If you want to find a beautiful island with a very high cost performance, you can come to Boracay.
At the end of July 2023, I traveled from Shanghai to Boracay, Philippines, for 6 days and 5 nights. I loved Boracay so much that I checked my Moments every day. Many friends asked for a guide, so I wrote one for your convenience. I wrote it according to the timeline, that is, you start planning your trip, and just do the corresponding things at the corresponding time according to the order of my guide. You don’t need to read and do it all in advance.Let’s talk about the total cost first. Many people asked: about 1,000 US dollars (including the entire trip to the Philippines, excluding shopping in duty-free shops at the airport)
Part 1. Preparation before the trip
1. Pay attention and compare prices early, the earlier the better
2. One week in advance, at least 3 days
3. 2-3 days in advance (the time for a courier)
4. 1 day before the trip
Part 2. Departure
Part 3. Boracay
Part 4. Return
1. Air tickets: Qunar.com, AirAsia, Cebu Air (I’m lazy, I booked directly from Qunar)
Two routes:
Departure—Manila—Kalibo/Malay
Departure—Kalibo/Malay
Manila is the capital of the Philippines, you can transfer here and then fly to Boracay; the two airports in Boracay are Kalibo/Malay, Malay is 8 minutes away from the island, and Kalibo is 1.5 hours away from the island.
➤Suggestion: The choice of destination is actually related to your budget, so it depends on whether you want convenience or saving money. But don’t choose too early flights to return to China from Boracay, and there should be enough time between transfers (at least more than 3 hours apart), because there are many terminals in the Philippines, and the transfer is troublesome and you may miss the flight. It’s a bit troublesome, I’ll talk about it later. PS. Philippine Airlines is not late.
2. Hotels
Pay attention to the area where the hotel is located: S2 is close to the most famous white beach White Beach, Dmall for shopping, restaurants, and bars, and is very lively; S5 is on the mountain, with many high-end hotels, but it takes 20-30 minutes to drive to the bottom of the mountain.
Some prices do not include tax, but you will need to pay 12% VAT when you pay; many hotels only accept visa or master, so you need a dual-currency credit card; after booking on the website, depending on the hotel, only part of the payment may be deducted or not deducted at all, and you will need to pay the other part at the hotel, also by credit card.
➤Suggestion: If you have a short time, stay in S2, which is convenient for everything; if you have a long time, you can stay in S2+S5, first stay in S2 to play, and then stay in S5 on the mountain to rest.
▲The exterior of Boracay West Bay Hotel, built on the mountain, with each room facing the sea
Here I recommend you the Boracay West Bay Hotel in S5. I dare not say how the rooms there are. The cliffs facing the sea on the hotel terrace are too beautiful. The rooms are built on the mountain. Each room has a balcony to watch the sea, and the sunset here is very beautiful! You must stay at least for a full day, because it is very comfortable to sit here and have breakfast. The breakfast is delicious. The hotel can do cliff jumping, swim next to the sea, and watch the sunset in the evening. The sunset at the West Bay Hotel is very famous on the island, so there are many people who don’t live here and come to pay for tickets to watch the sunset. The hotel has a shuttle bus to Dmall, 6 round trips a day. I stayed at about 90 US dollars per night.
PS. Remember to trick people into living with you. One person pays for two people, and one person obviously has two breakfast coupons but can only eat one. It’s a waste.
▲Eating breakfast on the sea terrace of Xiwan Hotel and welcoming birds
▲Sea terrace of Xiwan Hotel
▲Watching the sunset from the terrace of Xiwan Hotel
I stayed at MNL Boracay Beach Hostel at the foot of the mountain for the first three days. It takes only a few minutes to walk to Dmall and White Beach. The six-person room costs about $20 per night. But not everyone likes hostels. You can find one at random. Staying in S2 is convenient for transportation.
3. Underwater camera rental
It is very convenient to have an underwater camera at the seaside. You can dive and take pictures of fish at a depth of 15 meters. Olympus TG3 and TG4 are recommended. I rented a TG3 from Taobao for 9 days + camera peace of mind guarantee for a total of 175. (This time is calculated from the day you receive the camera to the day the camera is shipped. After you order, tell them the delivery time and they will arrange the delivery)
▲Using Olympus TG3 to take underwater photos
➤Suggestion: If you have this, you don’t need to bring a camera even if you are not a professional. Anyway, I didn’t bring one. It is very convenient. You can directly transfer via wifi. Remember to download the APP before you go. After taking the photos, transfer them to your phone immediately. The network in the Philippines is too bad and you can’t download the APP.
*Mobile phone waterproof bag: Some people also buy this to put their iPhone into the water. It is sold online or on the island. I didn’t dare to try it because I was afraid of destroying my phone. Many friends have personally tested that they can snorkel and take videos without any problems. If you want to do this, remember to buy a good quality bag. It is not suitable for deep diving.
It's actually very simple on the island, you just play and spend money. At this time, you first need to know two locations and apply for a phone card. The rest is up to you~
1. Dmall
Dmall is a small business district in Boracay, with various shops and restaurants. The main door of Dmall faces the street, with a big signboard of WELCOME, and the other side of Dmall is White Beach.
2. White Beach
It's the reason why you come here.
▲Looking back from the white beach
There are various restaurants and bars near the beach. When you walk here, many locals will greet you with a card in their hands with various photos and prices. They are all water activities. You can look at the photos and negotiate the price of which one you are interested in. Their prices are very high! No! Right! You can bargain at 20% or 30% off.
Here I recommend a friend of mine, Magno. He is always near the Mango SPA store next to the sign on the beach side of Dmall. You can ask any black person to find him. You can say my name Song, it may work~
▲Magno went out to sea on a blue sailboat to watch the sunset
Entertainment Games
1.Skin diving 300P/person 3500P/medium boat 2500P/small boat
Recommended. It's OK even if you can't swim. This is a little story. The most famous thing on the island is island hopping, which is to take a boat to Crystal Island (ticket 200P), snorkel once, fish, and have lunch. I happened to meet a friend who went on the island hopping tour and thought the meal was okay. Crystal Island was not fun. The snorkeling was very beautiful but the arrangement time was short, so I wanted to snorkel again. At that time, I hadn't snorkeled yet, so I asked Magno to rent a medium boat for 3500P (can seat about 15 people), organized 12 people, took us out to sea from Bulabog Beach to go around Boracay, went to Pucashell Beach to play, found three snorkeling spots for snorkeling, and lasted 4 hours. It was great, saw a lot of fish and the seabed, beautiful~
When negotiating the price, remember to ask if the money for diving goggles and equipment is included. Ours was agreed to include it. (You can also buy this equipment and bring it with you if you don't like using someone else's), and you need to pay 20P/person for snorkeling.
▲Snorkeling by boat
▲A picture proves the water quality of Pucashell Beach
2. Island hopping 900P/person
I haven’t tried it, but I negotiated the price. You can try it.
3. Scuba diving 1800P/person
I haven't done it, but I've discussed the price. You can try it. Actually, I'm quite a scuba diver. I can carry an oxygen tank and go into the sea to a depth of 10 meters, even if I can't swim. It sounds pretty good. You can also take the PADI OW diving license in Long Beach, but you need at least 4 days and can swim.
▲The beautiful and magical underwater world was taken by Magno using the TG3. I can’t even get to the bottom of it with my level of skill.
4.ATV 1000P/person
This is the only price I think is too expensive, I didn't know the base price. I asked a local to take me there, but I could have gone to the ticket office at the bottom of the mountain by myself, which should have been cheaper. You can drive to the top of the mountain, but if you want to overlook Boracay from the highest point, you need to pay 120P for the ticket. The view from the top of the mountain is beautiful, I suggest you find a time when it's not too sunny, so you can buy an iced coconut at the bottom and chat in the sea breeze at the highest point. I was so sunburned at that time T T
5. Sunset sailing 250P/person
Not bad, it's an experience, I've never been on this kind of sailboat before~ But you won't go far out to sea. It's over in a short time.
▲When you ride a sailboat, you don’t sit on it, you sit on it. The sailboat has horizontal bars on both sides.
6. Flying fish boat 500P/person
Super exciting! You pay to play at Bulabog Beach~ It is said that they will not stop until you throw people into the sea. Compared with the banana boat, it is said that it is too safe and boring.
7. Cliff jumping 150P/person
You can go there while island hopping by boat. They build a platform for everyone to jump, unlimited times. There are several different heights from 3 meters to 15 meters. However, if you stay at the West Bay Hotel, there is a diving platform, 7-9 meters high. I didn't jump, I was alone and timid. I finally mustered up the courage to jump. The water was shallow that day, and the hotel staff said it was unsafe. I will try it next time. You don't have to know how to swim, wear a life jacket, and someone will rescue you.
8. Color tattoo TATOO 125P onwards
There are many people painting on the white beach~ It looks very beautiful. The price varies according to the difficulty, and it will drop in about 2 weeks~ Mine is 350P. Dream Cather. You can wash it one hour after painting and then go to bed. It won't fade on the hotel sheets, otherwise you will have to pay for it.
9. Dreadlocks 130P and up
My 130P, I like it so much~ I feel so cool after braiding my hair, I can become a big sister now.
All you can eat
They are everywhere on the island, and you must order them at every meal. I only drink mango and avocado ones. The most famous one on the island is JOHNNY'S FRUIT SHAKE. I don't know which one it is. I passed by one when I was riding a tutu up the mountain. It was terrible. A friend recommended me to walk all the way to S1 on White Beach. There is a John's restaurant. Their fruit shake is great! And I like this kind of bottle with a tube, it feels very quaint.
1.smoke
Recommendation: Beef bone soup
Address: Dmall
It is recommended by many people~ It is a small shop, and you have to queue. It is said to be the best beef bone soup on the island. I went to eat alone, and there was too much to eat, so I only had curry rice, which was quite delicious. Mango shake is great!
2.BBQ
Recommendation: Meat
Address: Dmall
I don’t remember what BBQ is called. . The photos are lost and the memory is lost. The meat is delicious.
I don’t remember the others (crying), in fact, there are quite a lot of food on the island, all of which are good. If you see a snack you like, try it. The restaurant depends on the popularity. Usually the ones with many people are good. The price is quite affordable, and the meat is cost-effective.
➤Most recommended: Go to Dtalipapa (seafood market) to bargain for some large seafood, and find a store to cook it for you. You can eat very well and it is very cost-effective. Don’t go to the Fujianese in Long Beach. It is said that they are too famous and will cheat Chinese people.
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