BORACAY ON A BUDGET || 5 TIPS FOR FIRST TIMERS

Whenever I am being invited to go to Boracay I would think that it would not be worth it and that it is expensive. I've booked flights to Boracay before but never went on the day of the flight as I would rather go home to Zamboanga City, thinking that we have the best beaches in the Philippines to name a few, pink beach, Sta. Cruz island, Dakak which is just nearby and Malamawi.

I chanced upon Cebu Pacific's piso fare and decided to book that flight and experience Boracay. I booked just the return flight as the dates I wanted were not available.

PINAYAVENTURES TIPID TIP #1:
Be on the lookout for Piso fares, that's when you can book flights for as low as 600pesos roundtrip.

Just a sample receipt but not the exact one as I could not find a copy anymore.

This was booked almost a year before the actual flight. But atleast we got to only pay less than 1000pesos for a roundtrip ticket to Caticlan. Originally our flight from Manila was going to Kalibo as I wanted to experience both routes for you my lovely readers but a month or two before my flight which was supposed to be in August I received an email that my Kalibo- Manila flight had changes of more than an hour and will be rereouted to Caticlan instead.

PINAYAVENTURES TIP #2: If you receive this type of message it means you get to rebook(4 hours or more before the flight), reroute to the closest airport or refund the flight at no cost. More info on this on a separate blogpost soon.

PINAYAVENTURES TIP #3: On off oeak seasons you may just walk in and avail of the hotel/hostel that is within your budget. On peak season like sunmer and la boracay book ahead to get cheaper rates. This also applies for activities.

Now that I have booked my flight, the next thing to do is to look for an affordable hotel/hostel. You can get a hostel for as low as 280pesos/night during offpeak season, you can even just walk-in and look for a hotel/hostel upon arrival that will suit your budget. We booked our stay at Chillout Hostel as it was supposed to be just me and my husband to celebrated our 12th anniversary. Since kids are not allowed at this hostel we were referred to their sister company CSI(Cool Stay Inn) which is right beside the hostel.

We decided to just book the activities when we arrive(I know some of you are not confortable in not having this prebooked, trust me it will be worth it) , I also did not have a specific itinerary for this trip which explains why I did not book activities in advance. In a vacation I would like to be able to manage our own time and not be on a schedule. We are here to destress and relax and so we want to be able to enjoy our time together instead of thinking about the schedule we need to follow and good thing that's how we did it. We had doubts and even fears as it was our 1st time in Boracay and we did not arrange any transfers. Do-it- yourself trips are indeed great as you get to save a lot and use the money for other activities instead.

PINAYAVENTURES TIP #4: DIY instead of arranging for transfers, you will be surprised of how much you will save.

PINAYAVENTURES TIP #5: RESEARCH AND READ BLOGS(like mine, shameless plug) , also use GOOGLE MAPS so you won't spend money on tricycle rides that are just 5-10minutes walk.

Here's the breakdown of a sample budget during a Boracay trip. We decided to bring our daughter instead during this Boracay trip. So we will give you an estimate budget for a family and also for individuals.

53.33pesos

1. Grab from Makati-terminal 3= 160pesos/3 = 53.33pesos

850.24 pesos

2. Airfare via Caticlan thru CEBU PACIFIC: 425.12/person/way inclusive of the terminal fees 🛩AIRFARE ROUNDTRIP(RT)= 850.24pesos x 3 = 2550.72

33.33 pesos

3. Tricycle ride from Airport to Caticlan Port = 50pesos/3 = 16.67pesos RT= 100pesos/3 = 33.33pesos

200 pesos

4. Environmental and port fees= 100 pesos each(kids are free)paid 200pesos RT: 400 pesos

50pesos

5. Boat ride fee =25 pesos each x 3 =75pesos RT 150 pesos/3 =50each

50pesos

6. Tricycle from port to your hotel = 150pesos per special ride and just 20-25pesos/person for shared ride but you will be dropped off on specific drop off points only, you have to walk to your hotel/hostel

1000 pesos

7. Hotel fee at Cool stay inn =1500 per night , they have promos of 2+1 where you get the 3rd night free(just check their page), 1500x2=3000pesos/3= 1000each for 3 days 2 nights. If you are on a budget and you are travelling solo you can stay at Chillout hostel boracay for as low as 280pesos per night or less than 500pesos(with breakfast, unlimited coffee and water plus free use of their pool).

1000pesos

8. Food, drinks, liquor, pasalubongs=3000pesos for 3 days for all 3 of us. We did not spend for breakfast as we would have originally stayed with CHILLOUT HOSTEL if our daughter did not come with us and they have free breakfast.

On our first day we ate late lunch at 1 of the carinderias we passed by from our hotel going to the beach while for dinner we ate at D'mall area as most of the affordable choices are there we chose MANG INASAL(coz who does not want unlimited rice right?). For our second day we had brunch courtesy of our free breakfast at Chillout and utilized their pool till around 2pm, we went back to our hotel which is right beside Chillout called CSI Boracay(their sister companies) and slept. Woke up before sunset yo walk from Station 1-3 and we went to D'mall again for dinner this time at ANDOK'S. Had a couole of drinks we bought at 7/11(this is the most affordable option as all place else sells liquor for 50pesosor more.) We also got to have dinks at Epic so we could relax facing the sea. 3rd day lunch was courtesy of the free lunch during our island hopping and for dinner we decided to just buy skme bbq and rice and eat at the hotel(you can also cook at this hotel we stayed).

333.33 pesos

9. Activities - Island hopping, 1000pesos including LUNCH buffet / 3 = 333.33pesos each

33.33 pesos

10. Tricycle from hotel to port = 100 pesos special ride / 3 = 33.33pesos

50pesos

11. UBER from NAIA Terminal 3 to Makati = 150pesos

3653.56 pesos =TOTAL FOR INDIVIDUALS travelling with 2 other adult companions(lesser if travelling with a larger group)

10760.72 pesos = TOTAL FOR FAMILY VACATION with 1 kid

This is already a trip with loads of comfort as we hired the tricycles for special trips and the food and drinks are overflowing. But if you are an individual or family who have already been to this place, then you would spend less than what we did. This is our first time in Boracay and so we may have spent a little over our estimated budget of 10,000pesos but we did enjoy and we will definitely be coming back. How about you? How much did you spend on your BORACAY trip?

Some more of our photos: