Service: Niño and Activities in Boracay

Along with "Where to stay?" and "Where to eat?", another W-question that plagues most first-time visitors is "What to do in Boracay?"

This one was a little easy for me because I contacted a highly-recommended activity-guide in Boracay. None other than the famous, Niño and his partner Kuya Ron. They were refuted to offer the best (meaning cheapest) rates for activities in the island. At first, he was referred to as Mang Niño o Kuya Niño, so I expected he will be an older man who's seen Boracay rose from the sands. But when I finally met him, he doesn't look old, but not too young either so I started to call him just Niño. I never got to meet Kuya Ron though.

"Andito na kami sa tapat ng Yellow Cab." Meeting Niño for the first time.

Jovial, funny, animated guy, Niño was like a "kabarkada". He claimed to be honest when dealing with his guests, so when he said that the better Zorb is in Mt. Luho and the better zipline is in Fairways, we believed him. And he did offer the best rates, for parasailing at least.

Walking from Station 2 to Station 1, we passed by a number of guides offering us to do this and do that. From them we learned that the current market price for reef walking is P350/person, island hopping is P1200/boat (both the same with Niño) and parasailing is P1200/person (Niño's rate is P200 cheaper). Despite the almost similar rates, we decided to get all our activities through Niño because we feel secured and comfortable with him.




Reef Walking (P350/person, approximately 20 minutes, with CD containing 32 photos and more than 2 minutes of video)

Niño was the one who briefed us what to do once we are submerged into 12-ft-deep sea water. We listened intently especially when he taught us how to "equalize". He stressed it over and over again that I had an impression that my life depended on it. Well, not really, but it's a important pointer that every reef walker must know, lest you want your ears to explode from too much pressure.

Reef walking was so much fun. As soon as we landed at the sea bed, fishes started mobbing my hand, which held a piece of bread, and I have forgotten how badly my ears were aching earlier. Then a diver with an underwater camera started taking photos/videos of us. But I couldn't tell if he was taking photos or videos because he didn't make any hand signal. During briefing, we were taught some essential diver's sign language, including the sign for photo and for video. But they weren't used down at the reef and we stood there unsure whether to stay still for the picture or move about for the video. Good thing some of the photos turned out okay. We got the CD containing the photos and videos that same day.

Another complain was when I was brought up to the surface, a diver on the waiting station pulled me out of the water even before I found something to step on to keep me steady. As a result, I lost my balance and rolled over on the bamboo floor with my hand holding on to his and had slight bruises on my thighs. Niño quickly came to my aid and asked me if I was okay. But the diver at fault, just looked at me and didn't even say sorry even after I said "Hinila niya kasi ako agad, di pa ako nakakaapak sa hagdan" [He pulled me up right away and I wasn't able to step on the ladder.]

After reef walking, we went back to our room because the next activity, parasailing, was scheduled after an hour and a half. I felt an urge to sneeze and blow my nose, which I did in the bathroom sink. Blood came out. I was alarmed and told my husband about it. He said it's probably because of the underwater pressure. Later we learned that it's normal for people to experience nosebleeding after reef walking, but it doesn't happen to everybody. Just the same, know that it can happen.



Driving the Buggy to Mt. Luho (P1000/bug car for 1 hour, P50/person for Mt. Luho entrance and P75/person for Butterfly Garden entrance)

Niño told us to meet him again at 10:30 a.m. for parasailing. But when we went to the table where we're supposed to meet, we learned that parasailing was cancelled for the day due to strong winds. It was indeed a windy Wednesday morning. When I turned around, I saw Niño rushing towards us to inform us what we've just been told. He then suggested to go ATV-driving to Mt. Luho instead

But because I wasn't sure if I can drive the ATV, we ended up choosing the bug car with my dear husband as the driver. The way to Mt. Luho was nice, with all its curves, uphills and downhills. I could tell that he was having a great time driving. When we reached our destination, we left our bug car and climbed up to Mt. Luho.

Just posing for the camera

The real driver

It has the most spectacular view of the island. Looking at the sea below, we saw how big waves are on the other side. Atop Mt. Luho, winds lashed at us especially when we climbed into the higher viewing deck. The steel structure was trembling like we were and we kept asking Niño if it's sturdy enough to hold against the roaring wind, while we smile for the camera.

View from Mt. Luho

View from Mt. Luho

After Mt. Luho, the next spot is Butterfly Garden. Personally, I don't think it's worth the fee, unless you're some sort of bat enthusiast. Yes, I said bat. Despite its name, the highlight of the garden are the bats, not the butterflies (there's hardly any). It's just a small enclosed area that was supposed to house different butterfly species. There were also plants inside and a lone bird (eagle? I'm not sure). But really, if you don't fancy holding or feeding bats (who looked overfed anyway), you can skip this spot.

Bat in Butterfly Garden, Boracay

After these two stops, we headed back to the buggy terminal, where we were handed with clean wet towels and tetra-pack juices to freshen up ourselves. It came free with the bug car rental.


Puka Beach

Niño asked us if we want to go to Puka beach because he can take us there for free. Puka Beach is one of the beaches in the island, and honestly, I find that it's not as beautiful as the white beach, where all the happenings are. The sand is coarser, less whiter and the only interesting thing that caught our attention were the kite-boarders. I marveled at how they maneuvered their 'kites' and surfboards with ease. It looked fun, but difficult.

Big Waves at Puka Beach

Kite Boarding at Puka Beach

Niño recommended that we eat at Tesebel's Restaurant (Day 2 Lunch) and order their bestseller, Honey Garlic Prawns (P175, good for 1) and Calamares (P200, good for 2). We also ordered rice for P20 and fresh buko (coconut) juice for P50. Both dishes were delicious, although the prawns were more like shrimps.

Our trip back was no longer free. Tricycle fare was P150 from Puka beach back to the main beach. Good thing we were with another couple who split the bill with us.


Zorb (P380/person if there's only 2 of you, cheaper if you come in 3's)

When we had our breakfast at Tans, one of the staff asked us if we want to go on a whole-day island hopping tour with free lunch buffet included for P700/person. The island hopping that we know was for only 3 hours, no lunch and cost P1200/boat. So I texted Niño and asked him what of this other island hopping offer.

He said there is indeed such a tour but it's with a big group and it's a whole day trip (it leaves a little past 9 a.m. and returns in the afternoon). Husband was okay to go, but I didn't want to spend our whole day hopping islands because I saw parasails were sailing the skies again. I really want to go parasailing. So Niño booked us a slot at 12:30 p.m. for parasailing.

But we still have the whole morning free for one more activity. The 3-hour island hopping was the unanimous choice but Niño dampened our spirits when he told us that it might be a "point-point" tour. Point-point or turo-turo means the boatman will just point the notable islands to us and we won't really make a stopover on those islands due to huge waves and gusty winds. The snorkeling spot in Crocodile Island was also moved to Angol point for the same reason. And the Crystal Cave will cost us additional P200/person for entrance fee.

After a few minutes of discussion and mulling over, we were finally persuaded to ride the Zorb instead. Like what I mentioned, the better Zorb, according to Niño, is in Mt. Luho. Whether that is true or not, I really don't know. There are two options on how you want your Zorb experience to go. The strapped option, where both your hands and feet are stretched out and fastened to the ball, looked more adventurous but I didn't fancy tumbling down a hill in that position so we chose the one with water (I just learned it's called Hydro Zorb).

Riding the Zorb at Mt. Luho

Riding the Zorb at Mt. Luho

Zorb was fun but fleeting. This is the reason why hubby didn't like it so much. For P380/person, it was too short, he said, therefore wasn't sulit [worth the price]. But the big inflatable ball that contained us was filled with laughter as it tumbled down the slope. Proof that we enjoyed it, however short the ride was.


Parasailing (P1000/person, approximately 20-30 minutes)

Because it was canceled the day before, a lot of people were lining up to go parasailing that day. Our 12:30 p.m. schedule was moved to P1:30 p.m., and even then, we weren't really sure if we'll be accommodated. Another guide, leading a group of 6 tourists, was turned down. Good thing Niño came and made sure that my dream will come true before the day ends.

It was already 2:00 p.m. when the speedboat came to fetch us and take us to the parasailing station. As we sailed away, Niño was waving to us, shouting "Thank you po! Thank you po!"

When we got there, I saw that the 'parasailing boys' were still having their lunch. We haven't had lunch ourselves because we wanted to get this flying-in-the-sky-like-a-kite done and over with before we eat anything. After a short wait, we were transferred to another speed boat. Then fitted with life vests and straps. Then fastened to the parasail. They gave us simple instructions before they slowly hoisted us up in the air.

Start flying

Like in Mt. Luho, the wind was bold and for the first time in my life, I knew how it feels like to be a kite. There was a scare factor for the first few moments. Ugly thoughts like "What if the line snapped?", "What if the sail was torn?", "How painful will it be if we fell from this height?" entered my head. But when my husband said, "Let's hold hands", I started to relax and enjoy the moment. The beach looked so far away and all I could see was the vastness of the sea. It was both scary and humbling to realize that we are indeed a tiny dot compared to the great blue ocean.

After what felt like a long time of being tossed about by the wind, they began to slowly pull us down. I started to feel woozy but thought that it must be the effect of the wind. It was exciting to be up there and it was an experience that I'm glad I shared with my husband. This whole Boracay trip was, after all, a celebration of our first wedding anniversary.


On Niño again

We didn't see Niño again after parasailing and I forgot to give him a tip. On our last day, hubby went all the way to Station 1 to get a henna tatoo from someone whom Niño also recommended (I told you, we believed him that much). He asked for Niño, but he's not around. I just promised myself to contact him again when we go back in Boracay (in August, with the rest of my family) and double his tip by then because he really was a great activity-guide. And also, to try the other activities that we skipped: Zipline, Island Hopping and trip to Ariel's Point.

P.S. Writing this review made me miss Boracay once again.

P.P.S. All the prices mentioned in this post are subject to change especially during peak season. As of this writing, some activities have already increased rates. But prices are expected to go down again during lean months.