Our Trip
Chinese New Year in Boracay, Philippines:
We'd heard one of the best beaches to visit is Boracay so that seemed like a logical stop after freezing our !#!!!** off in Harbin, China. Us, along with our good friends, flew into Manila, took another small plane to Caticlan then a boat to Boracay Island.
We visited the island in January of 2009 and the weather was perfect. Boracay's famous white powdery beaches did not disappoint with lots of fun activities for a fraction of western prices. My friend Lena and I enjoyed nightly full body massages on the beach for $8.00 per hour. The kids snorkeled and parasailed, and we went island hopping and out for a sunset cruise on a catamaran. We ate fresh lobster and other seafood every night. It was a nice relaxing trip. Ironically (but not really) there were about 5 other families we knew staying at the same hotel all with children in the same school as Sean and Sophie's. We hardly saw the kids the whole week! This happens frequently on holiday trips as all the expats seem to travel the same circles. Personally, I'd go back but would like to stay at a quieter part beach that is not so touristy.
Fun Facts & Tips
The island itself is only 7 km long and 1 km wide at it’s most narrow part.
The seafood on the island was outstanding although the service was pretty poor in most places we ate. The kid’s often didn’t get their food until the adults were done eating!
There are plenty of restaurants and shopping right on the beach which meant we never needed a car.
I’d definitely recommend taking advantage of the many excursions as the prices are very, very reasonable. We went parasailing, snorkeling, catamaran sailing at sunset and island hoping aboard our private speedboat. One more thing, make sure to bargain hard for these excersions.
Welcome to Boracay Island, Philippines
We stayed at the Boracay Regency Beach Resort, a hotel right on the beach that really had everything we needed to have a wonderful beach vacation. Our rooms were spacious and made for families so the kids had their own room and Scott and I each had our own bed! The hotel as 4 pools and our room was right outside the main wing pool which provided easy access for the kids. This pool has a good slide that the kids spent hours playing on. Since breakfast was included in the room rate we ate that at the hotel but you have to get to breakfast early as we found the food does run out fast. We found ourselves going off the property for all other meals. I’d definitely recommend this hotel for families although if you’re looking for someplace a little quieter and not so busy, I’d stay down the beach closer to Friday’s Resort.
Looking back I’d have to agree that Boracay is one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve seen. The sand was like powder and the sunsets stunning. Heaven on earth!