Mar 1 -Today we made it to what many would call the highlight of their Philippines trip. I’ll start with the good points about Boracay and then mention some of the issues I have with this place, from my perspective growing up in some of the world-famous coastal resorts of the USA.
From the moment you head out for Boracay from your connecting airport (in our case it was Mactan, ie Cebu), the process of getting here feels like an adventure. A 19-seater turboprop of a different variety than the typical Beechcraft one finds in America deposits you on a landing strip across the strait from here. (It really is a landing strip! Your pilot takes a U-turn on the same runway on which you landed toward a “terminal” where some guy grabs your luggage claim tags, has you sign something, leads you out of the terminal and disappears for 5 minutes during which you’re wondering whether you will ever see the luggage again now that you’ve signed everything away…) More on that process later.
About 90 minutes later you’re at the one hotel you’ve been able to book because all the others were full. (Later you conclude that it’s a mile and a half from everything and further from the actual waterfront than anything else.) This place is big! We took a walk from our end where the hotel is along the white-sand beach. It’s one of those beaches dominated by palm trees. Closest thing to it I can remember–and I’ve seen a lot of beaches–is Luquillo on Puerto Rico. What makes it different from everywhere else is how the “boardwalk” is actually just a stretch of sand about 10 meters wide between the palm trees and the storefronts. We got here in the afternoon, so because the beach faces west, the trees provide shade for the long walk.
Most beachfront resort areas are 3km long, give or take; usually a little less. This one is a full 3 miles long, a fact I didn’t realize until I looked at a map in the early evening. All except the northernmost half-mile are lined cheek-by-jowl with storefronts: restaurants, resorts, dive centers, and other shops. A handful of vacant lots are being developed into bigger things than whatever was there previously. Further to the north, some big multi-story resorts are under construction (two cranes are visible) but most all the existing facilities are 3 stories high or less.
There are no motorized vehicles along the waterfront, and all the commerce is lined up along the waterfront save one section called the D-mall which forms a large block running out to a road 200 meters or so over from the “board”-walk area.
Highlights of our day included a terrific sailboat ride–piloted by two really cute/friendly 25-year-old locals–all the way around the 6-mile long island, culminating in an absolutely stunning, clear sunset. After the 3-mile walk back to our hotel (no, the sailors couldn’t drop us off at our end of the beach, alas), we showered and had a fabulous grilled buffet dinner right out on the sandy beach. Looked for a masseur (a couple of touts had reached out to us earlier) but only found masseuses. Had a drink at the bar outside Nigi-Nigi Noos Noos, as suggested by our friends Ramon & Ed. Now we’re here at the Internet cafe not so far from our room. (Well, probably a kilometer from our room, but who’s counting? ;-))
Some recommendations for future Boracay visitors:
- Make sure you have a full 1000 pesos’ worth of small change before getting onto the plane here – 20 and 50 peso notes – because you’ll get hit up about 10 times just getting here (taxes, ferries, drivers, porters). All these compliance requests became an irritant to me because I didn’t realize this ahead of time and it really differs from other Philippine destinations. A wad of 500-peso notes doesn’t cut it.
- Look at the map and site your lodging accordingly. If you want a boat, seek a place in the center or at the opposite end of where we are. (Boats are to the north.)
- There are only a handful of ATMs. And only the BPI branch is connected to Plus/Cirrus networks. Grab cash before coming here.
Now some of my comments…
The environmentalist in me is appalled by the development here. Sure, it’s quaint having restaurant tables and live entertainment out on the beach. But there is an actual sewage outflow installed right on the beach, vendors dump leftover whatever (I saw a guy pouring dregs from a tray of seafood onto the sand), and customers are surely not going to take much interest in where their trash and crumbs go. You could see litter on the beach and in the sea. Over time, this will despoil the environment. I’m glad the beach can be traversed by the public–it doesn’t have fences blocking walking access the way many places, like Key West, have gotten to be. But there is a lack of respect for the environment on which everything–including all the commerce here–depends.
The strip is less than one block wide, and is very long. By failing to construct public rights of way leading inland, the development sprawled too far along the waterfront.
I’m a gay guy and am most comfortable around others like me. I have found “my own kind” everywhere else I’ve wandered here in the Philippines, usually within a matter of minutes. Here, despite recommendations from at least one well-traveled couple we know, I’ve found only a sea of straight people. Unless I’ve missed something, I would not recommend this place to other gay travelers given the plethora of other places one could go — if you care about such things. I do.
Tomorrow we return to Manila. I’ve kept in touch with a couple of people there so I can start making plans for the 2-week trip extension; we plan on a Saturday dinner at the Mall of Asia with some of Luis’ high-school friends.