LeAnn's mom, sister and brother-in-law came to visit us in October of 2004. While they were here, we decided it would be a good time to go the famous white sand beach on the island of Boracay. The white sandy beaches stretches about 2 miles. The sand is very fine, white and soft. It is a beautiful place to visit. Getting their was a great part of the adventure also. We boarded a small 19 seat turbo prop plane. Once the stewardess gave the safety briefing, she exited the plane and we were on our own.Once we arrived in Caticlan, we were taken by van to the pier area where we boarded a banca. A banca is a local outrigger style boat with a long shaft propeller exiting the rear of the boat. They are very stable, but they are noisy. Our luggage was put on top and we sat inside an enclosed area. The banca brought us right up to the resort and we unloaded in about knee deep water.
We stayed at Willy's resort, which is located right beside Willy's Rock, the only outcropping along the whole beach. It makes for a good reference point when you are either out in the ocean or walking down the beach. A shrine has been built on the rock and it has steps up to the shrine. During high tide, the rock is totally surrounded by water, but at low tide it is easily accessed without getting wet.
The high tide laps right up to the edge of the hotels, but at low tide there is a full 200 feet of beach. During low tide, people set up volleyball nets or play football (soccer).
We decided to take a tour of the island, and decided the best way to do it was by tricycle. The tricycles are small motorbikes with sidecars attached. They can hold 5 or 6 of the locals, but when we came out, they decided 3 per tricycle would be about right. The roadways are narrow and the houses and buildings go right up to the pavement. We went down to the southern tip of the island and then up to the top of Mt. Luho. We weren't sure if we would all make it up the hill as the motorcycles were struggling to get us up. As a matter of fact, we traded one of our tricycles for a larger one after the first leg of our trip. As we were approaching the Mt. Luho, the driver of one of the tricycles signaled a kid along the road and then he hopped onto the back of the tricycle. It ended up he jumped on in order to help push as we went up the mountain.
From the top of Mt. Luho, we had a great 360 degree view of the island including the beaches on both sides and the golf course in the middle. At the top, we had to climb about another 200 feet to get to the top. LeAnn's mom was a trooper and made it to the top. At the top, there was a small canteen with drinks and snacks. This is where we saw the pet monkey in the tree. I think I found a second career--I should get a tricycle and start a service back home in the states.
After touring the interior, we went on a banca boat tour around the island. The water was warm and we stopped and did some snorkeling. The snorkeling is an a national park area, and the rangers were out in small outrigger canoes collecting the 20peso snorkeling fee. Also while we docked, vendors came up selling coconut and jewelry. We all enjoyed our time in the water and the beautiful coral and fishes.
We saw some blue coral and blue starfish. Their wasn't a lot of brightly colored coral or fish in this particular area, but there was a lot to look at. There were many sea urchins, some crabs and clams, and many small fish. There was probably a lot of things we just never saw because of the natural camouflage of some many sea animals.
A couple of relaxing days and evenings on the beach made for a wonderful vacation. Massages and manicures/pedicures are a very popular afternoon or evening activity, especially after a full day of adventures and activities. Most of the restaurants put tables out on the beach area for beach front dining (as long as the tides are cooperating) Also, some of the locals build some very serious, large and beautiful sandcastles.
Our trip home was every uneventful as we took the banca, tricycle, van and turbo prop plane back to Manila. We were so glad that LeAnn's family was able to come over and visit and see some of the sights of destinations of the Philippines.
