The Philippines: Manila to Boracay

mollyben98
Apr 2, 2018
6 min read

The Philippines started off a bit patchy for us. Firstly, we had absolutely no leg room on the flight, then Molly's bag was broken in to during baggage handling (luckily nothing was stolen or planted in her bag) and then we got ripped off by a taxi driver to get to the domestic terminal - we hadn't realised he'd not reset his meter, so got horribly overcharged (still only about £4). Once we got inside the domestic terminal it was absolutely freezing! Molly managed to wrap herself up in a coat and blanket she had in her bag (thanks Maddie & Oliver) and gave me her fleece. After an hour or so in the terminal we boarded the prop plane at around 5.30am and set off for Coron. We both fell asleep on the flight but caught a glimpse of the views which were incredible, then shared a mini van to Apo Pension House for P150 pp. We dropped our bags off and wandered around the town before booking the Ultimate Coron Island Tour (P1300 pp) for the next day, then headed back to the hostel for a nap as we hadn’t slept all night. Once revitalised we walked up to Mt. Tapyas for some of the best views across Coron, then took a trike to Maquinit Hot Springs (P400 return) and sat in 40 degree salt baths for about an hour - roasting! We met a nice couple who gave us loads of tips for the Philippines, then headed back for a shower before dinner at a local spot we were recommended called Lolo Nonoys - a total of P580 for 15 spring rolls (starter), a pitcher of ice tea and two mains.

The next day we opted for a quick breakfast at the hostel before we were picked up for the Ocean Pearl Travel & Tours Coron Island Ultimate Tour which included Siete Pecados, Kayangan Lake, Malwawey Reef, Atwayan beach – where we stopped for an amazing feast for lunch! - Skeleton Wreck, CYC beach and the twin lagoons. It was a great day and one we would recommend doing whilst in Coron.

We woke up late on our third day in Coron, so wandered to La Morena Cafe in town for brunch (a bit pricey but good food), then rented a scooter from the hostel (P500) and drove to Cabo beach - not a great beach but nice enough to read our books and relax. We had a bit of a shock when we got back to the bike and realised we had a completely flat rear tyre. There were a few locals about who checked it out and assured me it would be ok to drive back – it was not! The tyre was warping off of the wheel and would have destroyed the wheel itself on the off road terrain back to the town. We decided to leave the bike at the beach and jumped in a trike with a couple of girls who were leaving too. Thinking we were going to get charged a fortune when we got back to the hostel with just helmet and key in hand, we were amazed that we weren’t charged a peso and the owner just said he’d go and pick it up! A brilliant service. After that mild trauma we went back to Lolo Nonoys (we ate there every night) for yet another cheap and tasty meal. We had breakfast at the hostel again the next morning before our 9.30 airport pick up (P150 pp) for the flight to Boracay. We flew with a company called Air Juan (£70 pp) which was one of the most amazing experiences of our travels so far – we would highly recommend this if you've got the time and funds to do so. We boarded a 9-seater plane and were in flight for about 45 minutes looking out at the most incredible views of the islands – words and images cannot do it justice.

We landed in Caticlan Airport and were prompted to pay for the transfer to the pier where you board a boat to Boracay island, however DO NOT do this - it’s a rip off at P675 pp! We went outside and got a trike to the ferry port (P100) then paid the mandatory 100 terminal fee, 75 environmental fee and 25 pump boat fee pp (totalling P250 pp). This also turned out to be much quicker than the airport transfer. When we got to Boracay we then paid P150 for a trike from the port to our hostel. Once we'd settled in at the hostel it was time to explore and grab some food. We headed toward the beach for a bite to eat and found an amazing burger place called Steampunk in the D Mall.

After a few hours relaxing on White beach we headed back to the hostel, showered, changed and headed back out for dinner. We walked back down to the beach to find somewhere to eat when we came across a black out - hundreds of people had gathered on the beach with their flashlights/mobile phone lights in the air. It turned out it was a planned demonstration to save Boracay from closure. The President of the Philippines has been threatening to close the island for one year in order to clean it up and work out a solution for the sewage distribution. Whilst we were there the decision was passed and Boracay is due to close on 26th April 2018.

After the protest, we decided to look on Trip Advisor for somewhere to eat and came across a place called Smoke Resto that had great reviews and was a 'cheap eats' - perfect for us on our backpacker budget. What an interesting experience it was! We headed to the supposed location and were welcomed with a building site - turns out they're renovating the restaurant and had moved to a temporary location. They offered us a free shuttle to a temporary location, which seemed a bit sketchy, but we were so pleasantly surprised - the food was amazing and incredibly fast! Within 25 minutes we’d eaten, paid and were back in the free trike ride home - all for just over £7. Puka beach was our destination the next day, a bit quieter than White beach but nowhere near as nice. After a few hours on Puka beach, we decided we preferred White beach so got a trike back and spent the rest of the afternoon on sun loungers at a bar/restaurant called Kasbah's (they have a happy hour 11am - 7pm which we happily took advantage of!). For dinner that evening we chose a restaurant called Cha Cha's which was okay but quite expensive for what we ate (two mains, a beer and a cocktail for £18). On the walk back to the hostel we stumbled across the Sea Breeze dancing chefs who were absolutely brilliant!

For the second day in a row we had breakfast at a place called Juice Station where they serve delicious smoothie bowls (definitely recommend). We then walked all the way along White beach to the port to enquire about a boat to Romblon - no luck, we were told to get back to Caticlan port early doors and enquire there. We decided to get a trike back to the beach after that, as it took us about 45 minutes and 5L of sweat to walk there! We spent the rest of the day back at Kasbah's where we were invited to join a group of locals lads for a beer on the beach. They also very kindly gave us a couple of slices of their seafood pizza, which was banging! We had a really interesting chat about the possible closure of Boracay and the differences between Eastern and Western traditions. Surprisingly they were in favour of the closure. We wondered along the beach in the evening and had a tasty dinner at Bombom then watched probably the best fire show we’ve seen since since we started travelling at Red Coconut on the beach front.