Day 2 Boracay: Willy's Rock

After our tour, it was lunch time when we got back to white beach. We ate at Gerry's Grill.

While waiting for our food.. :)

I was wearing the same swimming attire. I just top it off with a see through halter top I bought from Sun and Sand at Shopwise, Festival mall, Alabang

After a bunch of happiness it brought me because of Thirdy, my youngest nephew from ate, we then spent the rest of our afternoon in white beach to enjoy it. The sun was scorching hot. We played with the sand and occasionally swam just to bathe the sand all over our body. The water in white beach has a lot of moss. I don't know why. Don't get me wrong, the water was crystal clear though yet there were part of it that has mosses. Before we we home, we walked from station 2 going to the famous Willy's Rock to take pictures. While walking, we've been to a part of station 1 that smells like Palengke because it has a lot of moss. We got to Willy's Rock, we swam towards it then took pictures. There were kids who jump from the rock to the water. My boyfriend tried it himself. Yah right! He knows how to swim. I'm not a swimmer though. I don't even know the basic of swimming but I absolutely love beaches!

The water was a bit shallow for my niece and nephew so they asked our boys to carry them..  Hahaha! :)

 We went back to Station 2 to look for a tricycle who will bring us home. Ate, Aphol, Win and Fj went to D' mall to buy food for our dinner while me, Daryl, mama and the kids went home. We paid 100php for the tricycle then we swam on the pool. I got to bond with my nephew and niece along with my boyfriend.

From the infinity pool, there's a stair that you can use to go down this part. It's not allowed to swim here because there was no sand that you can sit by or stand to before the water, plus there were big rocks you see. The sea water I think was shallow too.. 

Ate and the rest arrived just before 6pm. We still had the opportunity to enjoy the pool again. This time we surely had a photographer as Kuya Allan, my brother in law just arrived as he needs to attend some business matters during our scheduled flight. 

We had Andoks for our dinner. So then, we ate then watched t.v. After a while, we slept again as we need to go up early for the remaining activities. 

Good Night Boracay! It's been a long day! See u at sunrise.. :)

Xoxo

-Jen :)

Day 2 Boracay : Crystal Cove

First Activity! 

First morning in Boracay. I still can't believe that I slept and now woke up in a beautiful resort. We woke up early as we have a contact person to pick us up by 8am for our island hopping. Cooked breakfast is what we have. What we ate was the usual breakfast like hotdogs, tocino etc. It feels like we didn't left home really but I would love to eat those than buying food somewhere which definitely, I know, is expensive.

Clock had set to 8am then everyone were prepared as our phone rang. It was the receptionist saying that the van was ready to bring us to D'mall. As we arrive, we went straight to white beach to rent a boat for our activities. It rained a bit yet it didn't ruin our plan. It stopped and we're set. We had our rented boat to bring us to Crystal Cove. We arrived at a beautiful island that is being maintained religiously. We took pictures of ourselves just before we enter. 

While waiting for our banca.. :)

Set Sail Kuya! Leggo! :)

Just arrived to our first destination of the day! I so love the white, fine sand! :)

Don't forget to pay the entrance fee.. :)

There was an entrance fee though. We paid 1,800php for 10 of us. We have Jarold, our tourist guide. We walked up to the highest part of the island then took pictures. It was breathtaking. I can't imagine how people of Boracay had done such things. The island was very well maintained. I wonder how they keep the island that clean though they are allowing people to eat and have picnic on some part of it. We walked again going to the first Cove. There was a stair going down. At first, I wonder if I will fit in that small hole as really, literally opening. Here's how it looked like: 

We reached a little cave which was overwhelming. The waves were strong that day and it was high tide as well. Wave by wave it strikes on the rocks and would shower us. We were so careful of our cameras especially the DSLR that ate brought. Haha. We would die if it got wet.. We took pictures then off to next Cove. 

This is the entrance for the first cave.. would you imagine you can fit in there? 

Going down the cave.. :)

From Left to right: Daryl bebe, Me, Fj, Aphol, Thirdy and Win then Ate, Gelo, Mama and Lalai

Last Photo before we went to the next cave.. :)

 While walking, we had the opportunity to take picture on top of the mountain. It was so picturesque and breath-taking. 

 This time, we are going down on the side of the mountain. It looks like the underground of the mountain. The water was cold and refreshing. There was this little opening again that we need to go through for us to see the next cove. I was so afraid to go inside maybe because i'm watching too many films that there will be an earthquake and everyone will be trapped.. Haha! something to that sort.

No, it was not the second cave. It was beneath that small hole in the middle. Can you see it? :)

This was the small hole I'm talking about. You need to crawl like that, not literally with your knees. Surely if you do that,  Pitty knees.. :)

Finally, everyone reached the other part of the cove which was so wonderful. The waves were bigger, water was still cold. We waited as there are some people who came before us that were still taking pictures. We waited for a while, then yeah! It's our turn. It was scary to go the part of the cave that has a picturesque view of the cove's opening as the rocks were so slippery due to waves. One must be careful due to high tide that if in case you fall, damn! I don't think you would still be alive. The water was shallow and rocks were so sharp. Good thing nothing happened to us. We took couple of pictures then off we go to next stop. The way out of the cave was still the small tunnel we've been through going in. We dipped into the water for a bit as it was so hot that day. We went back to our boat as we'll go to our next activity which was snorkeling.

Mawalang galang kuya! nanggugulo ka eh!! :)) hehe.. si kuya nice posing pa eh.. 

going back to our banca for snorkeling.. :)

Though we want to go to Puca Beach as well, we didn't have much time as the rent for the boat was only 4 hours then any excess to that will be paid on an hour rate. I think we paid 2,500php for the 4 hours rent of our boat. Sorry, I'm not that sure of how much we have spent as you know, I didn't plan all this. Haha! What we did was just paid whatever the amount was then have it divided once we got back to our hotel. We saw the Crocodile Island. It was amazing as it really looks like a big crocodile in the middle of the sea. It was a crocodile shaped island. No one I think would be allowed to go there as it was a rock formation so it doesnt have a sand. The water looks shallow as well. 

We then stopped on a part of the sea where we will have our snorkeling. We had our snorkeling gear. In fairness, they had a better set of gear compared to what we had in Panglao, Bohol last year. We went down the boat's ladder. When I got into the water, I got scared. Aside from the fact that it was high tide, it was wavy as well so whenever I try to get to look down and see what's down there, I felt like I am about to die. I can't breathe. Maybe my gear was not very well fixed due to my excitement to go down or it was just too wavy so when I tried to catch my breathe, I tend to drink sea water. Uhum! Still, I tried my best to enjoy it as I really had a great time doing the same in Bohol. I was holding on the boat's rope when suddenly, I felt I got sting or a bite on my waist. I got scared again as I thought there might be sharks or piranha underwater. Hahaha! My imagination was exaggerated! So went back on the boat, removed my vest and looked what happened on my waist. It was itchy. I don't know what it was. My sister got scared as well but since she wants to enjoy it as well, she went back down. While I am waiting for nothing, we saw a manong on his kayak selling ice creams. We bought 3 ice creams for my niece, nephews and for me! We were told not to dump our trash on the water as they will be asked to stop selling if we were caught. We paid 80php for snorkeling fee by the way. I think it was 10 or 20php each. After awhile, I decided to go back down again to try itthe second time. There were a lot of small fish going towards us because the boatman was throwing pieces of bread. Again, ate and I got scared so we ended up going back to boat. Haha! Luckily, my boyfriend was so brave that he was able to take pictures of us underwater and also with the other creatures down there. He knows a little bit of swimming so he's not afraid. Haha!

I just got a little bit disappointed with our snorkeling experience in Boracay though. I can't stop comparing what we had back in Bohol. We got our boatman to go down, swim and take pictures of us. I think, we paid it cheaper in Bohol as well as they're boat can be rented for the whole day for the same price of what we've paid in Boracay.

Boracay Day 1: Arrival

Been There: Hey ya Boracay!

It was december I think, when my sister encouraged me to book for a flight to Boracay since we've been to Panglao, Bohol on April of 2011. Well, she has a great influence on me, and with the excitement that it brought me, I agreed and booked for our flights. I spent more than 3,000 pesos each for our tickets back and forth. My sister always go with convenience instead of savings or which ever matters if there's no huge difference on it. It was her who did all the research from accomodations, activities etc.. Credits to ate for being such a good researcher! haha..  

It was her.. lady in white. (just landed at Boracay Airport)

Top| Candies
Shorts| Unknown store
Bracelet | from a friend
Hat | from Bohol
Shades | Pacific Blue

 Our flight schedule from Manila to Caticlan was around 9:35am. I came from my boyfriends' house as they are just 5 minutes away from Naia Terminal 3. Since it was just my second time travelling, and with my sister telling me that we only have 10kgs alloted for the flight, me and my boyfriend just brought one luggage for both of us. Haha! I was so afraid to go over my baggage allowance as it might cause delays and what not. Well, everything we need fitted on our luggage so I find it very much stress free as I don't have to worry about big bags and carry it everywhere. While waiting for our flight, and for my sister as we can't proceed with check-in because our ticket's with her, Daryl (my boyfriend) and I ate at Kenny Rogers inside the airport's mall. Ate texted me that they arrived so we went to check-in counter and of course, took pictures of everything! (as usual!). Here's some photos we had while waiting: 

(from left to right) Gelo, Ate Fraulene, Thirdy, Lalai and Mama

Here's my soon-to-be-husband Daryl.. :)

We paid the terminal fees then proceed to scanner. While we're on the line, ate called me and whispered: "Bebe, si Stef presscott oh!" I looked and unconsciously said, "Steff! Pa picture naman oh!" My sister's eldest child uttered, "Oh my gosh!" Haha.. She was starstrucked! We took pictures with her. She was pretty but not as tall as what I can see on T.V. On the other hand, we went straight to departure area and waited for almost 10-15 minutes and yey! it's boarding time! Finally! We had the Airphilippines Propeller which I find a little bit scary all the way to Caticlan. 

Her she is.. She looked very simple yet pretty! 

We arrived at Caticlan Airport after an hour, we landed at 11:30am which was just enough to eat  lunch yet the Carinderias outside the airport sell expensive food so we decided just to eat at hotel when we arrive. I didnt even had an opportunity to take picture of myself at runway because the Kuya guard was so strict! Grr.. yet I understand as the runway was too small which why it's only for propellers and anything outside of their schedule would definitely cause air traffic if incase. 

There are tricycle lines outside the airport. We rented 3 tricycle drivers  as we meet up with Aphol and Win which was my sister's sister in law and the husband. We asked them to take us to the port. I'm not sure how much it costs. I think it was less than 50 pesos though. Then from the port, we choose the airconditioned boat to take us to Boracay Island. It was called the Montenegro fast craft if I can reckon it correctly. We paid the environmental fees and other fees they can think of.. hehehe! In total I would say it is more or less 100 pesos for the ferry. 

It was a 5-10 minute boat ride and yes! I had officially set foot on Boracay Island. We haggled for the fare and asked tricycle drivers to bring us to our hotel at Cohiba Villas. We rented 3 tricycles again. We've seen D'mall and D'Talipapa on our way to hotel and seen some of the hotels we choose from and found out that they are not literally beach front. There are probably 2-3 minutes walk to white sand and the beach. Our hotel is almost on the tip of the mountain really on the other side of the island which is called Bulabog. Tricycle drivers should be wise enough or else, you would stop in the middle of the road as it was very steep. We've finally set foot at the hotel. It was too hot that day. When everything has been settled with the receptionist, we went straight to the 3-bedroom Villa which Ate reserved online. She requested a room on lower ground floor because she has kids to watch for. Good thing, she choose the right room as we've figured out that the hotel lobby is on the upper ground floor and the infinity pool is on the lower ground. When we saw the pool, we were so speechless. It is overlooking the Bulabog beach, the wind was perfect and the rooms were great! This is one of the best hotel I've stayed so far. Here's some photos of the hotel: 

As we arrived, my boyfriend and the kids went straight to the pool to swim. As I said it was too hot that day. I opt not to join them, it was too early to get tanned. We've decided just to order at hotel's cafeteria for lunch. It was very expensive still. I didnt find the food worth the money. Aphol, Win, ate and I went to D'mall to buy other goods we need for the day like mineral waters, cooking oils etc.. We've chosen a room that has a kitchen to save money from buying food. We overheard that Boracay's food are expensive. We planned to cook breakfast and dinner only - for lunch, we'll eat anywhere. We hired tricycle again to bring us to D'mall because we're out of van's schedule. Cohiba allotted vans for their guests who would want to go to white beach and D'Mall yet it was every 2-3 hours. They would discuss it to you anyway upon arrival. 

We've spent our day in the hotel. Swimming, picture taking and enjoying the day away from the city. One thing I loved about Cohiba is that, it is away from crowded and noisy white beach so you really have time to relax, fill your lungs with fresh air and get inspired with how Bulabog beach was made. 

Since our first day didnt have any activities planned, we swam all afternoon and took pictures underwater. 

from ate's underwater cam

Swimwear | Tomato

Later that night, ate and mama cooked for our dinner. I cant remember what we ate that night though. But surely, we ate what we brought from Manila. We had some canned goods and some foods that are easy to cook. Then, Goodnight Boracay! Need to have a good sleep as our activities would start next morning.