Arguably the most famous Beach Island in the Philippines is Boracay; my girlfriend (now wife) and I had already seen the 4km long White Beach on the west coast of this paradise when the outrigger boat we were on stopped to let passengers off that sailed between Mindoro and Panay. I am not much for tourist destinations but I was pleasantly surprised with our experience on this 10 sq km island in the Sibuyan Sea.We checked in to St. Vincent Cottages which sits on the middle road of the island around the 2nd station of White Beach. We swam in the warm turquoise water that was abundant with fish; the water was so calm and clear.
After several hours on White Beach I focused on our main task while on the island....getting married. We had thought, while in Canada, about a good place to get married while in the Philippines; the choices came down to Baguio or Boracay. I walked from Manggayad to Balabag to look for the church to arrange the marriage, there are 3 catholic churches on the island; and one priest. The priest at Balabag was away until the Saturday but the replacement priest was said to be at the church 4kms south in Manoc-Manoc. I walked there and was told that I should go to the Borangay Office (local government office) to get a marriage license. I trekked back north, the temperature was very hot, and went into the office where I was told by the lady at the desk; that I would need to go to Manila to the Canadian Embassy to get clearance. I guess they needed confirmation that we were not both married to someone else.......anyway, a trip to spend 3 days in Manila was not happening; the marriage was put off until we got home.
The next morning on Boracay I picked up a newspaper and read an article about a priest who had been abducted on the west side of Mindoro; the priest had said that youth recruits from the NPA (National Peoples Army) were guarding him; there is such a problem with NPA throughout much of the country, this really takes away tourist dollars.
On this day we ate so many mangoes and then headed down White Beach to the end, it is such a nice beach.
We crossed a bluff to get to Diniwid Beach and then walked the road to Pinaungan, which was a small village. We then proceeded to the east side of the island and the Lapuz-Lapuz Beach which was deserted. There were steel barges and other assorted things washed up on the shore....no people though.
We went into the Sibuyan Sea up to our waste to round the bluff and get to Sanbaloron Beach, it was another deserted spot with 2 small nipa huts.
The water was too turbulent to go further so we climbed up the bluff and took the overland route to Ilig-Iligan Beach, the scenery was nice but boy was it hot; time for a dip in the sea. A couple of boys ran up to us calling out "bat caves, bat caves!!" We ended up going with our two young guides and for 25 pesos we went into the caves; there were thousands of screeching bats.
The caves were actually nice inside and although they were not large, it was worth the effort to check them out.
We met a vacationing couple and went to a restaurant with them, the east side of the island was expensive for Philippine standards; 4,000 Pesos ($110.00) for a one night stay. Our food was under-cooked and not so delicious but our new friends were delightful. After about 8 kms of walking in the heat we made it back to St Vincent Cottages and caught yet another nice sunset from the west facing White Beach.
The next day was a relaxing day on the beach with swimming and drinking many fruit juices. The locals here were very friendly and the customer service was exceptional. When one is staying on a tropical paradise island like Boracay it seems like there is not a worry in the world. In the coming weeks we would see many beaches that rival White Beach, for this the Philippines is truly blessed.
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