Many websites will rave about the boat tours of Boracay, but we actually found them rather boring. Plus you are constrained for time with a group of strangers, whereas with a motorbike you get to explore the interior while on your way to your next secluded beach (many of which the boat tours do not even frequent) and lounge in your dream location at your own pace before deciding to move on to the next beach.
Below are the beaches we managed to visit over a two day period of renting the motorcycle. Another advantage of renting a motorcycle is you can use it to check out more difficult to get to locations, such as the exotic restaurants we chose to indulge in.
But first:
As you will see from our shots on this page, droning is a great way to eternalize your travels, but some places do not allow it. Such as on the island of Boracay. But my DJI drone did not say so, which makes me think it is not official law. Rumor has it that the island’s mayor objected to their use because he felt invaded by one hovering over his house. Who knows what activities he was indulging himself in at the time, but locals tend to be very compliant. However, as you will see from our videos below, on the more remote beaches the locals couldn’t care less about such rules, but exercise caution anyway.
As we were staying in a hotel on Beach1, we decided to cross over to the other side of the island and start our trip there in a counterclockwise direction around the island. Over a two day period and because we like to lounge and enjoy ourselves, we only managed to cover the north half of the island, but that seemed plenty once we were done.
Our first intended stop was to the Bulabog viewpoint, but we were disappointed to find the site closed and boarded up. Nevertheless I did crawl over some barriers but I chose not to enter the building. Anyway, from a google image posted only four weeks ago you can apparently ignore the barricades and climb up the stairs to the top.
It is a shame, because I think this would be a worthwhile landmark for the island to maintain, but according to comments I’ve read on the net, there is a caretaker there to help you. I guess we just had bad timing.
Following my google and maps.me maps, the next logical location was Newcoast. Actually Ilig Iligan Beach, but there are three different beaches on that corner of the island with the same name, so I’ll just call it Newcoast.
It was rather empty, hot and expensive. Part of a major resort complex. My wife rented a crystal kayak, and we later walked to Cujo’s Keyhole. Which was a rather annoying experience because you had to stand in line in the hot sun waiting for the security guard to take a picture of you with this hole in the rock as background.
So, overall, I would say you could potentially just skip and save your time for another beach. Because it was more official I decided not to use my drone here.
This is the farthest north of the three beaches with the same name, but the next logical to visit based on its easy access.
A nice remote beach and beers are already approaching normal. Note that on the main, White Beach of Boracay or on the busy areas it is not permitted to walk around or sit on the beach with a beer. Hence yet another reason to do the motorcycle trip, as here it was not a problem at all and they would bring the beers right to you!
Here’s a drone video of this beach:
Next in line when going counterclockwise around the north half of the island is Puka Beach. Many websites rave how off the beaten path it is, but we found it far from it. Busy and hectic enough in our opinion, but nice to explore anyway. Reasonably priced beer, sold at the entrance and you can drink on the beach.
It took us a bit of time to find the next beach, my wife asking locals regularly. There was a lot of road construction going on at the time, so perhaps because of that some parts were harder to get to, in any case, take a right at the gas station and it is an easy enough ride to this beach.
After we finished droning and drinking my beers, it so happened that the local official sauntered onto the beach and informed my wife there is a 2,000p fine for drinking on the beach. He probably would have not permitted the flying of the drone either, so exercise caution as usual. Reasonably priced beer at the restaurant before you descend the stairs down to the beach.
The next logical location was Diniwid Beach. As a Czech I heard a surprising proportion of Slavs (Russians, Slovakians etc) chatting. During my travels around the world, I find they like to collect in similar places, if you are interested in meeting something more exotic.
Anyway, another chill hangout where I could fly my drone and drink beer on the beach. But after hiring a sailboat the next day:
I decided a good one day activity was to start early in the morning, starting at Station 3 of White Beach and ending on this Diniwid Beach, to spend the rest of the day on a casual stroll southward along the White Beach. You can dive into any one of the numerous cafes and restaurants along the way, and they are actually significantly less expensive at the northern end around Station 3.
These sailboats are most popularly used during sunset, when they are most expensive due to demand. But you can equally see the same beautiful sunset while lounging on the beach or nibbling and sipping in an ocean-side restaurant. Plus you will probably have to join others, so I did not see the charm in it. And the time limit is half an hour. However, if you start early morning you can get a good deal and sail for at least an hour, and they can drop you off at Diniwid Beach to start your long lazy stroll back down along White Beach over the daytime.
If you would be interested in reserving one of these boats in advance, we can arrange this for you, simply contact us.
Excluding the last beach I mentioned above, Diniwid Beach, if you had a limited time I’d say you could hit the middle three beaches with a motorcycle, skip the first one and get to the last one the next day by the sailboat trip, so that from there you can walk back along the coast to the main beach. It is a nice walk and lots of cheap places to stop and have a beer!
If you have some extra time, there are plenty of places to see in this beautiful country of 7,000 islands and we would be happy to give you our advice on other places to see. Palawan is not far away so perhaps you could squeeze in one of our boat tours in the area. Just give us a shout and we’ll see what we can come up for you!
Experience the thrill of island hopping in the Philippines
