Wanderful Experiences: Sidetrip to Boracay on a business trip

The famous white sand of Boracay

Whenever there’s a possibility for me to combine work and travel I would definitely pinch in my desire to travel, especially if my assignment would be out of town. There was this instance, that I was able to have a glimpse of Boracay and indulge in its pristine clear waters when I had a project in Culasi, Antique which is nearby Caticlan, where the Boracay Island is located.

How I managed to book a resort in Boracay a night before

It was on a Thursday afternoon when my sister and I departed Manila International Airport at 5:00 pm and arrived Kalibo, Aklan airport around 6:00 p.m. After taking our luggage we took a tricycle outside and headed to our Lodge in the town proper of Kalibo and it took us 15 minutes from the airport to arrive in our destination where we will stay for a night. Our original plan was to go to Culasi the following day to start our work there but due to some unavoidable circumstances the schedule has to be moved on the day after the next day, which in turn paved the way for our chance to visit Boracay. Since we don’t have any reservations there I immediately searched on internet to find an affordable hotel, good thing our lodge has free wireless connection and I was able to find one and booked right there and then, and we had our voucher printed at the lodge’s computer shop.

Travel from Kalibo to Boracay

We left Kalibo at around 11:00 in the morning. We took a public passenger van right outside our lodge. There is also a bus going to Caticlan which is another option but we have to go to their terminal located 2 blocks away that is why we opted to take the van instead. It was almost two hours travel from Kalibo to Caticlan port. At the Caticlan port there were three windows where I paid fees, for the boat transfer priced at at Php25.00 per person, environmental fee PHP 75.00 each and terminal fee at Php100.00 each. We proceeded to our boat and waited for about 10 minutes for it to get occupied by passengers before it sailed for no longer than 10 minutes to Cagban Jetty port, Boracay, Island. The cheapest transportation going to our booked resort, Luna Rossa, is tricycle which we chose for Php20.00 per head that can accommodate 5 to 6 passengers.

How we spent our stay in Boracay

Sunbathing and swimming in the beach

Our resort is a beachfront hotel we were able to view immediately the pristine clear water of the beach and we were immediately enticed to have a swim after checking into our room and rested for a few minutes. Those ladies in the picture are not us, ha! ha! I just wish my body would be back in a slim figure like one of those, I could only show you my face here.

Dinner at Villa de Oro restaurant

We had no particular restaurant on where to have our dinner, we just walked around first to see what each restaurant has to offer, because we were looking for affordable meal that would satisfy our stomach and our palates until we've came across this restaurant, what really enticed us to get inside their restaurant is the inviting aroma of the food that the cook is grilling in front of their entrance door, we ordered there and the waiter brought to us our food after 20 minutes. We ordered grilled tuna and beef and it passed our taste indeed.

Watched fire dancers, spectacular show

After our satisfying dinner we strolled some more because the evening is still young and when you are in Boracay you are in a sleepless spot. Why? Because during daytime you can splurge in different water activities and at night time till morning, bars and pubs will entertain you with different shows, from sing-along Videoke bars, music band, and the fire dancers of Boracay that fascinated me with their fantastic dance groove while spinning on air the fire they were throwing in different directions without ever hitting themselves specially their customers that are overwhelmed with their every move.

Relaxing massage

We ended our night with a relaxing massage from a lady who offered her massage service for Php250.00 per hour, which is already cheap compared to going to a spa in Boracay that would cost you at a start up price of Php400.00. Php250 to Php300 is normally the cost of the massage service, you won't have difficulty finding one because most of masseuse is there along the beach line, so you can have a relaxing massage beside the beach. I preferred the room service massage because I usually doze off after a good and soothing massage which happened because I woke up at 2:00 in the morning, then I realized that my massage session already ended and the lady was gone.