Boracay was absolutely a dream. A lot of our friends from Korea were on the island at the same time, so it was so fun to just walk down the beach and run into people we know. We also made friends with a few of the locals who live on the island and spent a few days running around with them too. There were motorcycle rides (sorry mom), grilled fish on the beach, tons of swimming, a lot of fruit shakes, (too) many late nights and early mornings, beautiful sunsets, great meals, a little bit of a lot of rain for a short time, excellent full body massages for $8, cheap beer and fire dancing. It was so great that as soon as I got home I was perusing flight prices to get me back there. It was amazing to have a break from Korea and especially somewhere warm and sunny and with so many friendly people. I really hope I can explore more of the beautiful Philippines soon.

Favourites:

Damianas / Ti Braz / Fuel: This cool, quaint little restaurant has 3 menus (and a bar!) and was one of my favourite spots on the island. A friend of mine is the head chef here, and his Filipino food was hands down the most authentic and delicious I tried during my week in the Philippines. There are also delicious juices and smoothies here, and a whole wall full of fresh, yummy options for the homemade crepes made right in front of you.

Spider House: If you walk all the way down White Beach and follow the curve of the coast, you’ll eventually come to this beautiful, perfect restaurant and bar. It’s hard to explain this place: it’s built into the cliff, it’s all open to the ocean, the floors are bamboo and only slightly rickety, there’s a bamboo ladder leading from the restaurant straight down into the ocean (and a diving platform), the food is delicious, the drinks are good and the owner is very friendly. It’s magic.

Tilapia n’ Chips: This little restaurant is a little away from the beach, up by the main road, and doesn’t have the beachfront views. But! It’s delicious and inexpensive. There’s a lot of touristy food on Boracay, and we had a few slightly disappointing meals before we found spots that we loved, like this place.

Crafty’s Rooftop Bar: This place is in an unlikely place – the roof of a grocery store right on the main road. You walk through the brightly-lit store and up the four flights of stairs and come up to an adorable rooftop bar with great vibes, views over the island and really yummy Indian food.

Real Coffee: Our favourite place to have breakfast. The second floor window seats have the best views of the beach, the staff are friendly, the food is good, my friends who like coffee tell me the coffee is good, and their famous calamansi muffins are 100% worth the hype.

Jonah’s Fruit Shakes: Our other favourite place to have breakfast. There are hundreds of places that sell cheap fruit shakes on Boracay, but these ones are the best. They have so many different flavours and they’re all so yummy. My favourites were mango pineapple and mango banana. Om nom.

Villa Lourdes: While our shower and the wifi in our room rarely worked, and we got a rude wakeup call every morning from the roosters in the yard, the location of this Airbnb was absolutely perfect and the price was right. We had a room with a double bed, a bunk bed, and a mattress on the floor up in a second-floor loft room. It was perfect for us and right in the heart of it all in Station 2, only a 5 minute walk from the beach.