Boracay is a small island located in Malay, Aklan. It is off the northwest corner of Panay Island, approximately 7 kilometers long, dog-bone shaped with the narrowest spot being less than one kilometer wide, and has a total land area of 10.32 kilometers. It is famous for being of one of the world’s top destination for relaxation. In 2012, it was awarded as the best island in the world from the international travel magazine Travel+Leisure (Wikipedia.org).
We got our plane tickets last September 20, 2012 at a price of 4,496php for 2 persons, including tax and everything. Not bad for a round trip, the catch is that we have to travel all the way to Clark since our airline was Air Asia. Our trip was for April 6-9, 2013. There are different ways to get to Clark, just google it and there you go. We opted to do the faster, cheaper way. We met up at Pedro Gil at around 10am, ate mcdo for breakfast and then boarded the LRT going to Balintawak station. From there we waited for an aircon bus going to Dau terminal which costs 140php/person. We arrived at Dau terminal at around 11:30am, had Jollibee take out for lunch then we boarded the jeep/shuttle/bus located at the back of the terminal going straight to DMIA airport which costs 100php/person. We arrived at the airport at around 12:20pm, checked in and ate our lunch. Note to first timers at Clark airport, the place for the departure for domestic flights is located at the building beside the one you checked into. Do not be confused haha, we went straight to the international part which was wrong. The terminal fee by the way was 150php, and they are strict with liquids in bags. Anyway, the flight to Kalibo was uneventful, kudos to Air Asia for arriving ahead of time and for giving us a very smooth trip!
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At Kalibo Airport, there are a lot of available transportations going to Caticlan. We chose the van + boat package which costs 50php/person. The travel to Caticlan was loooong! Upon arrival at Jetty Port in Caticlan, we paid for the environmental fee (75php) and terminal fee (100php). The travel to Boracay took about 20-30mins. At the port in Bora, we took a tricyle to station 2 which costs 40php. If you rent the trike for private use, it would cost 100php so tell the driver that you want an "individual" ride. There are also some shuttle service but I think it’s more expensive.
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Our accomodation at Station 2 is Tans Guesthouse. We got the room at 1500 per night, so for 3 nights we got it at a total of 4500php. The room includes 1 double bed, tv with cable, toiletries. We had a minor problem with the remote of the tv but the staff were really accommodating, they even exchanged the whole tv for a working remote. Great job guys!
After that, we went out to experience the much talked about nightlife of Bora. We had dinner at Smoke Resto located at the back of station 2. I ordered pan-grilled chicken and my friend ordered pan-grilled beefsteak. It was OK, nothing special but because we were really tired and really hungry, the food was a welcome heavenly treat. After that, we explored D'mall, which turned out to be various stores side by side. I really thought it was literally an enclosed mall so my friend and I were looking for a huge building, so imagine our surprise haha.
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We furthered explored Bora and found ourselves suddenly near station 1. Luckily, we saw the famous Bora sand castle and took some pictures. You just have to give a tip to the kids who made them, we gave them 15php. We also tried the Halowich store located at station 2 inside D'mall. We tried the Coffee Ice which costs 140php. It’s basically the Japanese version of halo-halo. It has various fruits mixed with flavored crushed ice, ice cream, and lastly cherry on top. It was OK, i really don’t like beans so I was separating it so I didn’t really get to enjoy it. After that we called it a day.
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Summary of Expenses for Day 1
Mcdo Breakfast – 107php
LRT ride - 20php/person
Bus - 140php/person
Jollibee Lunch -79php/person
Shuttle to DMIA - 100php/person
Terminal Fee - 150php/person
Water at airport - 40php
Van+Ferry Package - 250php/person
Environmental Fee at Jetty Port - 75php/person
Terminal Fee at Jetty Port - 100php/person
Trike to Stations - 20php/person
Pan-Grilled Chicken - 140php
Coke - 50php
Pan-Grilled Beefsteak - 140php
Total Groceries - 351php
Tip for Sandcastle Makers - 15php
Coffee Ice - 140php
1L Water - 65php
TOTAL for Day 1: 2,916php for 2 persons
Summary Of Itinerary for Day 1:
10:00 am – Meet-up at Pedro Gil, Breakfast, Travel to Dau
11:30 am – Arrival at Dau Terminal
12:00 pm – Boarded shuttle going to DMIA
12:20 pm – Checked-in at DMIA, ate take out lunch
2:15 pm – Boarded flight going to Kalibo
3:20 pm – Arrived at Kalibo Airport, Travel to Caticlan
5:20 pm – Arrived at Jetty Port in Caticlan, ferry to Boracay
6:00 pm – Arrived at Boracay
7:00 pm onwards – Dinner, stroll, explore
Contact Persons:
Tans Guesthouse
Contact Person: Net Sacapano
Mobile Nos: 09177234570, 09209202481
Email address: tgh_bora@yahoo.com
Read more:
Day 2 in Boracay
Day 3 in Boracay
Day 4 in Boracay
Summary of our Boracay Trip
Where is Tans Guesthouse located? Is it located beachfront or you have to walk a few steps to get to the beach? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience! We will stay at the Tans too this April! Can't wait to hit the beach and the island for the first time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading our blog! :) Enjoy Bora!
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