Gina and I would like to welcome you to join us for our trip to Boracay in Republic of Philippines, Boracay Island combines crystal clear waters, sugary beaches that squeak when walked on, and lush hilly landscapes into an idyllic tourist haven, that's guaranteed to fascinate and lull visitors into tranquil harmony with its simplistic beauty.
Visitors commonly refer to Boracay as a breath-taking, unbelievably magical Island. A paradise set in the unspoilt South China Seas. The small island, only seven kilometers long and one kilometer wide at its narrowest point, is located just off the northern tip of its mother Visayan island of Panay. The northern and southern parts of the island rise into picturesque hills, with elevations of 100 meters above sea level, that face the sea with weather worn cliffs. The Island has numerous scattered villages ( 'sitio's' ) interconnected by a maze of intriguing jungle pathways.
Boracay boasts one of the world's finest beaches - White Beach, a broad 3.5 kilometer stretch of sun-drenched sand, washed by perpetually turquoise water.
White Beach runs almost the entire length of the western side of the island. During the summer season ( December till July ) White Beach is the leeward shore which results in calm, turquoise seas, ideal for frolicking in the warm cool water (naturally with your beautiful Filipina) the warm water is the perfect tool to cool off from the summer's tropical heat. During this period the opposite, eastern side, forms the windward shore, with almost continuous onshore winds and protective reef that are ideal for both the novice and the experienced wind surfer.
The eastern shore also contains numerous sheltered and popular dive school locations with good shallow coral dives and drop-offs to depths of thirty meters being within easy reach, while the more experienced and adventurous may try a cave dive at Black Rock ( 'Buruanga' ) or Maniguin Island a distance of three hours by native outrigger, which is popular among shark enthusiasts. To record the captivating underwater scenery, underwater photography and video equipment is available.
For more leisurely pursuits, many local fishermen and holiday resorts offer all-day around the island trips by motorized bangkas, with stop-offs at the northern caves, near Yapak, home of Boracay's giant fruit bats, locally called "Flying Monsters" and the 'Kar-tir' Sea Shell Museum with Filipino craft displays in Ilig-Iligan.
For active landlubbers the Island's center extends a natural invitation to hike or mountain bike its many trails, criss- crossing its gently hilly slopes, while offering occasional glimpses of far-off sandy coves, fringed by palm trees. Your hike could extend to Puka Shell Beach, located on the Island's northern tip, facing Carabao Island. Puka Beach is the home of Boracay's famous and at one time plentiful Puka shells.
Boracay is a beautiful place to humanize your long months of cyber dating and the perfect place to fall in love, thats what happened to us in 2004.
How to get to Boracay from Manila and Cebu
During March 7th-March 27th Peter and Gina first decided to travel to Boracay we booked in at the Boracay Regency hotel near Boat Station 2, this hotel will be seen in the complimentary video you can view to get
some idea of what Boracay is like, your trip to Boracay will start in either Manila Domestic Airport, or Mactan International airport in Cebu, Inter-Island Airways or Asian Spirit both have
regular flights to Caticlan airport on the Northern Tip of Panay, or you can take a Cebu Pacific sheduled Jet from both airports to Kalibo about 2 hours drive from Caticlan.
On arrival at Caticlan airport, and after filling in a complimentary tourist card, you can arrange a short transportation around to the keyside to obtain the services of a motorized
bangka which will take you about 20 minutes to make the crossing to Boracay white beach, it is always wise to try and ensure your transport places are booked direct with your hotel
although you can still buy a ticket to be transported across on arrival at the keyside.
When we first arrived, we had to wade in through the water the last few yards, as when the tide is in, the boats cannot get close enough to the beach area, there are no jettys or
moorings on White beach, guests are are normally helped off the boat by porters, and your luggage will be taken off, for a small fee. Then the Porters will carry your luggage to the hotel.
There are numerous facilities on the Island, Wind Surfing, Sailing, Banana Boat rides, Snorkelling, Scuba diving cycle riding,and a wide variety of restaraunts and bars. The Night life is pretty good, and the weather generally superb, hot sandy beaches, waving palm trees, and naturally a good place to find love and
decide if you are compatible with your future partner.
You will see a small selection of photographs on this page, one is taken from the Boracay Regency Hotel towards the beach front on Boracay, this hotel has nice views to the sea front, although we have stayed at many hotels on Boracay during our 5 trips to the Island throughout the last 2 years, the Boracay Regency offers a very good standard of luxury and our room was facing the sea, you can request this type of room on booking, however try not to book during holy week which is around the end of March as the island is busy with locals.
A typical lazy day on Boracay
Boracay is about having all day and nothing to do ! during the daytime Gina and I tended to get up a little late, then go down to breakfast, the hotel has a buffet style breakfast and is a seated restaraunt, it caters for international tastes as well as Filipino so its an excellent place to have breakfast, you could start off after collapsing back on your bed after breakfast with
a morning swim, followed by a boat trip around the islands, for around P1500 that includes a boatcrew of 3, so you are in very good hands.
Filipinos never seem to go anywhere without access to food, so its common to arrange a packed lunch, I'm sure your Filipina companion will be very good at attending to this small
detail, if you have a packed lunch, you can spend all afternoon sailing around the other smaller islands such as Crocodile island or Crystal cove, having personally swam off Crocodile Island
i can recommend it to anyone who goes, the beauty of the untouched shingle beach cascading down into crystal clear blue green waters is a sight to see, its the place itself which mesmerizes each individual, its also a great time for your boat crew to fall alseep, and they will !, if you leave them undernath the sun canopy of your hired boat for the day.
Be careful though of the sun temperatures run over 100F degrees, so you need a light cotton shirt, shorts, and flip flops or tennis shoes with you at all times, also make
sure you have plenty of sun block on, and boy do you perspire ! in fact I found that it was better to stay in the room with the airconditioning on during the hotest part of the day which is around 11am-3pm
I cannot stress to new visitors to Boracay the power of the sun during swimming sessions, an hour in the water and you will be looking like a lobster ! so watch your sun block situation. I tended to leave a thick white soccer shirt on during my swimming sessions, this prevented the sun from attacking me, I had to learn the hard way, especially when you go in the shower and hot water touches your skin, the pain is excruciating.
During our 2nd and 3rd visits to the Island in June and October of 2004 we stayed at Casa Pilar Beach Resort the resort serves excellent food and is about 5 yards from the beach, the rooms are airconditioned, have showers and refridgerators. costs are around P1500-2000 low season P2000-2500 high season.
You may notice a photo of Gina taken on the balcony of our room at the Boracay Regency, the weather as you can see is beautiful at this time of year, next of course we should talk
about the great night life on Boracay, in the evenings after you and your loved one have enjoyed a little late afternoon rest, you can wander down the sea front to one of the numerous surf side bars on the island.
As you can see in the photos, there is a photo of Gina and myself about 2 days after our engagement in Ilo Ilo City, this is our first night out on the Boracay night life scene, there are numerous bars, this one being taken at the Boracay Regency bar, the bar is down on the beach front, they also had Sky sports on, so we were lucky in that we watched Arsenal playing Chelsea at home, (great for us Brits) for our U.S. Cousins, this is the Premiership soccer league similar to Superbowl or the NBA.
The night life is very good, drinks are fairly cheap and plentiful, you can drink all night with your loved one, for about USD20.00 or UK13.00, there are
always snacks on the bar, also be aware of mosquitoes, don't let them spoil your evening, ask the barman to place a coil under your seat, well before you
start itching, or you can put mosquito repellant on your legs, I don't know what it is, they alway seem to go for white boys. You have been warned hahahahaha
You might like to enjoy a stay at 
The Nigi Nigi Nu noos beach resort Nigi Nigi Nu Noos has twenty pagoda style native cottages located right on the beachfront at the center of Boracay's famous White Beach. All of the major restaurants, entertainment centers, markets and sporting activities are only a short walk away.
The cottages are set in a quiet, lush, tropical garden. Each cottage is decorated with native artwork and antiques and is made entirely of native materials. There is also a large verandah ideal for reading or lazing in the shade. Each cottage has a modern private en suite bathroom with warm water shower. The family cottages have a loft sleeping area ideal for two extra children or friends. Some of the cottages are air conditioned and some are fan cooled.
There is one air conditioned studio apartment for those that would like a television, refrigerator and kitchenette in the room. The rates are the same as for an air conditioned cottage.
Nigi Nigi Beach Resort also includes a very popular seafood and oriental restaurant and a jazz and blues and sports bar.
Nigi Nigi to those who go there often is a well known meeting place for travelling British expats and those with Filipina companions who are living in Asia. During your stay at Nigi Nigi you will receive a welcome cocktail, daily bottle of mineral water in the room, full English breakfast and limited free computer use in the internet café. They can also arrange for your domestic flights and transfers from the local airport directly to the resort. They can arrange all of your sporting activities including diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, tennis, golf and mountain biking. For divers, there is a five star dive shop next door which offers guests a discount on dive rates. The resort is Filipino and British owned and managed and They look forward to welcoming British-Filipino couples and take pride in taking an interest in their UK guests.
Well their is one photo to your left that gives the game away, "yes" you have guessed its the main man himself, the webmaster and builder of British-Filipino.com, this photo was taken down on White beach Boracay, and it was a paticularly hot day back then in March, the great thing about Boracay, there isn't much to do and all day to do it, so why not go there and take your loved one, relax and have a drink, or take in a 1 hour massage on the beach, there are plenty of professional
massage ladies only too willing to take your P250 from you, can't be bad, for an hour of relaxation.
I wish everyone who goes behind us, a great vacation on Boracay, I only have one thing to say to any guy who comes after me and here it is "Go on mate, take a chance, go for it !!!" I dont think you will regret it, and if you don't go you will never have had the chance to find out, any guy who has ever been out there and done it will always tell you that they enjoyed every minute, and having a Filipina companion makes the time out there even better, what more can you ask for Boracay has everything and if that is not enough for you, perhaps you would like to view our Hong Kong travel experiences Point to Hong Kong Honeymoon or have you fancied taking your girl to Thailand ? or what about A Trip to Cebu
