Posts tagged Recreation

Boracay Activities – Island Hopping, Snorkeling, Parasailing and More

By on October 18, 2011
This entry is filed under beaches, Boracay, tip, travel and tagged , , , , , , , , . | 2 Comments

Photo by Masato Ikeda.

Image via Wikipedia

Boracay, being a top tourist spot in the Philippines, is filled with fun activities that would ensure tourists won’t get bored. They have plenty of  both water and land sports and activities you can do. Here are some of them listed in no particular order.

 

Island Hopping, Snorkeling and Helmet Diving

Island hopping in Boracay is a lot of fun. Small boats that can seat 5 to 10 people can be rented at around 4000 to 5000 pesos.  You just have to ask around the area or the receptionist of the hotel or resort you are staying at.

 

There are plenty of  islands you can visit around Boracay. If you are early enough and the weather is good, you can even go dolphin and/or whale watching. While island hopping, you can ask the boater to stop at some designated areas where you can go snorkeling. Snorkeling is really fun around the island of Boracay as the area is teeming with marine life that is very colorful and enticing. You can bring some bread with you while you are snorkeling so the fishes would come near you. Snorkeling equipment such as the goggles and the snorkel usually go with the boat rental (you should bargain with the boater for them) 0r if not, they can usually be rented at 100 Pesos. Also, while island hopping you can ask your boater to bring you to the boats that offers Helmet Diving. Helmet Diving is an activity where you can walk on the sand under the sea while wearing a helmet so you can breath for around 30 minutes. The helmet is quite heavy but since you are in the water, it wouldn’t matter much. Under the water, the guides would give you pieces of bread so that you could attract the fishes and they would come close to you and you can feed them. During those times, the guide would take pictures of you feeding the fishes and might sometimes ask you to pose for the camera. Helmet diving costs around 500 to 1000 pesos depending on the number of persons that are going to helmet dive and the package usually includes the pictures under the water in soft copy.

 

Parasailing, Speed Boat, Jet Ski, and Banana Boat

Another activity that is done within the vicinity of the coastlines of Boracay is parasailing. It is an activity where you and a friend can go airborne while sitting on a seat that is attached to a parachute and is dragged by a speed boat to make the chute fly or float. This activity costs around 1500 to 2000 pesos per person.

 

Jet skis can also be rented at around 3000-3500 pesos for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

 

Banana boat is a banana shaped floater that can seat from 8-12 people and is being dragged by a jet ski. The riders are all wearing life vests so the ride is safe and if the riders are adventurous enough, they can ask the driver to flip them over and make them fall in the water. It is more exciting that way. :) The ride costs around 2000 pesos for the whole banana boat and lasts about 15-30 minutes.

 

These are the activities you can do on the waters of Boracay. But aside from water sports, there are other activities you can do that does not require getting wet. On my next post, I will tell you some of them.

 

Disclaimer: Prices are all approximates based on my last visit to Boracay, it may be lower or higher than what I indicated. 


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Tips for Making a Travel Checklist

By on September 18, 2011
This entry is filed under opinion, tip, travel and tagged , , .

Checklist for CHU rename.

Image via Wikipedia

Part of planning a travel is making checklist. As I have mentioned in the previous article, having  a checklist is very important. It is especially important for people who are a bit forgetful and scatterbrained.

 

To make a To-Bring Checklist, you have to consider how long your trip will be, where you will be going and what you will be doing in that place. That way, you will be sure to bring your necessities with you on your travel.

 

Example of a To-Bring Checklist for a 3-day trip to Boracay.

  •       Tooth brush and Toothpaste
  •       Soap
  •       Shampoo and conditioner
  •       Lotion
  •       Sunblock (SPF 45 or higher)
  •       2 pairs of swimsuit
  •       6 pairs underwear(maybe more?)
  •       2 -3 pairs of shorts
  •       4-5 pcs shirt
  •       1 pair flipflop
  •       goggles or snorkel
  •       Camera
To make a To-Do checklist, proper planning is needed. You should make a research of the place you are planning to visit and find out what activities are worth doing in that area. That way, you could plan your vacation based on what you want to do while visiting the place you are planning to go to. Here is an example of a planned Itinerary.
Sample To- Do Checklist ( Itinerary) for 3 days in Boracay
Accomodation – Crown  Regency Boracay

First Day

8:30 AM – arrival at Boracay. Go straight to accomodation, rest, breakfast

10:00 AM – walk around boracay, look for good restaurants, stores to buy  pasalubong, negotiate with boater for tomorrow’s Island Hopping

12:00 NN – Lunchtime and rest

2:00 PM – swimming on the beach or the pool, snacks

5:00 PM – rest, get ready for dinner

6:00PM – dinner

7:00 PM – Bar Hopping; watch the fire dancers

2nd day

5:00 AM – wake up; get ready for Island Hopping

5:30 AM to 1:00 PM – Whale or Dolphin watching, Island hopping and                                                                 snorkelling

1:30 PM – rest, maybe swimming again and picture taking; go around to explore more places in the island

5:00 PM – rest, get ready for dinner

6:00PM – dinner

7:00 PM – massage; Bar hopping

3rd day

7:00 AM – wake up; breakfast;

8:00 AM – go swimming; enjoy the last day

10:00 AM – shopping for pasalubong

12:00 NN –  Lunch

1:00 PM – picture taking; packing; get ready for departure

3:00 PM – departure time

Those are just samples of checklists. Checklist can help make your trip become more enjoyable. IT being well planned and all…

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Once an old defective building in Cebu reclamation area, it was renovated to be one of the five-star hotels in Metro Cebu. This week’s featured photo is the Radisson Blu hotel in Cebu City. In my future blog post, I will tell my experience eating in their buffet restaurant.

Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu

Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu at night

Day Tour Bohol Part 1: Tubigon Port, Sagbayan Peak and Chocolate Hills

By on August 16, 2011
This entry is filed under admin, Bohol, heights, Mountain, Nature and tagged , , , , , . | 3 Comments

It’s been my second time going to Bohol, but I still find it surprisingly exciting. Here’s the first part of the story:

 

From Cebu to Tubigon Port

My friends from Manila visited in Cebu and after a couple of days touring in the city, we decided to go to Bohol before they go back home. We decided to have a one-day tour, renting a tourist van to accommodate the five of us. The price of the van is 3500 pesos for a day tour from 7AM to 5PM.

We left Cebu very early in the morning to be able to catch the first trip to Tubigon port riding a MV Star Crafts vessel. MV Star Crafts is a shipping line company catering the Cebu to Tubigon route. The first trip of Star Crafts is 5:45 AM. Before that time, you should have already purchased a ticket from their ticketing office just outside the gate of Cebu Pier 1 or else you will have to wait for the next trip which is at 7AM. If you will have a day tour, you should go for a 5:45 AM trip or else the time won’t be enough to finish all the destinations.

MV Star Craft Vessel

MV Star Crafts Vessel catering Cebu -Tubigon route

Continue reading Day Tour Bohol Part 1: Tubigon Port, Sagbayan Peak and Chocolate Hills

First Trip To Iloilo – Boracay, Butterscotch, Biscocho

By on August 5, 2011
This entry is filed under Food, Iloilo, inside stories and tagged , , , , , , . | 1 Comment

Robinsons Place Iloilo entrance

Image via Wikipedia

I have been to Iloilo twice already, well,  three times if you count the first time I went to Boracay. But during that time we did not go to Iloilo proper so I’m not going to count that as a full-pledged visit :-)

Pasalubong (Butterscotch, Biscocho and Piyaya)

Anyway, the first time I went to IloIlo, I took the plane and I only stayed there for a couple of days. Not very exciting so not much to tell except that during that time, we went to Robinsons where a Pasalubong Center is located and bought lots of pasalubong (presents) there. We bought Biscocho, Butterscotch and Piyaya all branded Bong Bong’s and lots of other candies and pastilles that can be found there. Actually, as far as pasalubong is concerned, the first three food I have mentioned is native to Iloilo. Iloilo is famous for butterscoth the most. Whenever I think of Iloilo, my mouth starts to water for their butterscotch. Yes, that is how much I like butterscotch.

La Paz Batchoy

After buying pasalubong, we went to the original La Paz Batchoy restaurant. La Paz Batchoy is one of the foods which Ilo Ilo is famous for. La Paz Batchoy is a noodle soup that has chicharon and egg as toppings. You should try it when you go to Iloilo.

After shopping for  pasalubong and eating La Paz Batchoy, our group went to look for a Karaoke Bar. Sad to say, we walked a long distance and yet we did not find any Karaoke Bar with a private singing room. I do not think, Karaoke bars are common in IloIlo. However, we found a Karaoke bar where, if you would sing a song in the Karaoke, all customers will get to hear you sing. And sing we did.

We finished  at the Karaoke bar a little bit late and then went back to our accommodation because the next day was our flight back to Cebu.

Next time, I will talk about my second trip to IloIlo. It is a more exciting experience!

Location (powered by Google Maps)

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My First Davao Adventure – Diving, Durian and More

By on July 30, 2011
This entry is filed under Davao, Food, inside stories, opinion and tagged , , , , , . | 2 Comments

Ok, I will not talk about Cebu for now, coz I want to  talk about my first trip to Davao. My first trip to Davao was almost two years ago. We went there to attend a three day convention, but I stayed in Davao for almost 7 days.

Davao Airport

Davao Airport

Our flight to Davao was delayed  by a few hours so we arrived in Davao at around 4PM Thursday instead of the scheduled 12NN. We went straight to the convention hall as we had some things we needed to attend to before we go to our accommodation.

99 Pesos Eat-All-You-Can

We stayed at a friend’s  friends’s house and when we got there, we rested after eating. Except for the flight delay, we had an uneventful first day in Davao. The next three days were spent on the convention. At nights, we go to a barbeque place to have dinner near the Chinatown of Davao and go to Gaisano Mall to buy some things that we need. During the last night of the convention, we went to an Eat-all-you-Can buffet restaurant that costs only 99 pesos. Cheap right? But the food is good and you have lots of choices.

Scuba Diving in Davao

On our fifth day in Davao, we had planned to go scuba diving and so we did. We went to the port area of Davao and went to a dive shop where we paid 1,250 pesos per person for the boat ride, lunch, use of Kayak, diving lessons and a 30 minute dive 40 feet below the surface of the sea. The diving instructor taught us basic diving instructions, like breathing through your mouth, the signals for when you want to go up or down or if your ok, or if you are having problems, how to remove fog or mist from your goggles and so forth.

After the instruction, we were allowed to ask questions and then the diving began. It was so much fun to be under the water watching animal and plant life. 30 minutes is too short coz you enjoy what you are seeing. I got to see a variety of live corals and fishes, like NEMO or clown fish playing with the sea anemone and many other colorful fishes. I just love the underwater world.

Kayaking

After my turn in diving, we tried out the kayak. I had a partner with me but she was tired so i did most of the rowing. It was fun  and scary at the same time  coz the kayak might turn over due to the waves and the current is to strong and it’s taking us away from the boat. But it was fun and is a good excercise.

We finished around 2 or 3 o’ clock  and then we rested and then went to the mall in the evening to eat and just look around. The next day, we went to EDEN Park. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Davao. They have zip lines and lots of nice views and and the tour is very educational.

Eden Park and Zip Line

We had to take a 15 to 30 minute ride in a motorbike (habal habal) for 50 pesos each to get to Eden Park because the park is located up in the mountain. We got there quite late as it was already getting dark because some of my companions had to finish some business before going there. Still, we went inside. The entrance fee is 400 pesos. We didn’t get to go around the whole area as the tour usually ends at around 5:00 pm. but we walked around and visited some areas that are easily reached by foot and played around the playground and the zip line pratice area. The zip line practice area is a place where you could safely try the zip line. The line is very low so even if you fall down there is very little chance of injury. The zipline closes at around 5 PM too so we weren’t able to try the actual zipline that goes from one mountain to the other. We went back home after an hour or so as it was already getting late and we asked the motorbike driver to wait for us.

Souvenirs and of course, Durian

Our last day in Davao was spent shopping for pasalubong (English: presents). As you may already know, Davao is known for Durian fruit, a spiny fruit known for its amazing taste and challenging aroma. There are lots of stuff made from Durian that you can buy there as a pasalubong. There’s the actual fruit, which you can ask the vendor to remove from the skin and put inside a microwaveable container (so it is much lighter to carry and the smell can be contained), there’s the candy, the yema, the jam, and the pastilles. Aside from Durian though there are lots of other flavors you can choose from, like cheese, mangosteen, langka, etc. The most popular place to buy sweets as pasalubong is at Lola Ebon’s. A must try in Lola Ebons is their Durian Ice cream and Ice Candy. Those were very delicious. For those who has not yet acquired the taste for Durian (yes, Durian is an acquired taste, some people do not like it the first time they eat it) , the Durian Ice cream is a  must try.

Durian Fruit from Davao

Durian Fruit from Davao

After the shopping for pasalubong, we went back to our accommodation to get our bags then went to the airport for our flight. A trip well enjoyed. Indeed,   Davao is a very nice place to visit…

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Hiking at Kawasan Falls in Cebu

By on July 22, 2011
This entry is filed under Cebu, Hiking, Mountain, Nature and tagged , , , , , , , . | 1 Comment

Kawasan Falls, Badian, Cebu

Image by Tim Albano via Flickr

I told you a couple of posts back that I would talk about places you might want to visit if you are a nature lover. Most nature lovers likes looking at animals or nice views, taking hikes and go swimming on natural springs.

Well if you are a nature lover, Cebu  also has a lot to offer for you. Cebu has some hiking trails that are easy enough for beginners and some that are not so easy.

One such hiking trail is that which could be found in Busay, Mt. Manunggal. The trail is easy enough for first time mountain hikers and the view is nice from the top and the temperature is very cold, specially at night.

Another trail that i have heard about is Osmena Peak. This mountain trail, I believe, is in Badian, Cebu. This trail is a bit more difficult but also more rewarding if you get your directions right. Why? Because this mountain trail will lead you to the most beautiful waterfalls here in Cebu, The Kawasan Falls. I’ve been there a few times already and I could say, the place is really beautiful.  This place has a series of waterfalls, maybe around five or six coming from high up the mountain going down to the lowest yet tallest one.

As a good news for those who does not like hiking that much but likes cool cascading waters, hiking through Osmena Peak is not the only way to get to Kawasan Falls. You can take the bus or hire a van that would take you to Kawasan Falls in Badian. However, in order to reach the falls, you need to hike a little, maybe 15 to 30 minutes hike depending on how fast you walk. There is also the matter of the 10 pesos entrance fee. Cheap, right? But I assure you, the scene is really breathtaking and waters really enticing.

Kawasan has three main falls that you can go to if you are strong enough and patient enough to go up to the source. The source is really beautiful and the water is really clear. However, to get to the source you need to climb up the mountain trails following the trail of the falls. It’s maybe around 30  to 45 minutes up hill hike. You need to be careful when going up or going back down because some paths are slippery.

On the first and second bigger falls (if you are coming from the easy way) there are picnic tables, life vests, life savers, and rafts that you can rent. You can also have them cook you a native chicken soup for around 250  to 300 pesos. The tables cost around 150-300 pesos depending on how big your table preference is. The life savers and the life vest rental cost around 50 to 100 pesos. The raft will take you under the falls and let you enjoy the feeling of cascading waters falling on you without the fear of getting drowned and can be rented at 300 pesos for 30 minutes. The main source of the falls which is at the topmost part has some picnic tables that also can be rented at the same price as those of the first two falls.

As I have said earlier, you could ask the stores around the area to cook you native chicken soup for a fee. You cold also bring your own food and just rent the tables. Grills are also available for those who want to bring their own meat to be grilled. Drinks can be brought at the stores but you can bring your own to if you want. If you are worrying about having to walk a few minutes while carrying heavy loads, there are porters waiting at the entrance to help you carry your things for a fee.

Kawasan Falls is great place to enjoy for the whole family and for friends.

Location


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