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Diving in Boracay
For many years, Boracay in the Philippines has been known to be one of the prettiest and most laid back beaches of the world. Apparently white sand and good corals all over the place. As always, a perfect destination combines great diving with plenty of opportunities for having a good time on dry land. Also famous of its parties, Boracay became the obvious first stop on my trip. Getting there was the choice of two options, flying out of Manila I could hit Caticlan, a convenient little airport just across the strait from Boracay, or I could choose to fly into Kalibo and orientate myself on a 1½ hour drive to the port where a 10 minute sail would take me to Boracay. I did the latter and got delayed 3 hours because of a carnival in Kalibo. The carnival was cool: people celebrating freedom through dancing and karaoke on the street would have been a welcome surprise… If I hadn't been in a 9 seat minibus with 14 other people and no air-con. I recommend Caticlan Airport, or checking for festivals that might mess with your plans!
Like most places with a bit of reef, Boracay had plenty of dive schools to choose from. Many of them kind of resembling a restaurant with tanks lined up against the wall, like an extended menu. Since I enjoy diving with dive centers sporting a bit of atmosphere and enthusiasm where you don't feel like just another day's work, I worked hard at scoping out all the centers on the west coast. I found several shops with good equipment, friendly staff and a professional atmosphere, but only one dive shop that had that special something.
Walking pass boat station 1 and 2, who are the landmarks on what was truly the most perfect beach I'd ever stepped a feet on, I found utopia around boat station 3. While boat station 1 & 2 is about expensive resorts, on going parties and rubbing oil on body parts in public. Boat station three is laid back bars, smaller resorts and hammocks in the trees. And a lot more green, which is a beautiful contrast to the sugar white sand.
As for the dive center, I found a driven little shop dedicated to the environment and getting divers enthusiastic about their local reefs. The American owner Vaughan and his two sons have spent years doing environmental research on the reefs in the Philippines. Both sons are marine biologists graduated in Hawaii and possibly the best instructors in this part of the Philippines. On the dive sites they took me to, I was pleasantly surprised by the diving. The area has taken a lot of damage, but the efforts of re-building the reefs has done the diving very promising and definitely worth the trip down! Doing the courses here or being guided by these guys is the obvious choice.
An added bonus is the east coast of the island. It is completely over-looked by most tourists coming here for partying or diving. But highly rated by kite surfers from all over the world. The waves are perfect for a surf course, and the atmosphere is for the hippie loving organic traveler. It is just a five minute walk from the dive center. I'd recommend staying with Blue Mango and then walk to the other side of the island. Blue Mango is cheap, very clean, and extremely cozy in the craziest garden around….
Go check out the dive and stay packages for Boracay on the Blue Venture website (www.blueventure.net) or the Kilroy website.
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