Your ULTIMATE BUDGETARIAN GUIDE

DISKARTRIP – means “diskarte trip,” or budgetarian, maximized tour/trip.

BORACAY — You’ve been dreaming that Boracay Trip all the time, white sand beaches, crystal kayak photoshoot and many more! But wait, here’s a quick guide to help you get started on your Boracay Trip without breaking your budget, and maximize your trip.

Our family loves DIY/Maximized Tours, meaning we do back to back trips from province to province, and create our own itinerary. Our Boracay Trip was one year in the making, but still we had no particular itinerary ahead of us, until we were already in Boracay for our Day 1.

To save you from the headache, here is a complete Boracay Diskartrip 101 Guide for you. Watch out for our Boracay family experience in a separate blog soon (promise).

ACCOMODATION

• FREE STAYS VIA Gift Vouchers

Would you believe that we checked in for FREE! Yes, we got the best deals ever! Maybe you got one of those calls that offers Free Stays in exchange for a 90-minute presentation? You got it! We got one of those calls and we tried attending their private virtual presentation. That was the first time that we have tried attending those type of “Promos.” And it’s legit! Long story short, we got a FREE GIFT VOUCHER from Astoria Hotels and Resorts. It is a 3 Days 2 Nights Gift Voucher. I started trying to book for stay (in Manila back then), last September , 2021. But since their other hotels were not available, so I tried booking for Astoria Boracay instead. So at last, I finally made a reservation!

• Apartments

Once there, I got the chance to meet some locals who happen to know cheaper means for a stay in Boracay. They say a local house rental would cost you P5,000/month, a good apartment will cost you P10K-15K/month. Hmm, not so bad! But check it out first, and make sure to transact to legit landladies/landlords.

You will have to present your Booking confirmation once to the Terminal staff at Aklan.

TRANSPORTATION

If you are in for an extra adventure, you may choose the option of Land & Sea Travel. It is our ultimate dream for our family road trip to travel to Boracay via Land/Sea, since there are beautiful sceneries on the way. So, if you’re a backpacker like us, or also have a private vehicle, you can try this options:

• Batangas City Port – Calapan Port (Mindoro) – Port of Bulalacao (Mindoro) – Caticlan, Aklan

My husband chose and tried this route, since Port of Bulalacao is new to him and based on the map it is nearer to Caticlan. Plus, we will have to chance to see the countryside of Mindoro on the way. We had our Innova with us, and I have included the rates here:

Batangas City Port – Calapan Port (Mindoro) via Montenegro RORO Shipping Lines

MONTENEGRO SHIPPING LINES
PASSENGER FARE
REGULAR	P240
STUDENT	P204
SENIOR	P171
CHILDREN	P120
VEHICLE RATE
INNOVA	2900

Travel Time: Approximately 3 hours

Once you exit Calapan Port, you continue traveling for another 3 hours going to Port of Bulalacao. And I tell you, the countryside of Mindoro is really amazing!

Port of Bulalacao, Mindoro – Caticlan Port via FastCat

Don’t be fooled by the name, this is really not that Fast, my son called it SlowCat (haha!)

At that time, Business Class were not available. And I also suggest that you just opt for Premium Economy it’s located anyway on the same deck as the Business Class. FastCat have a good air-conditioning system in the Premium Economy, if you want to save further you may opt for Economy, it’s an open air seating located on the upper deck.

*We left our vehicle at Bulalacao, since the vehicle rate is quite expensive. I think it’s advisable to bring your vehicle across Caticlan if you will go to nearby provinces after your Boracay Trip.

If you are a solo backpacker, you can save much more if you opt for Batangas City – Caticlan Port straight via 2Go. You will just have to endure 9hrs sailing via RORO.

Here’s a screenshot of the different Rates:

Once in Caticlan going to Boracay, you will have to pay for certain fees:

BORACAY FEES	PER PERSON
ENVIRONMENTAL FEES
LOCAL	P150
FOREIGN	P300
TERMINAL FEES	P100
BOAT FARE PER PERSON	P50

From Caticlan, you are going to ride a tricycle going to Tabon Port, Tricycle fare will cost you around P120/ride. There you will ride a boat going to Tambisaan Port.

From Tambisaan Port, take an e-trike ride going to your Hotel. For our Hotel which was located at Station 1, we paid P200/e-trike.

What to show at Caticlan Terminal?

For a hassle free trip, I already printed all the needed documents and placed it in a plastic envelope which contains the ff.:

• VALID IDs
• VACCINE Cards
• Proof of Hotel Reservation/Booking Confirmation
• QR Code – you can print your QR Code ahead*
• Undertaking for traveling with minors*

*QR CODE – Get QR Code through touristboracay.com. Steps: Choose Boracay – Fill-up the boxes – Follow instruction on the receipt and print.

*For those traveling with minors 12 yrs old and below, you can print the Undertaking for traveling with minors here : https://aklan.gov.ph

Now, welcome to Boracay! And welcome to us at Astoria Boracay Station 1!

We arrived a little late for the check-in time of 2PM. We checked-in at the hotel past 4pm. And hey it’s really legit! We were booked for FREE but as usual we paid for the refundable security deposit of Php 2,000 and paid for our daughter as extra person (P2,600). Too bad, I still have one child for free but my nephew weren’t able to come with us.

Here’s a quick Price Guide and Tours:

We opted for Island/Beach hopping via Land tour, it is the best decision that we have made since we got to explore Boracay in and out of the beaches.

E-trike Tour Rate : Php 500/hour

Beach/Island Entrance: FREE

Day Tour Itinerary:

• Bulabog Beach
• Mangroves
• Diniwid White Beach
• Steve’s Cliff
• Boracay Newcoast
• Keyhole
• Ilig-Iligan Beach
• Carabao Island
• Puka Shell Beach

Easy Activities for you to enjoy:

• Photoshoot at Crystal Kayak : P250/person, up to 15 shots
• Hair Braiding: starts at P150 (half head design) to P1,000 full head mini-braid
• Henna Tattoo: starts at P150 and up
• Snorkeling
• Paddle Boat at Ilig-Iligan Beach
• Malling/Shopping at D’Mall
• Thrift shopping at Outlet Store
• Walking from Station 1 to 2
• Watch Fire Dancing (night)
• Swimming
• and many more

There are a lot of food choices from Andok’s to Mexican, Indian, Korean, or enjoy a buffet at Hennan. Short budget? Don’t worry there’s 7/11, McDonald’s and Jollibee! We even ate at Bulalugaw and had rice porridge (yes, may lugaw sa Boracay!), just outside Astoria and tried their Special Goto, Lumpiang toge, and tokwa. Debunking the impression that you can only eat tipid at Andok’s. You can try stretching your wallet by budgeting your meals, but I suggest you bring extra so you can also try other delicious dishes offered by different restaurants in Boracay.

We loved hanging out at D’Mall and find nice places to eat like the Hobbit Tavern & My Falafel. I loved the food at the Hobbit Tavern, they offer sumptuous mixed culture of foods and with vegetarian options.

So, here’s the summary of our 3 Day Tour (Full Blog of our experience will be up soon, watch out for it!):

• July 14 – Started our trip at 2:30PM, we came from Cavite then we headed to Batangas for some quick errands (Bauan and Calaca), then left at 10PM.

• July 15 12MN arrived at Batangas City Port just in time for the loading for RORO

• 4:30 AM arrived at Calapan Port, Mindoro
• 7:20 AM arrived at Bulalacao Port, Mindoro
• 10:00 AM Loading at FastCat Bulalacao, Port
• 02:30 PM arrived at Caticlan Port, Malay, Aklan
• 03:00 PM offboard FastCat Caticlan Port
• 03:30 PM arrived at Tabon Port, Malay, Aklan
• 04:15 PM arrived at Tambisaan Port, Malay, Aklan
• 04:30 PM Checked-in at Astoria Boracay, Station 1

Day 1 Boracay – July 15

• Looked for Shabbat candles & bought fresh flowers
• Candle lighting and Shabbat dinner while watching the beautiful sailboats in a restaurant beside Astoria
• Hair braiding
• Swimming at Astoria
• Stroll along Station 1

Day 2 Boracay – July 16

• Land Tour c/o our guide/driver Kuya Erwin started at 8:50am
• Bulabog Beach sightseeing & photoshoot
• Mangroves sightseeing & photoshoot
• Diniwid Beach & Steve’s Cliff (swimming & photoshoot)
• Boracay Newcoast & Boracay Keyhole Rock Formation (swimming, Crystal Kayak photoshoot, Keyhole photoshoot, diving from the rock formation).
• 1PM Back at the Hotel to charge phones and have lunch
• Lunch at Bulalugaw (located just outside Astoria Boracay Station 1)
• 3:15PM resume Land Tour
• Ilig-Iligan Beach (Crystal Kayak family photoshoot and kayaking, paddle boat, snorkeling, sightseeing of Carabao Island)
• Puka Shell Beach (photoshoot & swimming)
• We spent a total of 7.5hrs in tour, and paid P3,000 (haggle again)
• Dinner at Hobbit Tavern inside D’Mall Plaza
• Swimming at Astoria

DAY 3 Boracay – July 17

• We got so tired that we woke up at 9:30 am and packed up our things
• Checked-out at 11:45am, and left our things at the reception to be picked-up before heading for boarding again at Tambisaan Port
• Strolled along Boracay Station 1
• Strolled & shop for souvenirs at D’Mall Plaza
• Shop at the the Outlet Store where we really found original items for sale and 100% bargained (like a kid’s backpack of North Face brand for only P150!).
• Strolled and walk to Station 2
• Dinner at Station 2 Open restaurant for a Live band and Fire Dance Shows
• You must definitely watch Boracay’s Fire Dancers! Show starts at 9PM
• Had a good full body massage for only P500 (for locals)
• Luckily, we were still able to catch the last boat at around 11PM

There are still a lot of activities that we haven’t tried to do. 3 days were not enough to explore the island. We really instantly fell in love with the place and thinking of going back sooner on a longer trip, or even staying here for retirement! Haha!

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Check out my fb page Diaries of a Transport Queen for photos of our Boracay Tour.