Boracay: Butterfly garden at Seair Caticlan

Since our group was divided into two flights, and I got pushed forward to the earlier one, we had to wait an hour and thirty minutes for the second batch to arrive. It was a good thing there was a new attraction at the back of the Seair office in Caticlan. So if you're killing time at the Caticlan Airport, check out the butterfly garden.

Boracay: Seair's Dornier 328 plane to Caticlan

I've always wondered how it felt to ride those small commercial aircrafts in the Philippines. I had already taken the ATR42/72 from Guam to Saipan before and was surprised by the smooth ride. That's why the prospect of taking Seair's Dornier 328 plane to Caticlan excited me. And it's the fastest flight to Boracay at 35 minutes.

It was an ambitious gathering of Philippine travel and photo bloggers organized by blogging guru Abe Olandres. We were divided into two flights. A group was scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. while I was with the 8:30 a.m. flight. I chose to arrive at the airport early to avoid rush hour traffic and got there 6:30 a.m. in time to watch the first group board. The next thing I knew, my name was called on the PA system for me to board as well!

Since we were flying at an altitude lower than the regular commercial aircraft, the views were different. We were closer thus to the ground and at the level of many mountain peaks. The views were surreal! The sun was resplendently rising behind Mount Banahaw. And below us was a perfect view of the Tagaytay Ridge and Taal Volcano. We also flew past the grand mountains of Mindoro before reaching Caticlan. The Seair flight is itself a must-try with all these great views!

Adventure Pass
Now this is something I'm getting for the summer break. For P18,500++, you can ride all you can for 45 days on Seair. The first two flights are bookable but the rest are based on seat availability which means you'll be a chance passenger. But with so many great destinations from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, you'll never go wrong with this pass!

South East Asian Airlines (Seair)
Tel No. +63 2 8490100

Boracay: Hello Boracay!

It was a spur of the moment decision. I was sporting a fever and a sore throat in the morning so I wasn't able to wake-up as early as planned. So I missed the early morning bus to Kalibo. I was thinking of exploring Aklan when I decided, what the heck, I'm on a bus that goes to Caticlan anyway, so why not ride until the last stop. So I did and I finally set foot on Boracay!

At the ferry terminal, several fees were levied including a PHP50 environmental fee, PHP20 Caticlan Terminal Fee and PHP19.50 for the ferry ride from Caticlan to Cabgan in Boracay. It was just a few minutes and I was there in no time. I had booked a hotel with the help of the tourism office in the terminal. Since I didn't want to spend much, I got a room in a place called Villa de Oro in between Boat Station 2 & 3. For a non-aircon room, I spent PHP800 plus an 8% credit card surcharge (which I know shouldn't be but what the heck).

I had my photo taken with one of the Boracay sandcastles which are done by enterprising locals. After settling down, I went for a swim while enjoying the Boracay sunset. I had dinner in the resort and then walked all the way to Station 1 to check out the night scene. There weren't that many people since it was a weekday and the sembreak was already over. It was amusing seeing ATM machines and a Smart Wireless Center amongst the numerous bars, restaurants and resorts in this world-famous white sand beach.

I decided to sleep early since I still wasn't feeling well but was roused later in the evening by my sore throat. Since I was hungry, I decided to go for a snack and settled for a burger and fries. There are so many establishments open 24 hours and every possible need you could think of is conveniently available on this beach.

The next day, I had to leave early to catch the opening cocktails of the 2nd Seminar on Philippine Towns and Cities in Iloilo City. I made a brief stop in Kalibo to check out the heritage structures then it was off to Iloilo City. More photos in Multiply.