Boracay Vacation 2013

Booking our hotel

We had a budget in mind and we wanted accommodations in the beach front of Boracay Station#1.
After searching in agoda for several days, we decided to book two rooms at Royal Park Resort Hotel. Each room was good for 2 persons only at PHP 3,348.00.
Our group required 5 persons so we decided to call up the hotel to inquire if one of the rooms could accommodate 3 persons instead of the standard 2 persons. The person at the reception told us that it was possible since the rooms contained one double bed and one single bed.
The only catch is that only 2 breakfast meals were included per room. We also found out that it was possible to book the room over the phone and make a deposit to their RCBC bank account which turned out to be cheaper i.e. PHP 3,000.00 only per room per night.

Getting to the Airport

Do not underestimate the travel time to the airport. Even with the web checkin facility of Cebu Pacific, you still need to be at the airport 45 minutes before flight departure.
It is important to factor in the traffic and time to park a vehicle if you plan to leave one at the NAIA3 parking lot.
We left Tivoli Garden Residences in Mandaluyong at around 7:30PM, we reached NAIA3 passing thru EDSA at around 9:00PM and it took us a couple of more minutes to park.
It was too close for comfort as our flight was scheduled to depart at 10:05PM.

Parking our vehicle

We did not plan on using our car to get to the airport as we did not want to leave it in park n fly. We didn't want to risk it and it was expensive i.e. Php 350.00 per night.

We decided to take the car to the airport as we were running late. We planned to try parking in front of NAIA3 and fall back to park n fly in case we couldn't park there.

Sure enough, it was hard to find a vacant slot when we got to NAIA3 parking. We had to resort to asking one of the guards to find one for us. We tipped him PHP 100.00 for his effort. He found us an empty slot at the employees parking area.

Getting to Boracay

We were picked up by a van at 7:30AM at Bee Bee lodge.

We arrived at the Caticlan port around 9:00AM.

We had to pay an environment fee(PHP 75.00) as well as a terminal fee(PHP 100.00) before boarding the boat to Boracay.

The boat ride to Boracay took less than 20 minutes.

Getting to Royal Park Resort Hotel in Boracay

We arrived at the Boracay port around 10:00AM.

There was a line of tricycles waiting at the end of the dock. We asked the driver to take us to Royal Park Resort Hotel and we were told that it will cost PHP 125.00 for 5 persons.

Royal Park Resort Hotel is located in Boracay White Beach Station 1. It took about 20 minutes to get there from the port.

Royal Park Resort Hotel in Boracay

We were welcomed with a glass of iced tea at Royal Park Resort Hotel.

Our rooms were not yet available as it was still quite early. Standard checkin time was at 2:00PM. So we left our things at the reception and proceeded to the beach front.

Paraw Sailing in Boracay

Our first activity in Boracay was to sail in a paraw for sunset viewing.

We were charged Php 1000.00 for 5 persons when the going rate was Php 800.00 for one hour. We should've checked the prices first.

Another thing was that we shared the paraw ride with another group when we thought it was a private activity. We also went in the wrong direction i.e. away from the sunset and the activity was less than one hour.

We know better next time

Island Hopping in Boracay

After a quick breakfast at the Royal Park Resort Hotel, we went on our planned island hopping tour. The negotiated fee was Php 1,500.00

We started out early, around 8:30AM. We were first taken to a snorkeling spot. Afterwards, we proceeded to the second snorkeling spot which was shallower then the previous one. It was important to be extra careful here as the corals were sharp and could lead to scratches and injury.

We then decided to have lunch at a beach front paluto place near the second snorkeling spot. We think it was overpriced i.e. our lunch included just fish and crabs but it cost us more than Php 1,800.00. We strongly advise having lunch back at white beach instead.