Monday, November 10, 2008
After staying three nights at Amarela Resort on Panglao Island, we took a ferry to Cebu. The trip took about two hours, and was a rather mixed experience. While everyone had seats, the space was rather cramped and the air smelly, so we were happy to get out of the ferry when we reached Cebu.
In Cebu, I was greeted by my ex-colleague Eden, who quickly brought us to a delicious lunch. Following lunch, we went to a local spa and I enjoyed a treatment for the sunburn that I suffered while snorkeling the day before.
Later, we went to see a residential area where Cebu's rich and famous live, apparently one section is somewhat pretentiously named Beverly Hills. Dinner was enjoyed at Chateau de Busay Inn and Restaurant, which offers great views of Cebu from the top of a hill. The night ended at the Blue Bar & Grill located on the top floor of the Marco Polo Plaza, where Yuka and I had also booked a room for the night.
The following morning, we jumped on a Cebu Pacific flight to Caticlan Airport, which is an airport located just a short boat trip away from Boracay Island. After you get off the plane, you can basically walk down to the port, and there are plenty of boats waiting around to bring you to Boracay Island. I had arranged all our transportation needs through Boracay Hills, so we were greeted at the airport and safely brought to our resort.
The weather forecast for our stay on Boracay Island was not particularly good, thus Yuka and I decided to take the PADI Scuba Diver certification. The latter can be taken in just 1.5 days, and allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 12 meters under the direct supervision of a divemaster or instructor. While underwater visibility is negatively affected by rain, studying for a scuba diver certificate is quite enjoyable when it is raining outside and there are few other activity options on offer.
Our diving instructor was a Japanese lady who has lived 6 years in the Philippines, pretty evenly splitting her time between Palawan and Boracay. While Boracay 10-15 years ago was a somewhat low-key tourist destination visited mainly by backpackers, Boracay is now fully developed with numerous resorts along the beaches. Hawkers, beggars, prostitutes (they mainly assemble in the bars at night), and thousands of tourists from all over Europe and Asia (especially Korea and Taiwan) drop in by the planeload every day. However, the beach is fantastic, every water sport imaginable is available at a low price, and partying lasts until the early morning
hours. You'll have great fun here, just don't expect it to be particularly adventurous or exotic.
After successfully doing a couple of a dives and a written test to take the PADI Scuba Diver certification, our stay in Boracay was pretty much over, and we took a flight back to Manila with South-East Asian Airlines. We had a day in Manila to do some shopping, and the following morning we went back to Tokyo.
In Cebu, I was greeted by my ex-colleague Eden, who quickly brought us to a delicious lunch. Following lunch, we went to a local spa and I enjoyed a treatment for the sunburn that I suffered while snorkeling the day before.
Later, we went to see a residential area where Cebu's rich and famous live, apparently one section is somewhat pretentiously named Beverly Hills. Dinner was enjoyed at Chateau de Busay Inn and Restaurant, which offers great views of Cebu from the top of a hill. The night ended at the Blue Bar & Grill located on the top floor of the Marco Polo Plaza, where Yuka and I had also booked a room for the night.
The following morning, we jumped on a Cebu Pacific flight to Caticlan Airport, which is an airport located just a short boat trip away from Boracay Island. After you get off the plane, you can basically walk down to the port, and there are plenty of boats waiting around to bring you to Boracay Island. I had arranged all our transportation needs through Boracay Hills, so we were greeted at the airport and safely brought to our resort.
The weather forecast for our stay on Boracay Island was not particularly good, thus Yuka and I decided to take the PADI Scuba Diver certification. The latter can be taken in just 1.5 days, and allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 12 meters under the direct supervision of a divemaster or instructor. While underwater visibility is negatively affected by rain, studying for a scuba diver certificate is quite enjoyable when it is raining outside and there are few other activity options on offer.
Our diving instructor was a Japanese lady who has lived 6 years in the Philippines, pretty evenly splitting her time between Palawan and Boracay. While Boracay 10-15 years ago was a somewhat low-key tourist destination visited mainly by backpackers, Boracay is now fully developed with numerous resorts along the beaches. Hawkers, beggars, prostitutes (they mainly assemble in the bars at night), and thousands of tourists from all over Europe and Asia (especially Korea and Taiwan) drop in by the planeload every day. However, the beach is fantastic, every water sport imaginable is available at a low price, and partying lasts until the early morning
hours. You'll have great fun here, just don't expect it to be particularly adventurous or exotic.
After successfully doing a couple of a dives and a written test to take the PADI Scuba Diver certification, our stay in Boracay was pretty much over, and we took a flight back to Manila with South-East Asian Airlines. We had a day in Manila to do some shopping, and the following morning we went back to Tokyo.
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