Category: <span>Philippines</span>

Date: 21st May 2013

I was up and ready early for today’s island tour. I had booked my tour for ₱700 (Rs. 1000/$16/€) and included in the price was a snorkel mask. The tour itinerary listed stops at Boracay’s Puka beach, a few coral reefs for snorkeling, the private Crystal Cove island and lunch at another beach on Boracay island. I was excited, because this time, I had an underwater camera with me. Nothing fancy, just a simple AGFAPhoto camera on loan from my friend Janet.

White Beach beautiful sunny day Boracay — It looked perfectly sunny today morning

Allan B fun tour company Boracay — I booked my tour here (only read about their cartel-like operation in Boracay much later)

Diving gear oxygen tanks Boracay — Scuba diving gear. One day I will try scuba diving and get myself PADI certified.

Inside tricycle taxi Boracay — I was then picked up by a staff, taken by a tricycle taxi to station 3

Boracay lane to beach Philippines — We walked back to the beach

Boracay tour group Philippines — This was my tour group

Boat tour Boracay Philippines — The boat was full

Leaving White Beach Boracay — Time to leave. Alright boys, jump!

Grey skies Boracay Philippines — Not too long after we set off, dark grey skies appeared in our direction. Dammit!

Coral garden beach Boracay Philippines — None the less, a short ride later, we were at some coral garden not too far off the east end of White beach

Boracay snorkeling tour Philippines — Time to go snorkeling… with an underwater camera 🙂

Coral garden underwater Boracay — The photos from the AGFAphoto camera produced a heavy green-ish hue. Instead the waters were very blue.

Scissortail sergeant fish snorkeling Boracay Philippines — I adjusted the colours on these photos as much as possible to bring out the blues

Snorkeling in Boracay fishes Philippines — Lots of fish! Even if the fish were mostly Scissortail Sergeants

Boracay coral fishes snorkeling Philippines — I followed the steps mentioned here to bring out the colours of the fish more accurately

School of fish snorkeling Boracay Philippines — Although it wasn’t the brightest and sunniest of skies above water, I was still happy to capture all this on camera

Mithun snorkeling in Boracay Philippines — Underwater selfie!

Here’s a brief video I took underwater:

I went back on board the boat once it was time to leave.

Ice cream vendor in sea Philippines — Want ice cream at sea? They’ll come to you 🙂

Crystal Cove island Philippines — Next stop on the tour was the private Crystal Cove island

Boat Crystal Cove island beach Philippines — It was here we were told there is an entry fee of ₱200 if we wish to enter the resort and check out the two coves

Beach Crystal Cove island Boracay Philippines — I didn’t want to laze around on the beach, so I paid the ₱200 and went in

Crystal Cove island steps Boracay Philippines — I went to find Cove 1 first

Crystal Cove island huts Boracay Philippines — Crystal Cove island may look like a resort, but they don’t have rooms to stay in. They offer camping though.

Steps to Cove 1 Crystal Cove island — This is the entrance to Cove 1

Crystal Cove 1 Boracay Philippines — A cove is nothing but a small cave-like entry to an island

Cove island Boracay Philippines — I decided to pack up my Canon 7D and take the underwater camera back out

Mithun snorkeling Boracay Philippines — You have minders/staff at the cove who will help you take photos and watch over your stuff while you go swim

Cove island sea water Boracay — Looks calm, but we were told not to swim too far

Half in water photo Boracay — Time to go in

School of fish Cove island Boracay — Immediately saw this school of fish

Here’s a brief video I took:

Underwater clear water Boracay Philippines — Although it was very clear under water, not a whole lot of corals or fish

Parrotfish underwater Boracay Philippines — Parrotfish

Underwater Boracay bottom of Sulu sea — You can tell it was getting sunnier

Crystal Cove island pathway Boracay — I left cove 1 and came back up

Caged bird Crystal Cove island Boracay — They had a few caged birds on display

Eagle Crystal Cove island Boracay — Not sure how I feel about this

Crystal Cove island Boracay Philippines — It seems they have two islands

Signs Cove 2 Crystal island Boracay — I went left

Treehouse Crystal Cove island Boracay — Our guide was resting here on this tree house

Cove island view sea Boracay — Nice waters

Steps to Cove 2 Crystal island Boracay — This is how to get to Cove 2

Entry to Cove 2 Crystal island Boracay — First you go down

Tunnel to Cove 2 crystal island Boracay — Then you go through this tiny tunnel

Cove 2 crystal island Boracay — And then you get to Cove 2

Mithun Divakaran Cove 2 crystal island Boracay — I didn’t feel like getting in the water because it didn’t appear as though I would experience anything different. So the minder here just took this one photo and I left. (Kinda looks like I’m floating, doesn’t it?)

Each stop on this tour lasts around 45 minutes.

Boy in water Boracay Philippines — When we landed back on shore at another beach on the main Boracay island for lunch, this boy came along for the ride until we docked. I envy their swimming abilities :-/

Private beach Boracay Philippines — This was Tambisaan beach

Beach restaurant Boracay Philippines — It was time for lunch

Beach buffet Boracay Philippines — It was your usual buffet lunch included in the price of the tour. Also included were free beer and soft drinks — although it was clear by what was on display they rather have you drink the (cheaper) soft drinks more.

Filipino rice meat meal — I ate light, as I intended to swim again

Boys on boat Boracay Philippines — These boys jumped aboard the bamboo poles to ask for money when we left. I didn’t want to join the few who threw coins and see these kids dive down to collect them. Kinda sad.

Bat cave Boracay Philippines — Our guide told us this was a bat cave

Bats in trees Boracay — Bats were aplenty up in the trees (yes, I know the quality is shit; took this using the underwater camera)

Private beach turqoise water Boracay — Our next stop was Puka beach

Puka beach tourists Boracay Philippines — Puka beach is on the western side of Boracay island

Puka beach shells Boracay Philippines — Most people from our group just sat under a shade as it got pretty hot

Puka beach hill Boracay Philippines — Puka beach is pretty big, and yet, not crowded at all

Puka beach clear water Boracay — The water looked amazing

Clear water wave Puka beach Boracay — I just had to get in

Mithun underwater Puka beach Boracay — But I couldn’t resist taking the underwater camera with me because I was having too much fun with it 😛

Puka beach in water Boracay — Puka beach is one of the best swimming beaches I’ve been to. The water was warm, clear, relatively calm and for a good 200-300 metres from shore, not too deep.

Puka beach Boracay Philippines — Definitely one of the best beaches I’ve been to

Puka beach boat Boracay Philippines — I didn’t find many hotels or resorts on Puka beach

Puka beach sea Boracay Philippines — Maybe that’s why Puka beach appears as beautiful as it does

Puka beach was the last stop on this short tour. At ₱700+₱200, this was priced quite high compared to past island tours I have taken before.

Tourists between rocks Boracay Philippines — Our boat left Puka, and went around the island back to White beach

Shangri La Resort Spa Boracay Philippines — This is the impressive Shangri La Resort & Spa

Shangri La Resort hotel Boracay Philippines — Obviously very expensive

White resort Boracay — I forgot which resort this was

Banana boat ride Boracay Philippines — White beach is where you have several water-based activities on offer

Parasailing Boracay Philippines — On the opposite side of White beach is Bulabog beach, popular for wind-surfing and para-sailing. I planned to do all that tomorrow.

Sailing boats Boracay Philippines — Our tour officially came to an end

Sail boats white Beach Boracay — The boat dropped us at station 3 (Taken using the underwater camera)

Given I had to walk back, I chose to take photos of all the beachfront properties beginning from where I was standing, all the way up to the very end of station 1 and White beach. I’ll make a separate post for it as I feel it would be helpful for those seeking hotels right on the beach. (Because a lot of hotels claim online to be ‘very close’ to the beach or right on it — but aren’t)

After I took a quick shower and dumped my camera bag at the hostel, I went back to White Beach to resume my walk until I reached the end of the beach.

Evening White beach Boracay Philippines — I resumed making a note of all the beachfront properties on White Beach as I headed north

Willy's Rock White beach Boracay Philippines — That’s Willy’s Rock

Dogs white beach Boracay Philippines — No, this dog wasn’t going to pounce on the other

End of White beach cliff Boracay — I reached the end of White beach

Steps walk way Boracay Philippines — There’s a narrow path to get to those steps

Russian girls posing Boracay Philippines — I used to think Filipinos love their corny poses, but they got nothing on some East European women and their ‘Diva’ poses! 🙂

Sea side walkway Boracay — It was a fairly long walkway, and I wondered what was on the other side

Tunnel Boracay rock — What’s this hole in the cliff?

Diniwid beach Boracay evening — Oh look, a mini-beach

Diniwid beach Boracay Philippines — This is Diniwid beach

Mary statue Boracay tunnel — This is what was inside the small cave/tunnel

Boat Boracay sunset Philippines — It was time to go back

Amputee Boracay evening Philippines — :-/

White beach after sunset — White beach getting ready for nightfall

It was getting dark, and I was getting hungry. I already had an eatery in mind back on station 1, but I passed by Boracay Terraces and one of their staff kept insisting I sit down for their happy hours. the restaurant wasn’t too crowded, but I was tired from the walk and was feeling thirsty.

I ordered some food as I figured I might as well have an early dinner. The service was not the greatest, but when the food came… ugh. It was terrible! The battered shrimps were obviously the frozen farmed prawns and tasted so artificial. And their chicken burger… I don’t know what the patty was made of! It was just bad!

Red Horse beer burger prawns Boracay — The food sucked! The Red Horse beers, they didn’t make, so that was the only thing I enjoyed. To think I wasted ₱530 here!

I gave them my feedback and just left the place. I was upset over wasting money on a totally unsatisfactory meal, but alas, what’s done was done. Never again.

White beach at night — Completely dark, but they have lamp posts on the beach

Boracay beach light at night — Some people were still going in to the water. Not the best idea.

Boracay White beach at night — White beach was lighting up

Boracay sand art at night — These types of sand art are done by local boys who charge money for photographs if you wish to pose next to it

Next post(s) in this series:

Philippines 2013: Bulabog beach, Mount Luho viewpoint and sunset at White Beach

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: 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

Date: 20th May 2013

Although I told myself I would avoid as many early wake-ups as possible on this Philippines trip, I knew there would be certain days I would have no choice but to wake up at dawn. Today was one such day. Janet and I had to leave together at 6am. I had to be at NAIA Terminal 2 for my 11:45am PAL Express flight to Boracay, and Janet had to be in office by 7:30am.

Once we reached Manila, Janet and I took the MRT to Pasay.

Wow.

The morning rush. I barely had any space to stand, and was squeezed in an awkward position for much of the journey. I was sweating and just hoping Pasay would reach soon. When we did, I got out and stretched for a while to ease my aching back. Then I thanked Janet for hosting me and we said our goodbyes. She took a jeepney to office and I took a jeepney going to the airport.