Boracay: Family Vacation_Day 1

To take my family out on a vacation was a dream that did happen a week ago.

My dad and Eiffer

I grew up in a family that's not privileged to afford any kind of luxury because if there's an extra income, my parents would rather choose to save every single centavo for my education and other family needs, than spend it. I remember how I got disappointed when my parents could not even buy me new pair of shoes every school year or a new dress or pants for school event. But when I was in college and started to develop some sort of maturity and awareness in life, I saw every sacrifice that  my parents did, especially my mom, just to give me a better future. Life wasn't easy for them, with me going to college and Eiffer in highschool so I promised to myself I would study hard to graduate and find a better job. And now that I'm capable of earning a good living, it's time for  a payback - a vacation for my family.

My dad's first flight experience and he's so excited. I could tell :)

Although this vacation happened a bit late because my mom is no longer with us as she died three years after I graduated in college, I thought of having her with us in this trip. Hence, through the help of Jerome and RocxTees, I ordered family t-shirts with nice prints on. My mom's name is Bina and, as a typical mom who's stressed with tuition fees and bills and my dad's frequent drinking of alcohol with peers, she's angry at times that's why we have "Angry Bina" shirts for our Boracay trip. This looks cool :)

As this would be the first family vacation we're going to have, I tried to make it grandiose as possible :) Hence, the destination I had chosen was Boracay, an island that's too expensive to reach, at least for me. To make things happen, I needed time to save money and come up with a good itinerary.

Boracay Trip, Planning and Itinerary

As I said, Boracay trip is a bit expensive and as someone who belongs to the middle-working class in the society, I would need some time to save enough money and look for cheaper flights and accommodation. The best time to visit Boracay is summer but for budget - conscious people like me, off-peak season which starts in June and ends in January is also a good one, and there is no special reason to this than the fact that it's not crowded during the visit and low-budget :)


I began checking for cheaper flight rates from Manila-Caticlan but couldn't find one, until I tried looking for Manila - Kalibo airfare and found Tiger Airways promo on its website. By the time I booked, it offered 399php seat sale per destination for Manila-Kalibo. I took advantage of the promo and booked round trip tickets for three (3) persons and that cost me a total of 6,201 including taxes. That was cheap! Well, they said it's always cheaper to fly to Kalibo than have one straight to Caticlan, an airport that's 10 minutes drive to Jetty port. Tourists coming from Kalibo will have to take a 2 hour -van or bus ride to get to jetty port, and I don't mind taking another trip if that means savings :)


I reviewed several blogs and they said it costs 250/pax to ride a van or 200 for bus from Kalibo to Jetty Port. From the port, tourists will have to pay for environmental, terminal and boat fees for not less than 200 pesos per person. So that's added to the list of my expenses :)


The next thing I looked was our accommodation in Boracay for 3 days and 2 nights. There are several hotels and resorts in Boracay that offer cheaper accommodation. I was torn between La Carmela de Boracay and Bamboo Beach Resort, both are beach-front hotels and offer almost the same rate. The only differentiator between two resorts is the swimming pool. My dad has been spending most of his life in the beach. Most likely, he may no longer appreciate the beauty of Boracay Beach so there must be a pool where he could swim, and La Carmela is just the perfect resort for my dad. So then, I did the reservation and availed La Carmelas' family package of 7,500 with full board accommodation for 3 days and 2 nights plus 6 sets of meals for each (breakfast, lunch and dinner). As we all love to eat in the family, I upgraded the meal inclusion to buffet for an additional fee of P500 per pax.


With flights and accommodation all booked, last thing I got myself prepared with is the list of activities and itinerary. My sister wanted to try parasailing while I'd like to do helmet diving and island hopping. My dad used to be a driver so I know he would love the ATV in Boracay. After finalizing the activities, I checked online through myboracayguide.com how much those activities cost and so I know how much money I should save.


Just a tip to those who want to save money in Boracay, though it's a common knowledge that online booking is expensive, I would still want to emphasize that it's true. Prices quoted in myboracayguide.com is higher than the prices quoted by other tour coordinators and contacts in Boracay. When we roamed outside La Carmela, I met Ate Liza and her quotations are cheaper. For instance, parasailing costs 1,900 per pax for 3 people who will go parasailing (website's price) while Ate Liza's goes only up to 1000/pax. Helmet diving is 1000 per person in the website but Ate Liza will give you P300 :) For more information, you may reach her through her mobile number 09075286938

Eiffer and pretty Ate Liza, our tour contact

As this may help a little bit for some, I'm posting our itinerary and expenses which may serve as your guide and avoid expensive quotations online. The prices quoted in the "Amount" field are good for 3 persons already.

Boracay Day 1

Things were all set and it's time for us to experience Boracay, and we're all excited especially my dad and Eiffer. It's my dad's first flight and I could tell through his eyes how happy he's been. Originally, our flight schedule was in the morning which was just perfect so we could get time to roam around Boracay before our hotel check-in. However, due to some weather problem in the past, our trip to Kalibo was re-scheduled three times until we were put to the latest flight at 2PM on September 23rd.

My dad and Eiffer - the look of thrilled spirits in them :)

The plane was not even full.

While on board, a flight stewardess announced a van transfer from Kalibo airport to hotel for 500 per head, or 1000 pesos per head for roundtrip Airport-Hotel-Airport transfer through Southwest tours. This is cheaper as compared to what La Carmela offers. Thinking of my dad's convenience, I took 3 tickets for round trip transfer.


This includes fees such as terminal fee, boat and environmental fees. For hassle and worry free transfer, I recommend availing Southwest service because all you would need to do is just be seated and have someone to worry everything about how you're going to be transferred safely from airport to the hotel and vice versa.









When we arrived in Kalibo International Airport, a friendly Southwest staff, holding a placard that says "Tigerairways Boracay transfer", was waiting at the arrival area and he assisted me and my family to the counter where I got all the tickets needed.

A very kind staff from Southwest

The registration and ticket booth

After I took all the printed tickets including those for our return, we headed to a private bus in front of the airport. The staff from Southwest handed me six (6) stickers with their logos and name of our hotel on it. That's their way of identifying their guests.





All of the staff were accommodating and friendly. When we proceeded to their booth, we were greeted with "Welcome to Kalibo" and that was another warmest welcome I got this year, and it feels so nice to be treated that way.








We were about 10 people in a bus, not including the driver.  The bus has comfortable seats with really good air conditioning system so I anticipated a very cool 2-hour trip to Boracay.

When all the expected passengers got on board, we drove to Caticlan Jetty port. It would take approximately two (2) hours before we could get to the port but I don't mind if it takes that long because I'd like to see some portions of Aklan. After all, it was an enjoyable bus ride due to beautiful scenes along the way. 

An old bridge

The rice field

This one looks like Chocolate Hills

Rocky hills

When we reached the port, the staff from Southwest just asked us to be seated and wait for our names to be called for boarding.

Jetty Port

Eiffer and my dad inside Jetty Port

Ready to board

And then the actual boarding on the boat was next.

Other boat passengers

This is the boat that transferred us from Jetty Port to Boracay.

After about 10 minutes, we're in Boracay Island :)  Another staff from Southwest approached and led us to a van that's waiting for us. It's going to take us to La Carmela de Boracay. Eiffer was even more delighted that finally she's in Boracay.

Port in Boracay

Southwest van that would bring us to La Carmela

Eiffer texting her hubby :)

Few more minutes and we're in La Carmela de Boracay. It's a very nice hotel and resort by the beach. The staff of La Carmela were also courteous and nice and I would say, my family got the best accommodation and excellent customer service. We were given a complimentary juice drink upon check-in. One staff took all of our bags and carried them up to the hotel room.

La Carmela

The Pool :)

La Carmela _ facing the beach

As I booked a promo-rate family package, I didn't expect for a nicer hotel room. It may not be as nice and classy as those that I stayed in with Gord but I know, my dad and Eiffer will appreciate it more, just the thought that they're in a hotel :)

We were given a standard deluxe room at Executive Wing. It's in the third floor so it was dad's elevator experience I would suppose hehehe. When we saw our room, I like it so much. It wasn't cheap. It's very spacious, with 2 queen - sized beds, with hot and cold shower and a bath tub. There's also a big flat screen TV and of course the wifi-access, another thing that matters to me :)

My dad smoking at the balcony

Eiffer at the balcony

Coffee :)

After we checked - in, we all went down to the resto area for our dinner. As we all love to eat, we upgraded our food into eat-all-you-can buffet.

After our dinner, we went out the hotel to see how Bora looks like at night. Part of the itinerary was to take Eiffer out for fire dancing at Hey Jude hotel but we were all tired. I came from my work shift so I was awake for more than 24 hours already. We just then decided to go to the beach in front of La Carmela and walk around and take photos.

La Carmela

It's a nice experience for our Day 1. Dad got his first air plane experience and it's our first day in Boracay so all the excitement and thrill had not subsided even during our bed time, especially Eiffer, as she kept on reminding me to have our parasailing first thing in the morning the next day :)


For our Boracay adventure, you may click on the links below.

Parasailing Experience
Helmet Diving
ATV Tour and Mt Luho View Deck
Kalibo-Sampaguita Gardens



Ma Cristina "Clue"
Mandaluyong, Metro Manila
October 1, 2013