mount Luho Boracay
These people were part of a quad bike tour
Mount Luho steps Boracay
Once I reached the entrance to the viewpoint, there was an entry fee of ₱120
Viewpoint platform Boracay hill
This was the viewing platform (in much need of some maintenance)
Boracay hill panorama
And this is the view from up here
Bulabog beach from Luho Boracay
That’s Bulabog beach
Aklan hills Philippines
The hills of Aklan in the distance
Small beaches Boracay
A guide told me these were private beaches
Golf resort Boracay Philippines
That’s the Fairways & Bluewater Newcoast Golf Resort
Zipline Boracay Philippines
Ziplining

Blue waters Boracay

Bamboo steps Boracay
I was done in less than 10 minutes. Nothing else to really see or do here.
Coming down from Mt. Luho Boracay
The tricycle driver this time just followed down the same road and we seemed to be going downhill

As we went down I had a hunch this road was leading to Bulabog beach. If it was, I felt I wasted money by hiring a tricycle taxi to needlessly take a long route to get to the view point.

Bulabog beach road Boracay Philippines
Ugh, and I was right! That’s the very chair (on the left) I kept my bag in the morning. From here, it seemed I could have easily walked uphill to the viewpoint in 10 minutes!

After yesterday night’s horrible dinner meal and today’s tricycle taxi ride, I was annoyed at wasting more money. Oh well, you learn. If you are already at Bulabog beach, you can easily walk up to the Mt. Luho viewpoint, which is more of a hill than a ‘mount’.

Sailing boats Boracay sunset panorama
I was dropped at station 2
Colourful houses Boracay Philippines
This was some hotel near Frendz Resort

Back in the room, I dumped my camera bag and decided to go for a swim in White beach and watch the sun set from the waters itself. I went to the beach with only my beach towel and the underwater camera.

Evening sun White beach Boracay
It was nearing 6pm
Willy's Rock tourists White beach
Willy’s Rock
Swimming in Sulu sea Boracay Philippines
I went in
Sulu sea sunset Boracay Philippines panorama
This is the Sulu sea
Mithun under water Boracay
The water was pretty clear but given the time of day, I still couldn’t see much under water
Sunset glimmer waves Boracay
It wasn’t as cloudy as yesterday and I could see the sun better

Sailing boats Boracay sea

Waves sunset Boracay sea Philippines
No, there was nothing ‘in the water’ — I was just playing around taking photos of the waves at the right moment
Paddle boat in sea Boracay
I swam closer to Willy’s Rock
Willy's Rock from the sea Boracay
What behind Willy’s Rock looks like
Guy jumping into water Boracay
The camera has a multi-shot feature… which stopped short just as the guy splashed into the water

Rocks Boracay sea white beach

Flock of birds Boracay sky
Flock of birds were heading towards to the island
Sunset Boracay Philippines
It was time to leave

Willy's Rock evening clouds Boracay

White beach panorama sunset Boracay
One final sunset panorama
White beach sunset Boracay evening panorama
You’ve got to admit, White beach is worthy of its recognition

For all its commercial developments and expensive, well, everything, Boracay does have some very nice swimming beaches. Puka beach is lovely, and the freakin’ long White beach is, for a good 300 metres from shore, still not too deep. And unlike Phuket‘s crowded beaches, the water at White beach is still pretty clear. Of course, it’s only after a Filipina researcher and friend, who told me about the ugly side of Boracay’s tourism, that I realized I probably won’t come back. Corruption and greed has impacted the native tribes and the very same are now fighting for their land. In a corrupt country, stories like this are all too common — India is no different. I already felt I have seen pretty much all that has to be seen on Boracay island. And in some ways, I was kind of yearning for a return to modern, city comfort. I was tired of washing off the sand on my feet, and elsewhere. The humidity too made me yearn for tomorrow when I could finally check out, catch a flight to Clark, and I could check-in to a hotel with air-conditioning!

Cocomangas shots bar Boracay
The drunk English-guy from earlier had asked me to join him as he attempted to take this shooters challenge. As amusing as it would have been to watch, I chose not to. It would prove to be a wise decision as I learned later in the night and the following morning 🙂
Guilly's island pizza pasta restaurant Boracay
At night, I sat down for dinner at this small, cosy eatery next to Guilly’s island
Lutong Bahay sa Boracay menu
I saw this place yesterday on my walk towards the end of White beach, and I wanted to check it out for they seemed quite popular for their pizzas. (Don’t worry, the tables soon filled up)
Seafood pizza Boracay Philippines
Although the toppings were great, there was a distinct lack of salt somewhere — either in the dough, the sauce, or the seafood toppings. Can’t complain though, at ₱320 for a sizable pizza-for-one and ₱60 for San Miguel beer, this was the most filling meal I had in Boracay!

I ended the night finishing up some more work because I wouldn’t get internet until I landed and checked into my hotel at Angeles City tomorrow evening. Around midnight, back in my room, I met my Swedish roommate again. I asked him where the Brit was and he told me “by the stairs”. Unfortunately the ‘birthday Brit’ failed the shooters challenge and completely passed out after the fifth shot. He then had to be carried back by his friends, and the Swede had the tough challenge of trying to get him up the stairs to his room. Eventually they gave up on the Brit and just left him there. As funny as this story may sound, it’s this level of drunken behaviour that is often cited as one of the many disdains towards backpacker tourism. Oh well, staying at hostels has given me enough stories worth telling — both good and bad.

Next post(s) in this series:

Beachfront hotels and resorts on White Beach, Boracay

Philippines 2013: Arriving at Legazpi; going to Donsol to see whale sharks

Philippines 2013: Lignon Hill Park, Cagsawa Ruins and Mount Mayon

Philippines 2013: Aerial view of Mount Mayon; arriving at Coron

Previous posts in this series:

Philippines 2013: Boracay island tour, Puka beach and snorkelling

Philippines 2013: Flying from Manila to Boracay, White Beach

Philippines 2013: Taal Lake Volcano and Peoples Park, Tagaytay

The crap I went through to get my Philippines tourist visa this time

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3 Comments

  • Al

    30/11/2013

    I love reading your posts and i just realized its already 1AM. It has been 4 hours when i first came across your site. Just want you to know my hearfelt thanks and gratitude for visiting our country and in one way helping us to promote it to others. Cheers!

  • Maria Janisa Murcia

    05/06/2014

    Beautiful photos and funny story.:D

    Mithun Divakaran Reply:

    Thank you for your comment Maria!

Comments are closed.