Boats, Buffet, and Beaches: Boracay Island Tour

The sun rose on the second day of our Boracay getaway. After a good night's rest and an adequate breakfast from our hotel, we donned our rash guards and aqua shoes and headed out to the beach to meet up with Christian, the boatman from yesterday. The weather was perfect with the sun shining brightly above are heads and from the looks for it, the sea was as calm as it was yesterday. Upon Christian's instruction, we headed off to the area around Station 1 to meet up with his wife who was supposed to arrange the booking for the boat tour. Other tourists were also flocking into the beach, eager to start their journey for that morning.

Boracay Island Tour and Activities

The island tours are one of the staple activities to do in Boracay. While most of the activities in the island are concentrated in the beaches of Stations 1 to 3, the island has no shortage of boats that will take you to other spots in and out of the island. In addition to the standard island tour packages, there are also a lot more activities that you can do during your stay including kayaking, stand-up paddling, parasailing, and helmet diving. Some establishments offer scuba diving for those seeking underwater paradise that mere snorkeling cannot satiate. Sunset cruises also give tourists an opportunity to spend the golden hour onwards in the middle of the sea.

We waited for several minutes before we were guided into the floating dock as the boat that would take us through the morning's tour arrived. The boat was large enough to accommodate at least twenty-five guests.

The island tour boat

After wearing the life vests, we took to our seats as the boat began its tour.

Puka Beach

Our first destination was Puka Beach which takes its name from the puka shells that are said to be abundant on its shores. Where we landed was a long stretch of pristine white sand beach with no apparent establishments. I suppose the best thing that you can do on this destination is just soak in the view of the clean beach and dip in the clear waters while being lapped by the waves.

Puka Beach

And you might as well take a few pictures among the sand sculptures in exchange for a "donation" to the locals who set them up.

We probably stayed for close to half an hour before the boat crew started to make a call announcing the departure to the next point of interest.

Snorkeling

The boat stopped in the middle of the sea not far off from the shore as the crew began to bring out the snorkeling gears. After a short briefing, most of us started to go down on the water hoping to see some marine spectacle. I'm not a particularly good swimmer and with the snorkeling gear provided to us, which is just a pair of googles sans the breathing tube, taking longer views under the water was difficult.

While my mother and brother opted to not go underwater, my father was game to take a peek at the fishes.

Those who decided to stay on the boat had the option to buy coconuts from an ambulant, or rather boating, vendor.

You can still enjoy a sip of coconut juice in the middle of the sea

I've held my hopes up of a spectacular marine view and just as I expected, there are better snorkeling destinations elsewhere in the country. Still, there are quite many fish though not as diverse as the one we have seen in Bohol. Our guide managed to attract the fishes' attention with some food, making them closer to those who are just floating close to the boat.

It's not a deep reef, but it's not shallow either so it's not as colorful as other reefs. Nevertheless, I was probably on the water for close to thirty minutes. I was even able to lend the camera to the guide for a better shot of the reefs close to the floor.

Buffet Lunch

As the hot summer noon approached, our boat headed over to the tip of Panay Island for the long awaited lunch. Jacob's Picnic Place is just about five minutes ride from the snorkeling location. There, we were treated to a buffet of pork and chicken barbecue, fish and scallops, vegetables, and fruits and juices. I tried to take advantage of as much scallops as I can that afternoon.

But as the clock struck twelve, the queue to the buffet table grew long. Sadly, my second round of meal was abruptly interrupted as the boat crew signaled that it was about to leave for Crystal Cove. I gobbled up the remaining food on my plate anyway.

Crystal Cove

Crystal Cove is technically a private island resort. While you can pay the necessary entrance fee to explore the interior of the resort and visit its caves, you can also opt to just stay on the beach and spend the rest of the trip dilly-dallying on the sands and the waters. We decided to just stay on the beach. My father loves to spend time in the waters anyway.

Cooling ourselves off at Crystal Cove

Meanwhile, I entertained myself to a sorry excuse of a sand castle.

Pictured: Off-brand Winterfell

Paraw Sailing

It was around three in the afternoon when we landed back to Station 1. While my parent decided to head back to our hotel, my brother and I chose to do some leisurely stroll along the beach. I've decided to check out some ref magnets at D'Mall for souvenirs.

As the tide started to recede, we've planned to walk to the famous grotto but as we went along, we cannot help but notice the large sails of the paraws lined up on shallow waters. A paraw is a boat with double outriggers (katig) and is propelled by a large triangular sail.

Paraws at Boracay

The idea of riding these boats intrigued me and as the sun started to set, we decided there's no better time to try these boats than then. After some talks with the boat men, we were queued up waiting for returning boats to free up their previous passengers. We waited for quite a time that we thought the sun would have already set by the time we start our sailing.

Thankfully, we were able to catch a boat on time. It was a different experience riding a paraw as a passenger. We were made to sit on the nets along the outrigger while a crew of three skillfully maneuvered the boat towards the sunset.

Sunset watching from a paraw

At first I thought there was a hidden engine within the boat with the speed we were going but it was amazing to see how our every move was just powered by the wind hitting the huge sail.

The whole paraw ride was like sitting on a front row seat for the main event that is the sunset.

...all the while being soaked in the water every now and then as the boat tilts on our side of the outrigger during one of its maneuvers.

The ride was definitely one of the highlights of my visit.

Dining in

As the night fell, we finally met up with our parents at the front of Boracay Uptown Hotel where we had our dinner. Our night's fare was plate of pansit, a bowl of sinigang, crispy squid, and spring rolls. Just like yesterday's dinner, we had our meal while listening to the night's performer.

Dinner at Boracay Uptown

Our parents headed back earlier while the two of us hankered for some refreshments. Luckily, a quick tour of D'Mall brought us inside Ice Flakes Boracay where we had a bowl of watermelon and matcha flavored shaved ice.

Matcha flavored shaved ice at Ice Flakes

Wrapping Up

The next morning was mostly spent buying souvenirs, mostly food stuff and T-shirts for the family back home. At the appointed time, we were fetched by travel agent at the hotel and we started our trip back home.

It was a short trip but I hoped everyone had a good time during this quick sojourn. Boracay may have lost some of it's charm over years of over tourism but the charm is still there and it continues to attract guests on its white sands and blue waters. There might be many other experiences I have yet to try so this visit may not yet be the last.