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For the first time in my life I went to Boracay early
this week, from Monday to yesterday. The myth, the legend, the
reputation is true—Boracay is one of the world’s best beaches.
This enclave of an island 345
kilometers south of Manila has more than three kilometers of white
beach with sand that is as fine as Johnson’s powder, a half
kilometer of shallow neck-deep clear water that is like a giant
pool, a sunrise that is glorious, and the most stunning sunset on
earth. The sand, said to be ground corals rather than silica, is so
fine it could seep into your camera lens or irritate your eyes if
you are not careful.
I have been to some good beaches
like Waikiki, Acapulco, Cancun and a couple of beaches in Palawan
but Boracay has no match.
The only possible turnoff is the
cost. I paid P8,800 for the return fare on SeaAir (which is almost
always fully booked this time of the year). With that money, you can
get a package tour to Hong Kong or even Bangkok. Hotels charge the
rates of a Manila Shangri-La though food, beverage range and service
may not be at par. But then you pay for the beach; hotels are
secondary.
I stayed at the 32-room
Waling-Waling Beach Resort Hotel owned by the patrician and gentle
Dr. Orlando Sacay on Section 1 of the island. Rates range from $200
for a de luxe room (with two queen beds) to $280 for a premier room
(a king size bed with hardwood canopy and diaphanous drapery, sala
set and kitchen (though the house rules say no cooking allowed).
Waling-Waling is probably the best hotel on the island in terms of
value for the money. The staff is friendly, warm and solicitous.
They cook the best seafood kare-kare and chili prawns on the island.
“Doc” has very good people like Raffy Manova, the front office
manager, and Hermie Laguyo, the F and B manager. Their hotel is
habitually fully booked, a testament to its excellent value and
location, in front of what is the best part of the three-kilometer
beach with a grotto to boot.
Aside from Waling-Waling, among
the best bargains on the island is an hour-long sailboat ride for up
to six people for just P700 (you can haggle down); gambas, paella
and fajitas at Restaurant Ole in the middle of the D’Mall (a
transplanted Greenbelt without the elegance and the ubiquitous Ayala
security), and freshly squeezed juices at Jonas. I was told the
Boracay Steakhouse is good but I was disappointed. Service was bad,
food took an eternity to cook, and the cashier charges a 6-percent
penalty for credit cards.
More than half-a-million visitors
land on Boracay every year. Half are foreign, many of whom are
Koreans. Arrivals are swelling which is why Cebu Pacific now flies
to Caticlan, giving Asian Spirit and SeaAir a run for their money.
Still, Asian Spirit and SeaAir flights are full. Cebu Air flights
are not as fun as they used to. They don’t offer you anything for
an hour-long flight, not even John Gokongwei’s now famous C2 tea.
You can see that Boracay is
booming. The carpetbaggers have invaded the place. Manny Pacquiao
has built a cliffside hut. Shangri-La has cut part of a mountain to
build a hotel complex. How did they manage to do that?
Incidentally, Ambassador Alfredo
Yao of the Zesto ready-to-drink and RC Cola fame, is buying both
Asian Spirit and SeaAir, the main carriers to Boracay. Perhaps, by
combining the two small airlines, Fred Yao can create synergies and
economies of scale in preparation for a vicious dog fight with the
likes of Gokongwei’s Cebu Air and Lucio Tan’s Philippine
Airlines which has suddenly become a low-cost carrier too, with its
PAL Express.
Expect a bruising battle over
Boracay among Lucio Tan, Gokongwei, and Yao. All three happen to be
ready-to-drink kings. Yao has proved his mettle fighting the big
boys. He nearly knocked down Coke and Pepsi with his cheap RC Cola,
forcing San Miguel to sell Coke back to Atlanta. He is the leader in
the Zesto segment of tetrapak drinks.
Yao chuckles: “The more, the
merrier.”
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