Boracay Wins 'Top 25 World Destinations' Award

[Palawan Aussie]

Travelers' Choice Awards, 2013

The Top 25 World Destinations

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g1

White Beach
Boracay, Visayas

Review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294260-d338331-Reviews-White_Beach-Boracay_Visayas.html

“A stunningly beautiful white powder sand beach. Crystal clear, warm water that you can laze in for days on end.”

[Gray Wolf]

It gets my vote for one of the places to see and be seen!  Just don't expect a quiet, lazy atmosphere.  But if you like beach parties, it will fill most expectations and then some!   

Rock on, Boracay!   

[meylou]

Been there, done that. This place is just too touristy for me. There's really nothing special about this place except you can brag that "I've been to Boracay." Ngek!    Plenty of women with "man hands" also (get my drift?) 

[paulgee]

On my first visit to the Philippines to see my online gf (now wife) we flew down to Boracay for a couple of nights. Nice beachfront hotel and a tad cooler than being in Luzon. An enjoyable interlude but not sure if we would return, I am sure there are more interesting but less touristy places to see. Nice beaches though ...

Glad for the Philippines tourist trade, though it needs all the help it can get - being unable to kick start any viable ways of promoting itself in the way other Asian countries there do.

Tip to the Philippines Tourist Board: If you want as many visitors from the UK to your country as Thailand gets annually (over 800,000) then why not encourage direct flights instead of imposing surcharges on airlines that now make it uneconomic to fly direct. Innit .. !

Paul

[BingColin]

I am not a great fan of Borocay either, the Philippines has a lot more to offer than just another tourist boom town. I am not too sure of the quality of the sea water with all the leaky cess pits they had in the past. I am told that there has often been a problem of bloom on the sea, not sure how true that is but it does not sound too unreasonable to me. I would prefer to do my swimming elsewhere.

[paulgee]

Thanks for that information Colin, Boracay is the only place I have swum in the sea!!

[BingColin]

Thanks for that information Colin, Boracay is the only place I have swum in the sea!!

Well you survived so it can't be that bad

[Palawan Aussie]

Yes, I guess it depends on what you're wanting. As Jack says, "it's one of the places to see and be seen! If you like beach parties, it will fill most expectations and then some!  Rock on, Boracay!" and you're right. Colin's also right that, "the Philippines has a lot more to offer than just another tourist boom town"

However, I guess that's what your normal 3 week visa-holder is looking for. A social time to rock on and brag about / exaggerate when you get home.  And why not? Though many, or most, probably won't hit the water after the first day there. Personally I now need a reef and diving gear to spend time in the water. Water-wise, isn't Boracay reefless, simply an almighty spectacular beach? Don't know, we haven't been there. Our Palawan beaches are just fine, with beautiful reefs although mostly minus the bikinis, rock and pina coladas.

Colin also writes, "I'm told that there has often been a problem of bloom on the sea, not sure how true that is.." Yes, "algae bloom may occur in the warm seas along the west coast of Boracay between December and May." Here's a local-uni engineering thesis on Borocay that paints a bit of an unfortunate future environmentally: www.academia.edu/1851332/algal_bloom_in_boracay  Hence, I guess we should visit soon.

[Gray Wolf]

Tip to the Philippines Tourist Board: If you want as many visitors from the UK to your country as Thailand gets annually (over 800,000) then why not encourage direct flights instead of imposing surcharges on airlines that now make it uneconomic to fly direct. Innit .. !

Paul

Paul,  Do you mean direct flights to Boracay?  If so, then the reason is because there's no room for an airstrip.   

[paulgee]

To clarify Jack - no direct flights from the UK to the Philippines itself, ie Manila & Cebu. There is always a stopover somewhere.

I understand that years ago direct flights were available, but the imposition of additional taxes or surcharges on airlines flying long haul to the Philippines caused European airlines to discontinue. Now all flights are via Arab countries, HK etc etc.

Probably some  old timers (Colin  )may know more about this than me.

[Gray Wolf]

To clarify Jack - no direct flights from the UK to the Philippines itself, ie Manila & Cebu. There is always a stopover somewhere.

I understand that years ago direct flights were available...

The only reason I know of for airlines to not fly direct to the Philippines is because of the length of the flights versus fuel consumption.  You can still get direct flights from some western US cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco), but only when there are tailwinds that aid in the fuel economy.  Otherwise they must stop in Hawaii, Japan, Korea or other Asian cities to load up on fuel. 

Perhaps it was because the airplanes were smaller and more fuel efficient due to less overall weight back then.  Something to ponder.   

[JoeLP]

The fiance wants to go to Boracay badly, so I will for her.  Personally, I prefer the smaller, more peaceful resorts in Northern Samar.  There's a place on San Antonio island called Haven Of Fun.  it's on the east coast, and the island is off the west coast of Norther Samar.  So the water is usually peaceful(good for you if you have kids), the costs are VERY low, white sand beaches, and you really can laze around for days on end.  A bungalow with aircon upstairs in bedroom, and a kitchen, dining, bathroom downstairs is only $50/night.  And what is cool is they went deep for their well.  As a person that will NOT touch anything but bottled water in just about any country outside the USA, I have no qualms drinking from the faucets at Haven Of Fun. 
But, I guess for her and my honeymoon, we'll be spending a few weeks in Boracay.   If it's not to my liking, i'm sure the wifey will make it to my liking in other ways.  

[Gray Wolf]

The fiance wants to go to Boracay badly, so I will for her. 

If it's not to my liking, i'm sure the wifey will make it to my liking in other ways.

Congrats, bro!  Have fun on Boracay!   

[JoeLP]

Thanks Wolf.  BTW, for those who are looking for good deals for boracay, look on ebay.  Make sure you read them thoroughly.  Sometimes there is a catch, and even with the catch, you can spend a little more and still get a great deal.  My future sis-in-law uses ebay for all her trips to Boracay. 
example of needing to read carefully.  There was s deal for a 3 night stay at a nice resort.  Buffet breakfast, "private" beach, and the rest.  Cost? 1500php.  Catch? this was for one spot in a 4 person room.  LOL  Well, seeing the sis was going with her husband, that was now 3000php.  not bad for 3 nights, but then who knows who the other two will be.  So they splurge and spend the full 6000php.  So for $150 usd they stayed in a pretty nice resort and got to enjoy a lot of the "extras" 2 times over because the 2 of them bought all 4 spots.   
That one worked out for them, other times it won't, so read carefully.

[Gray Wolf]

Yep!  Check the details!  It also helps many times if someone who speaks the language makes the reservations.  Case in point:  When Glo and I first became involved and I was making my first trip over, she told me that she wanted for us to go to Boracay for a few days.  I checked out the place online and agreed that it looked beautiful, so I told her to set it up for us.

She made the calls and set up an all-inclusive package, including round trip flight from Manila, ground transportation from Kalibo to Caticlan and boat transport to Boracay.  The package included 3 nights at Sea Wind Resort with Deluxe room and buffet breakfast.  All taxes and fees included as well. The total was $350.

Glo sent a few gifts to the reservation clerk for helping us.  When we arrived we were told that we had been "upgraded" to the Superior room!  We had the most beautiful room I've ever stayed in, with a king size bed, marble shower and bathroom and a view of the beach from the second floor of the resort.

I could have gotten a reservation, I'm sure, but I would never have gotten such a great deal if it wasn't for Gloria doing the work.  Since then I have let Glo do all our reservations so she can do the talking.  I've not been disappointed yet!