How to get to Boracay

It’s not always easy finding your way to paradise. Boracay is an island in the Visayas region of the Philippines, which needs a bit of effort to get to.

Kalibo Airport

From Manila to Boracay: The quickest way to travel to Boracay Island, is to take a plane from Manila domestic terminal. The two flight options you have, is to fly directly to either the cities of Kalibo or Caticlan on Panay Island. The flight time to either city is 1 hour. The airlines that travel to either Kalibo or Caticlan, as far as I am aware at the end of 2014, are Philippine Airlines, Asian Spirit, Cebu Pacific or Air Philippines.

From Singapore to Boracay: The best way to get to Boracay is by taking the daily Silkair flight from Changi to Kalibo. From there, a bus ride will get you to the Caticlan jetty, where a short boat ride will get you to the sandy beaches of Boracay island itself.

A tourist bus like this will take you from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan jetty

It is worth noting that regardless of where you fly into the Visayas from, you can only set off for Boracay from Caticlan jetty. The bus ride from Caticlan airport is a mere 10 minutes, whereas the bus ride from Kalibo airport is a good 90 minutes, depending on traffic conditions and time of day.

The Banca Boat awaits at Caticlan jetty

The boat journey from Caticlan jetty to Boracay island should take no more than 20 minutes, and if you are lucky enough to be staying in a good hotel when you get there, then you will probably have a special ‘banca’ boat trip to the island lined up as part of your booking – although of us backpacking on a shoestring will not get that luxury and will have to pay the small fare for the trip on the banca. The banca boats are generally safe with good staff manning them.

When you’ve finally made it on to the island, hopefully you will be able to find your accommodation and settle down quickly. Tuktuks are available every on Boracay (as well as mopeds) and that means that getting around is really cheap! Check out the room (hopefully with a sea view of some kind), and then go out and explore the area – you may find that Boracay has more to offer than just white sandy beaches…

Now, just sit back and relax with a San Miguel and a Halo-Halo

There’s nothing quite like laying on the soft sand with the palm trees swaying overhead as you listen the sound of the South China Sea waves crash in front of you. This is precisely what they mean by PARADISE – and all preferably with a nice beer and an ice cream at hand! Ah, this is the life!

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