Basic Boracay Vacation on a Budget

The borders are opening, and you want to vacation really badly, but after all those pandemic online sales splurging, you do not have much of a budget left to go to your dream destination. Fret not, I got you covered. Philippines, boasting thousands of islands, with Boracay being the pinnacle of it all. It is like an affordable version of Maldives, Hawaii or the Carribean.

Food

First things first, food. Boracay has plenty of cafes, bars and bistros ranging from cheap to exquisite. If you like fresh seafood, you can spend at least $10 for a decent buffet. For us, we ate at this lavish restaurant for $40 (3 pax) on our 2nd night only to discover something amazing the next day. This person was scouting the area told us that we can get a free buffet in that same place at 8 pm that night if we will attend a sales talk. For free food? Why not. We took the bait, and true enough we only needed to spend 20 minutes in that talk and walked away not buying a single thing. Turns out, it is a common thing in the area and is a tactic for Hotels to get tourists to buy their membership. The food is actually restaurant level. It tasted 5 times better when we did not have to pay for it.

Massage

I know some places are known for their shady massages but come on. This place has steep competition. Some examples are massages on a mat by the beach, and open air massages in buildings. We saw 1 every 10 steps along the beach. A Korean-named one caught our eye and we were reading the price list when a lady came over and told us there is a one-for-one promo (for $34 SGD). Again, this is actually quite common so just take your time to look for the one you will like and suits your budget. This massage was inside a good air coned building that has posh minimalist interior. The closest comparison would be the Kenko wellness spa. It was a full hour and I think I got my moneys worth. 10/10 would do it again.

Travel tip for tourist:

The island is too small for jeepneys but usually a foreigner is charged $2.50 per trip (basically renting the whole vehicle). But, if you want to do it the local way, just flag one that already has people in it and just hop off when it is your stop. If you flag an empty one and state your destination ala-cab style, they would know you are a tourist and charge you $2.50 instead of $0.12.

If all the food and relaxing is too chill for you, you can opt to explore one of the seventeen beaches in the island for $0.12 per trip on an e-tricycle. You can hop off one of their hiking trails or explore cove formations scattered throughout the island.There are other appealing inexpensive whims you can find along the beach like braiding your hair or getting henna, all of which would cost $5 or less.