To celebrate the grant of our U.S. immigrant visa after a long 12-year wait, my brother and I went to Boracay (via Kalibo) right the day after our interview at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippine capital city of Manila. While we were in Boracay, we were frustrated at the ridiculously expensive prices for the usual tourist activities such as parasailing, helmet diving, kitesurfing, snorkeling, island hopping, kayaking, stand up paddling, etc. We were hoping we would be offered local rates much, much lower than what is offered to foreign tourists but no one would budge despite the fact that there are a lot who offer the services. There probably was enough customers for everybody despite lots of competition. The presence of foreign tourists who do not mind paying for the ridiculously expensive services and activities did not help us at all. Unable to find a good deal, we decided we'll see what we can do without having to spend too much. My idea: walk the stretch of beach from Boat Station 3 where our hotel was to Boat Station 1. I thought this should be a good idea for first time visitors in the island.
The Walk
After we had breakfast at our hotel at the Arwana Hotel and Restaurant on Boat Station 3, we started casually walking towards the direction of Boat Station 1. It was about 9 a.m. and the last of the boats on the beach were starting to leave for the day's trade.
Boats at the beach
As we started walking, I understood why Boracay's beach is raved at all over the world. The natural sand cover is really fine grain, sugar-like, and white. We saw some boats on the shore, many small ones probably belonging to local fisherfolk. Despite the robust tourism industry in the island, it's nice to know there are still traditional fishermen in the island.
Boats on the shore
The sea was green with algae or seaweed at the beach right in front of our hotel. It didn't look enticing for an early morning dip. Besides I was on my rubber shoes while walking on the beach.
Alga or seaweed?
As we continued walking, we chanced upon boat makers making or repairing a boat hull. Boat making must also be good business in this island.
Boat makers in Boracay
Boracay's beach sand cover looks so good in pictures. That's because resorts really have staff who make sure it does, raking away dried leaves and other debris and combing the sand. We saw several resort workers doing this.
Worker raking debris on the beach at Boracay Island
Paraw sailing is one of the popular activities in Boracay. While we mostly see people do this in the late afternoon to catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset, we saw one paraw sailing at mid-morning.
Paraw sailing off Boracay Island
One of the things we really enjoyed during that long walk was marvel at the sand art masterpieces that littered the beach. Of course, we took an obligatory photo in one of Boracay's most photographed sand art that says "We Love Boracay".
We Love Boracay sand art
We also chanced upon native Atis who were doing sand art featuring the minions. I interviewed the group of three (3) and they mentioned it takes somewhere around an hour to complete one piece of sand art. They say its worth it as a lot of tourists pay to have photographs taken with their sand art. They charge PhP 20 per person who wants their photos taken.
Sand artists at work in Boracay Island
Further down at Boat Station 1, we also saw an interesting sand art featuring Titanic's Jack and Rose. This sand sculpture did not only use sand. For the hair on the figures, the artist used seaweed. Curiously, no one was here to collect gratuities for photo opportunities. This was either done the day before and the artist had enough keep for the day or it was just done out of pure love for creating art.
Midway through our trek, we took a snack break at La Crepé Café in Boat Station 2. This is where I discovered the amazing flavor of a banana peanut shake. My brother had his usual mango shake and we also had their clubhouse sandwich.
After snacking, we proceeded to D'Mall to buy some beach sandals. Even slippers at the island are ridiculously expensive. The cheapest we could find initially was PhP 200 for a pair. I tried on my haggling skills and we convinced a shop to sell us a pair at PhP 100 each. We bought two (2) pairs.
D'Mall in Boracay island
Boat Station 2 is really the most popular part of that stretch of white sand beach in Boracay. It wasn't hard to notice this as we noticed a lot of people there.
Boat Station 2 at Boracay Island
As we continued walking, we noticed an odd rock formation in the middle of the long stretch of beach. This was Willy's Rock which was right in front of Willy's Beach Resort. On top of the rock was a Marian grotto. This is also a popular place to take photos at in Boracay Island.
Willy's Rock in Boracay Island
We chanced upon the resthouse of the D'Mall owner which looked like an abandoned resort. We didn't stop walking when we reached Boat Station 1 mainly because we didn't know where it ends. Later on, we realized the last part of that long stretch of beach beyond Boat Station 1 was Fran Beach.
Boracay Island's Fran Beach
We were about to conclude the walk at about 11:30 a.m. when I noticed quite a few people take a narrow path and disappeared behind the cliff at the end of Fran Beach. I curiously probed the path and saw a hole at the end of the cliff. This passage leads into Diniwid Beach, a secluded beach that affords some degree of privacy compared to the overpopulated beaches of Boat Station 1, Boat Station 2, and Boat Station 3.
The rocky part of Boracay Island's Diniwid Beach
Part of Diniwid Beach
One part of Diniwid Beach was rocky and at that part, I again saw some fishermen's boats. As we went further, the beach was more sandy and we saw a number of tourists taking a dip. I did the same. I was wary not to stay too long in the cold waters because I was worried about the reported high coliform levels in Boracay's waters.
We exited Diniwid Beach through a narrow footpath that led to an interior road in the island. We had to walk some more to get to the main road and take a tricycle back to Station 2 where D'Mall was. Our morning walk in the beach took around three (3) hours to complete. We walked a total of somewhere around six (6) kilometers, a good leisurely morning workout which highlighted our first Boracay island vacation.
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