AS SEEN ON TV
Boracay, it’s all about moments
If you consider Boracay your “happy place” and you go there often enough since the 1980’s you would witness the island’s evolution from the treadbeaten, secluded, wayward paradise that it used to be, to the bustling, pricey tropical metropolis that it is today.
I remember trips to the island in the late 80’s when one had to endure an ardous 7-hour land trip from Iloilo to Caticlan—- on a mostly unpaved, dusty road—- to dip in Boracay’s legendary crystal clear waters. You arrived in the island literally coated with dust from split end to toenail, that dropping dead on the shores after a long and bumpy ride—- made you blend well with Boracay’s sugar-fine sands like a flounder. These immaculately-white sands of Boracay— so cool to the feet despite the scorching sun.
Boracay has always been worth all the hassle a traveler has to go through to get there. Its waters were made to refresh tired souls and its sunsets are a breath-taker, unmatched even by the postcard-perfect Manila Bay afternoon capper. All these natural treats make me go back to the island again and again.
In the decades that followed, Boracay was to be christened “the world’s best beach” by travelers globally because of these natural, sensual attributes.
* * * *
Back in the 80’s we had to bring our own water, food, sleeping cots, “camping gear” and medicines. Even beer and soda were on “bring your own” basis as one needs as only a few sell them in the island. One had to have his entire life in tow to survive in a place that provided essentials as bare as palm trees for shade and a toilet as vast the Sulu Sea cradling paradise island.
For everything else we need to go to Malay Municipality, which Boracay is a part of. It is the nearest place to run to for ice, canned goods, merthiolate (no Betadine then) and local knowledge. To discover the island’s many secrets, one had to ask around for routes to the jungle where fruit bats thrived, or the secluded Puka beach, named after Puka shells that used to bejewel the cove, until shell adornments became in fashion. Today, Puka beach is divested of Puka shells forever gone to wrists, necks and ankles of the vain who came and left the island.
Small Aeta communities inhabited Boracay which was owned by a few families who never even dreamed they were sitting on a gold mine until they were sweet talked by visionary capitalists, to whom they sold their property at regretfully low prices.
* * * *
I once asked a local what Boracay meant. I was told that “Bora” (Aklanon term for “bubble”) meant sea foam formed by waves careening into shore; and “Cay” was some fisherman’s endearment to a wife who awaited the day’s catch along the shores of the Boracay of simpler times.
No one’s really sure how the island got its name. Today kids even call the island “Bora”. Just like the island, its name also evolves, taking on a different form.
* * * *
Dining used to be crude in Boracay. Canned food, eggs and other meals can be cooked by locals for a fee. Cooking then was as uncomplicated as barbecue.
There was also fresh seafood that one may buy from vendors coming from nearby Mindoro. One had to chance on the very few of them who are adventurous enough to brave 8-meter waves to cross to Boracay and sell fish, lobsters, crabs, shrimp and shellfish at pristine prices free of tax or the “never-heard-of” service charge so prevalent in goods and services in the Boracay of today.
There was no electricity in the island whose beach front used to be dotted sparsely with simple, basic Pinoy type cottages mostly made of native materials. It was unthinkable to build concrete resorts back then (let alone high rises) as the cost to ship cement from mainland to island would be more than the price of land per square meter. Tall (island) tales say before the Boracay boom land sold so cheap that today’s value meal is thrice more expensive.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s Boracay was a favorite destination of back pack tourists from Europe who wanted the secluded beach experience that will not hurt their pockets. They fell in love with the island and told the world about it.
* * * *
Kissing and telling on Boracay paved the way for more tourists to come and businesses to prosper from tourism money that increasingly poured in.
Today the cost of land in Boracay would shame prime Metro Manila real estate. The famous white beach is peppered with all kinds of resorts, bars and restaurants of various stars and classes interspersed by a sea of human settlement, legal and otherwise.
It also has malls, department stores, radio stations, clinics, hardware shops and even a stock market brokerage where one can make oodles of money while on vacation. Going to Boracay today is never really like leaving home (or office).
Boracay now has a Makati side (with upscale resorts) an Ermita side (for budget tourists) and everything in between. Tourists can choose resorts, hotels or hostels as diverse as their tastes, preferences and financial circumstances.
A lot of people have even chosen to live in the island, lured by morsels from the island’s tourism-driven economy.
The island also has amenities and infrastructure dwarfing many other pretend cities in the country. Lately they have allowed cars in the island, creating the unthinkable—— traffic congestion in Boracay’s main artery.
But despite these inconvenient conveniences, Boracay has kept its charm and it continues to beckon me and my wife. As long as the basics remain: sea, sand, breeze and sunset, our Boracay moments live on.
* * * *
And on my 22nd trip to Boracay, my wife and I gave my son his first taste of beach.
He didn’t have to go through a punishing bus trip as it only took minutes for his plane from Manila to get to destination.
He arrived to a Boracay with all the comforts of home. Diapers and milk are a ride away from the resort and there was food in a moment’s order. There was even fast food when he needed the grub urgently.
He had ice cream wherever and whenever he wanted and he did not have to wait for his bottled drink to cool under the sand and surf for hours like we used to.
It may not be the island his father and mother had known but it’s the same one we—- as a family—- have grown to love. The hours under the sun seemed like eternity. The frolicking, the carefree splashes and the laughter are proof that my son is carving his own beach experience in Boracay—- one he may even rename his “Bora experience”.
It doesn’t matter.
* * * *
My heartfelt thanks to the team of Seawind Boracay for making our stay pleasant as always. From the Manila reservation team, Nina and Judith, to the Boracay team headed by the ever attentive and hospitable Mommy Melai who treats guests like family.
All that pampering surely made us “cast our cares to the wind”.
