Boracay Budget Trip: Day 4

And we've finally come to our last day here in Boracay.

Basically, all we have time for is breakfast, and we're off to another land trip to Dumangas -- with a short side trip to Sampaguita Gardens Resort in Kalibo, of course.

So basically, our day started with a hearty breakfast at the hotel, followed by a short tricycle ride to the jetty port to Caticlan.  Of course, we are again feeling so lucky that Eric, our trusted bellhop, led us through a pathway by the side of the hotel which is all paved (not sandy) and shady (full of trees).

It was more of a shortcut, actually.

Anyway, we then got the car from the parking area, then we headed to Kalibo.  We had lunch there, and then drove to New Washington, Kalibo, where Sampaguita Gardens Resort stands.

Ella Sancho Parking Service

Sampaguita Gardens Resort is a resort owned by Samuel Butchers, the one who created Precious Moments.

the famous Jojo's house in Sampaguita Gardens

So, when you're there, expect to be transported to a world of Precious Moments characters and dolls. :-)

We had a great time there, but unfortunately it rained really strong, my camera ran out of battery, and time was not our friend.  It was already 3:00 pm and we had to make it to Dumangas by 7:00 pm!  So, off we drove away... :-(

the directory :)

So between getting lost on the way to Dumangas port and getting so nervous that we won't make it, we are so relieved when we got there just in time for us to make it for the 7:30 pm trip. yay! :-)  The trip back to Bacolod was nice.  The water was calm and the trip was stable.

When we arrived at the Bacolod port, we were so happy to be home.  So all we had to do was to pay the fee at BREDCO port which was about Php300++, and then we drove home, can't wait to hit the sack!

So total amount spent for the day is:

Expenses:     Breakfast (2)              : (Php)  300
                   Hotel bill (2 rooms)     :         9,000
                   Tip to Eric (bellhop)    :           100
                   Tricycle to port           :            30
                   Parking Fee (3 nights)  :          400
                   Lunch (4)                   :          415
                   Sampaguita Garden (4) :          200
                   RoRo/Bacolod port      :        1,600 
                                                     Php 12,045


To sum it all up, the entire trip cost us Php 26, 775.50.  And divided equally, each of us spent Php 6, 694.00 for the entire trip (everything included).  

And of course, this amount got us all the activities we needed, got us to eat at nice restos like Cyma -- without the budget limitation, and got us to have side trips too.

It's a pretty good amount for an activity-filled, food-filled 4-day trip to Boracay!  *big smile*

Boracay Budget Trip: Day 3

It's day 3 in Boracay – which means it's our last "full" day in Boracay, and the last day for us to do whatever we want on the island. So to make the most out of it, we decided to do the following: land tour, boating, snorkelling, and eat at Aria (our favorite Italian resto in the island).

Day 3 basically started with a yummy breakfast drink of pineapple shake in the hotel. Trust me, it's the yummiest pineapple shake ever! I usually don't like pineapple shake – but I ended up drinking 2 glasses! DeParis Hotel's pineapple shake is really something I look forward to when going to Boracay.
                                                                                                     After having a relaxing morning, Edwin (our activities contact person), who was hanging outside the hotel, arranged an island land tour for us. We opted to go around the island by renting a multicab (in Boracay, it's either you go around in tricycle or multicab – we like the latter, it looks like a baby truck!) Anyway, our pick up point was at the alley beside Boracay Regency.

From there we first headed to Mt. Luho, which is actually the highest point in Boracay Island. The view from up there was wonderful. They had some animals, a preserved sand castle, and it is something different that visitors of Boracay should see.

the view from Mt. Luho

From there, we then headed to Puka Beach – where the puka shells are taken from. It is the other side of the island which is accessible both by land and by boat. Vendors lined along the path to the beach, selling necklaces, bracelets, anklets, paper weights, and religious artifacts made of shells and other local materials. 

From there, we then headed to the other tip of the island, overlooking Crocodile Island. No, it doesn't have crocodiles roaming around. The island is shaped like a crocodile, thus the locals named it such. There we met Ella and Marvin, two children, locals of the area, selling beads and shell products too. However, since we have bought some at Puka Beach already (since there are more choices to pick from there), we bought a shell paper weight from them.

Nor with local kids Marvin and Ella

local children swimming

stairway leading to the deep waters

Expenses: Land tour (4)                         : 1, 500        
              Mt. Luho Entrance Fee (4)         :     200
              Anklets (3)                           :       30                                                   Paper weights                       :       50
                                                   Php  1, 780

That was the end of our land tour. From there, we were then dropped back at the alley where they picked us up, giving us a couple of minutes to get ready for our snorkelling!

Our friend Nor snorkelling

All we had to do was to buy bread from stores by the beach to feed the fish and everything was included in our snorkelling deal – the boat, the guide, the snorkelling masks and all...
It was fun~ the colorful fishes, the clear waters, the friendly boatman, the pleasant guide... after snorkelling, they even brought us for a quick boat trip of the island from tip to tip – it was a nice sunset sailing moment.

                                                                                             Expenses: Bread                     :       25

                   Tip to boat guide :       50

                   Snorkelling           : 1, 200

                                         Php 1, 275

carbonara

pizza: frutti de mare and 
salmone e pesto

And then, it was time for Aria! We saved the best (resto) in Boracay for last. We ordered our favorite carbonara, pomodoro e basilico (San Marzano peeled tomatoes, basil, & parmesan), salmone e pesto (Canadian smoked salmon, pesto, & mozzarella), and frutti de mare (tomato, garlic, seafood, & mozzarella). It was absolute heaven – for us, at least...

pomodoro e basilico

We wanted to go and eat Spanish cuisine at Dos Mestizos but our stomachs could only take so much. So perhaps on our next visit to Boracay. There are so many good restaurants in Boracay!
Expenses:    Carbonara                  : 345
                      Pomodoro E Basilico : 350
                      Salmone E Pesto       : 540
                      Frutti de Mare           : 480
                                             Php 1, 715
After that, let us call it a day, then...
Total expense for the day is Php 4, 770. Again, it will still be divided into 4.
'Til Day 4...

 

Boracay Budget Trip: Day 2

 Finally after getting some good night's sleep, it is a new day in Boracay.

water is inviting, isn't it?

We were then faced with the most challenging question of all, "what to do – first?"

Without any final decision on what to do, we decided to go swimming in Boracay's clear waters – just in front of our hotel (since it is a beachfront hotel).

Eric, DeParis Hotel's staff, was very accommodating and enthusiastically put up a parasol by the beach chairs we occupied and gladly supplied us with some beach towels. (Another reason why I'll be staying at this hotel again!) Even their security guard was very friendly. It was like staying at a place that is so much like a home away from home.

there are at least 5 fishes in this picture... can you spot them?

Anyway, soon it was midday and we decided to have lunch.  Of course, in every trip, we believe that the best parts are taking in the sights, experiencing the culture, and eating good food.  So we picked one of our favorite restaurants -- Cyma!

Lunch

Located at Boracay's D'Mall (Station 2), Cyma was near and very accessible; which was a good thing. At that time, "hungry" was an understatement. You could say "starved" to describe us better. So we had Roka pasta, Cyma lamb chops, Moussaka, Mixed meat Gyros, Pita bread, and of course, each of us had their house blend Iced Tea (bottomless). 

Lunch was superb! πολύ νόστιμα! Opa!


Expenses: Cyma lamb chops                 :  (Php) 440
                Moussaka                             :          265
                Mixed meat gyros                 :          200
                Roka pasta                           :          415
                Pita bread                            :             50
               Cyma bottomless iced tea (4) :           380
               10% Service Charge             :            175 
                                                            Php 1, 925                                                                                  

Believe it or not, we actually couldn't finish our lunch. We had to force it down, though; noting that we paid a lot for it. I guess "starved" was an overstatement. 

By the time we finished lunch, it was time for our first activity: helmet diving.

It was arranged by a guy named Edwin, whom the hotel staff recommended to us. He scouted the island for good deals knowing that we are backpacking folk on a budget. 

Helmet Diving

It was all in all, a wonderful experience :)

When in Boracay, do try helmet diving! 
At first we weren't sure if we'd like it since we've never tried diving before. But it was great!                                                                They provided us with diving shoes and oriented us with what we needed to know before going underwater – basic hand signals, dealing with the pressure as you sink to the bottom, etc...  

Our helmet diving fee already includes the activity, a 3:1 guide underwater (seeing to it that everything in his group is in order), and a CD with our pictures and video compilation. 

Here's a tip, though: helmet diving is usually best done before 10am because the sea is calm (although it may depend on the season). The sun's position also makes the underwater world brighter during this time. Since we went helmet diving in the afternoon, it wasn't as bright underwater... :(  
                                                                                                                                                                                             Expenses: helmet diving fee (4): 2,000 (Php)

By the time we got back to shore, it was about 4pm already. Although not yet hungry, we decided to drop by Jonah's Shakes – home of the best fruit shakes in Boracay!  

A trip to Boracay is never complete without dropping by this place.

Still full from what we had at lunch, we just had a glass of shake each. But don't let the term "one glass" fool you. A more appropriate term is "one big glass".

Upon leaving Jonah's, that's where more fun started cropping up.


We spotted a sand dolphin and decided to have our picture taken. These are made by the locals, a different sand sculpture daily, for tourists to have their pictures taken with. They don't charge, but they do appreciate tips. So an average of 20 pesos (or more, if you're feeling generous) is the usual amount given.

The kid who made the sand sculpture even carved our names on the sand to make our pictures more personalized. (aaawww... sweet!) We then spent the next minutes taking pictures of the beautiful Boracay sunset.

By the time we were done, it was already twilight. Soon, darkness fell, tiki torches were being lit up, paper lanterns began to illuminate the place, and lights everywhere were already being turned on.
And that's when we met Kim.

We were making our way back to our hotel when a middle aged Korean woman (whom we later found out went by the English name Kim) approached us, and persistently and assertively asked us to go sailing with her.  She explained that she's travelling alone and if she goes sailing by herself, she'll be charged 600 pesos for it.  Whereas if we joined her, we can just pay 100 each and she'll take care of the excess amount.  We explained that we did plan to go sailing, but not tonight - tomorrow during sunset.

wrong camera settings.. but more or less that's
 how it looked from the sea

I don't know what she did for a living, but I figured she might be into marketing. She persistently sold to us the fact that the sunset is best enjoyed from the beach (she had a point) and that if we went with her, we could enjoy the view of Boracay at night from the sea, as well as the endless blanket of stars since it was a clear night -- and all that for a very low price; which, she pointed out was a bargain. 

She did make sense, and since we are spontaneous folk, we joined her.
                                           
We DID NOT regret that we did!


Boracay is so beautiful from the sea at night! We sailed from one end of the island to the other, and the paraw (sail boat) dropped us off somewhere in Station 2. It was quiet and serene; and the only sound you could hear was the soft wind blowing and the boat slicing through the calm, steady water. As a bonus, the moon was bright that night too.
I am glad we met Kim. It was something new – and we made a new friend.

us four, and Kim :)

Expenses:  Jonah's shakes (4)       : 360 (Php) 
                      Sand dolphin tip     :   20
                      Evening sailing (4)  : 400
                                            Php  780
We then headed back to our hotel, washed up and discussed what to do next.

Dinner

By 8pm, we got hungry and decided to head down the beach for a buffet dinner by the shore. There are lots lined up at night and you just have to take your pick. We picked Alf's, randomly – for no apparent reason whatsoever. 

They served Filipino food, including unlimited supply of grilled oysters and clams.  Yummy!

After dinner, we decided to savor Boracay and opted to go sit by the shore and watch the Boracay fire dancers. So we grabbed a couple of bottles of water and headed to where the show was.

We picked a spot just under the coconut tree and enjoyed the moment. We watched the performance by the Boracay Phoenix fire dancers which lasted about 15 minutes or so. (I lost track of time).

Expenses: Dinner buffet (3) : 900 (Php)
                Bottled water (4) : 100
                                  Php 1,000
Afterwards, we decided to take some pictures before heading back to the hotel. 
We stopped by Boracay Mandarin's attractive Christmas display, as well as Summer Place's creative facade. This is then where we stumbled upon another stranger.

We never got his name, though. Hubby and I were posing for a picture when suddenly this guy stopped and posed with us, waited for the camera to click (which took a few seconds, by the way, since he got us a bit puzzled; until we figured out what was going on), and then ran off to rejoin his group of buddies who were about 50 steps away by then.

hubby and I with the blond stranger-friend :)

Anyway, that's it for Day 2. 
A fun-filled, lots-of-expenses, and strangers-turned-into-friends kind of day. Total expense for the day amounts to Php 5,705. (Which again, will be divided into 4 later).



Until Day 3, then...

Boracay Budget Trip: Day 1

For someone like us who live in the neighboring island of Negros Occidental, Boracay is a place that we frequent a couple of times a year.

Well, except if we all have hectic work schedules and other activities piling up; wherein such case we would probably get to drop by only once for the year.

So the four of us chose to go before the year ends; claiming the island for our much deserved vacation. 
Boracay Island can either be a very expensive trip or a somewhat cheap one. For us, we choose the latter. We like to go on adventures, backpacking, and explore new places that we pick comfortable but budget trips.


For the 1^st day of our 4-day budget trip to Boracay...

Going there:

RoRo (Roll on, Roll off) Ship 
Basically every hour, starting from 2am, a ship leaves the port of Bacolod for Dumangas, Iloilo. (These are different shipping lines, by the way) So we took the 7am trip aboard the Tri Star RoRo. 

Expenses: Vehicle (+2 passengers included)      : 700 (Php)
                 Extra Passengers (2)                       : 120
                 Terminal Fee                                  : 375.50
                                                              Php 1,195.50
Land Trip to Caticlan

Although others would rent vans for the land trip, in our experience, it is cheaper to bring your own if you could. Hence, we decided to bring our own. During the 5-hour drive from Dumangas to Caticlan, we only had a few stops.
One was at Pengee's Restaurant in Dumarao, Capiz. Where we had our lunch: grilled pork, rice, soup, and softdrinks.

our favorite lunch stop just by the highway.. :)

And second was at a gas station in Kalibo where we got some bottles of energy drink since we were up since the wee hours of the morning...

Expenses: Fuel (about 50L)                  : 2,000 (Php)
                Lunch                                :     400
                Energy Drink (2 bottles)      :       40  
                                                     Php  2,440

To and Arriving at Boracay

the parking space

Arriving at the jetty port of Caticlan, we had to find a secured parking space for our vehicle, and we found one at Elia Sancho Parking just a mere number of steps to the port.

We then got our tickets for the boat to the island. We took the fast craft instead of the usual pumpboat because one of our companions was a new visitor and we figured it would be nice to experience both. So the pumpboat will simply be for going home.
When we reached the port of Boracay, the four of us occupied a tricyle which dropped us off at the nearest point to our hotel, in Boracay's station 2. It dropped us at a small street beside Boracay Regency where we took a short stroll up to our hotel, Boracay DeParis Resort.


Expenses: Environmental Fee ticket (4)         : 200 (Php)
                Terminal Fee (4)                          : 200
                Fast craft (4)                               : 120
                Tricycle (to hotel)                        : 100 
                                                              Php 620


When we arrived at the hotel, it was about 3:30pm and we were so tired. It was so nice, though, that the lady at the front desk, Elvie, who checked us in and confirmed our reservation (which we made a couple of weeks earlier) was so kind, as is Eric, the hotel staff who brought our stuff to our rooms.

We then decided to take a short rest and go out to see the Boracay sunset and have some dinner. Apparently, that didn't happen because we ended up falling asleep and woke up at 9:00pm. So we ended up skipping dinner.

So, total expense for Day 1 Boracay budget trip is Php 4,255.50. (Which of course, is the total for the 4 of us -- it will still be divided per person later).

That's it for Day 1 in Boracay... Tomorrow will be a new day.

El Tzino Beach House (Cauayan)

Would you like to spend a week here?

That place is El Tzino, and I did spend a week there. And it was a nice getaway!

Relaxing Getaway

Being the beach lover that I have always been, I did enjoy my week at El Tzino. But note that I am not really an avid fan of the deep side of the beach, nor the dark-colored waters. But I love going boating, soaking in the shallow areas, and sitting by the shore listening to the waves.

Affordable Rates

photo courtesy of Facebook/El Tzino

So, just right beside the well-known Punta Bulata resort, El Tzino Beach House shares with it the same water and sand – but not the price.

For only 4,000 pesos (as of summer 2010), you can have an entire beach house of 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, a small living room, a small terrace, and the entire place for yourselves (as is the usual case) --& because El Tzino isn't swarming with people. 
                                          If you are travelling as a couple or a group of 3-4 people, they have special rates for that.  If you wish to pitch tents on the beach, you can rent one for only 250 pesos (size is good for 4-6 people).

El Tzino only has a minimal number of guests at each visit, thus, making your time nicer and more relaxing.

Things to Do

You can enjoy leisure walks along the shores of El Tzino, beach volleyball during the day, swimming (especially during high tide), boating to the nearby Danjugon island (which is a marine sanctuary and even holds marine camps for teens during the summer), or just sit and relax by the beach with your favorite drink.

Pumpboat rentals are available at El Tzino for 1,000 pesos if you'd like to go island hopping.  If you want a have a massage, you have the option of having a local masseuse come over, or you can visit neighboring resort Punta Bulata which has spa facilities and amenities.

Although El Tzino doesn't have wi-fi access, you can bring your laptop with you and still be connected to the world with a plug-in internet kit.

Getting There

Getting to El Tzino is easy. You can take the bus, which usually have hourly trips to towns in the South and get off at Brgy. Elihan once you see the sign indicating that it is the road going in to "Punta Bulata". You can then take the tricycle or any local transport going in. (El Tzino and Punta Bulata has the same road going in and is only separated by a fork on the road).

photo courtesy of Noel S. Marañon

If you have a car, it is much more convenient. Upon seeing the sign "Punta Bulata" along the highway of Barangay Elihan, that is your cue to take a right (if you are from the north) and make your way to El Tzino. There are signs along the way. If you are not sure, you can ask locals where El Tzino is, and they will gladly direct you to it.

El Tzino is a mere 30-minute drive (tops) to the town proper if you need to go and buy some stuff. El Tzino is a great place to de-stress, rejuvenate, and be one with nature. A bonus: the locals in the area of El Tzino are so friendly, you'd feel so welcome right away!  

Contact Details
El Tzino Beach House
Barangay Elihan,
Cauayan, Negros Occidental
Landline: +63-34-7037555
Mobile: +639206305165  +639176342467
Email: el_tzino@yahoo.com