Boracay Island, Aklan | Self-Exiled in Boracay: Activities You'll be Better Off Not Doing

Puka Beach

There are lots of things to experience once in Boracay. Some are great, some average and some are just bad on the stokedtraveler’s fun-meter and not worthy of another try. 

 Here are a few regretful things that he did and wished he hadn’t done so in the first place.


1. Grab a free buffet lunch/dinner in Astoria Boracay. Yes it is free! The regular buffet rate of P420 is waived. You just have to approach one of the hotel staff in front of Astoria (between Station 1 and 2) and ask to be scheduled for an orientation of the hotel membership. The buffet menu was ok and the desserts were fine. 

You get to have maybe two servings (it’s a buffet) before the hotel staff starts asking you if you are ready for the presentation. When you are finally done eating, you are given a quick tour of the hotel then off to the presentation room. 

The people inside the room were incredibly noisy. It was almost as if people were shouting at each other. The presenter will try to first lead you to think about your dream travels and how much costly it would be. After which, he will begin offering you “solutions” on how you can have your dream hotel accommodations at cheaper rates. Naturally, what follows is sales pitch. It was a gruesome 3 hours spent total. It will make you just want to pay for the meal instead of wasting your precious Boracay time! But, if you are into doing investing in such things without first seeing a written contract then this might just be your thing. Just remember that you will have to bring a credit card or atleast P20,000 cash to avail of what they are pitching at you.

2. Island Hopping. Most offers will range around P1,800 to P2,200 for a medium boat that can fit 9+ people. Hawkers argue that small boats (P1,600) can only accommodate up to 6 pax and that a group of 9 requires a medium boat. After some haggling, the group (9 pax) finally got a deal to have a medium-sized boat rented out for P1,600 – the same published price as that of a small boat. Island hopping includes a stopover to a snorkeling site and to Puka beach. Crystal Cove was closed for visitors at the time. 

Check your life vests too, make sure they are still in good condition. You'll need them to survive while snorkeling on water with strong undercurrent 

The snorkeling site had strong undercurrent that would pull swimmers away from the boat in just a few seconds. Although there was no shortage of fishes, it wasn’t the most pleasant snorkeling experience. Puka beach was the better half of the boat trip. It had the old untouched beauty that Boracay had and the waters were calm and clear. Unfortunately, it was already very late in the afternoon and the group had to catch the ATV ride to get a good view of the Boracay sunset.

3. ATV. There are a few operators in the area offering this activity. Watch out for “Happy Dreamland”.  Their ATV bikes are quite old and the stokedtraveler had to change his ride maybe twice because the makeshift brakes weren’t working. The trail they provided going up to Mt. Luho was not all terrain quality at all. It was just like driving your ATV on a regular road but uphill. ATV’s are All-Terrain Vehicles. What’s the point of riding one when you can’t even get on a dirt road? 

The ATV trail, you get to share this with tricycles, vans and other vehicles too! yey!

Anyway, Happy Dreamland may have the most number of ATV/Buggy rides this side of Boracay and they have an amusement park (more like a mini zoo + “perya” in boracay). But it doesn’t compensate for the fact that their ATV’s are old and their trail is uninteresting. Their amusement park was also full of flying insects just after 6pm. 

Don’t pay for the ATV ride right away, make sure that you are given good quality ATV bikes or just move to the next tour operator. You may also just consider other places in Philippines to ride on an authentic ATV adventure. 

Sky Cycle, one of the awkward yet thrilling rides on the amusement park

Note: Along the trail of the ATV, you will also find the “Zorb” park that is well advertised. It didn’t make an impression to the stokedtraveler though. The water on which the Zorb ball will fall into was a murky pool and the stretch of the slide wasn’t probably long enough to get excited about.

4. Helmet Dive. Although it is not the stokedtraveler’s time in Boracay, it was his first time to try helmet diving –and will also be the last. Sure Helmet diving looks cool in the photos but that was pretty much all there is to it. You put on a heavy helmet then go underwater. They cordon off a small area to separate the reef from the walking space. As soon as everyone in your group is underwater, the diver will ask everyone to get close to each other for him to be able to take the photo/video souvenir. 

It's like being on the wrong end of an aquarium

You can walk a little but only as far as the cordoned area and the air tube connected to your helmet will allow you. According to the orientation, the activity is anywhere between 20-30mins. In reality, it seemed like it was just 15mins and that was already more than enough. Nothing much to do or see underwater (the reef was not even close to what you will see in other dive sites). Also, some helmets aren’t well maintained and you will notice some cracks lining the glass. The viewing angle that the rectangular shaped glass gives makes it difficult to navigate your way underwater.

Save your time and money by skipping these activities. Best use them on activities that made it to the recommended Boracay activities blog.

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