Was it the romantic crab and prawns lunch spread out on the beachfront of Ilig-iligan island, each of us holding a fresh buko drink as we watched the surf?
Was it the in-room massage that led to a foot-spa session down near the poolside?
Was it the romantic dinner by candlelight, a bottle of Spanish wine complementing an array of local Aklan dishes prepared specially for us?
Or was it simply the nocturnal pool session, just the two of us, each holding a Piña Colada as we submerged ourselves in the warm waters and the relaxing sounds of Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and Natalie Cole?
It was a tough call, so we decided that all of the above were highlight moments, courtesy of Boracay Tropics, SEAIR and the careful attention of the resort’s marketing consultant, Annie Concovar.
Developed by Bert and Cely Sarabia, the 50-room Boracay Tropics was envisioned as an oasis, sheltered by bamboo walls and encircled by spas, lush landscaping and the TropiCafé – a restaurant that, viewed at night, with its Japanese-style booths overhung with white fabric and colorful paper lamps, looks more like an Asian interiors showroom than an eatery.
The thoughtful décor at Boracay Tropics, which opened last December and has since received its AAA rating from the Department of Tourism, is a collaboration between the owners, landscapers and restaurant managers, but the main look was achieved by designer Andy Galutera and architect Roland Polendey – they came up with the inlaid ceramic fish along the pebbled stairways, the mosaic patterns on the walkways, and the lagoon-inspired pool design, while ceramics artist Augusto "Ugu" Bigyan did the fish sculptures in the resort’s waiting area. The overall feel is recaptured Bali: a little Arabesque trimming, some batik patterns and a lot of draped fabric. The landscaping and pocket gardens were executed by local old-timer Ka Mele, while the stone and wood detailing on the main structures adds a Mediterranean feel. Local touches – like the sliding capiz shell windows and the bamboo furniture – remind you that you’re in the Philippines, of course.
The resort boom is still on in Boracay, with up to 25 resorts being built per year. (The building frenzy will continue until 2008.) The new resorts range from modest places with less than 10 cabins to international hotels of up to 200 rooms that have yet to break ground.
Finding your way through the maze of bamboo décor, swimming pools and umbrella drinks can be daunting for travelers. That’s why it was nice to find an unexpected treasure in Boracay Tropics, facing the Main Road near Station 1 of the island billed as one of the world’s paradises. Convocar mentions that Boracay Tropics, though relatively new on the Boracay map, has had a lot of "walk-in" bookings from tourists who arrive without quite knowing where to stay. Must be the inviting showcase window of TropiCafé that lures them in.
Along with the regular rooms and suites, Boracay Tropics has two cabanas with three self-contained rooms apiece, which can be rented out by groups. They offer separate kitchens, bathrooms and facilities, while each room has a stocked mini-bar, cable TV, a bidet and a combination safe.
Unlike many medium-sized resorts, Boracay Tropics has a single entrance passing by the front desk that encloses the cabin area. This ensures better security, while the bamboo walls surrounding the resort offer a high degree of privacy. Some may balk at the idea of staying somewhere that’s "not beachside," but a short three- to four-minute walk takes you right onto the beach (Boracay Tropics may want to invest in some reserved beachfront chairs for guests, however). Being next to the Main Road, on the other hand, makes it a snap to snag tricycle rides from one end of the island to the other.
And we also found that what’s inside the bamboo walls of Boracay Tropics may entice you to stay put, instead of doing the usual beachcombing. Thanks to the kind assistance of Convocar, we were able to explore every facet of the resort, plus indulge in a "Honeymoon Package" that was memorably tailored to our short stay.
You might think "off season" is slow on Boracay, but Boracay Tropics had a steady influx of guests during our weekend stay. Families, groups and a meeting of the Travel Agents Association of the Philippines provided most of the traffic. Korean and Chinese tourist arrivals are still growing at a 20-percent clip, according to SEAIR’s vice president for Commercial Affairs Patrick Tan. With a 40-minute flight to Caticlan airport through SEAIR (which now claims about 36 percent of the Manila-to-Caticlan route), it was an even easier journey than the last time we visited Boracay – about a year ago, also during habagat season. And though we were told heavy rains had swept through Boracay the past two weeks, we were mercifully spared any downpours – until we headed home Monday morning. That’s what I call timing.
We started our morning at Boracay Tropics with some island hopping – after the resort’s signature welcome drink, a concoction of mango and cucumber juice that was refreshing and very healthy.
The resort has its own bangka, which it uses to ferry "honeymoon" guests around the surrounding islands, and offers a unique way to catch the sunset: paraw-sailing around the perimeter of Boracay, accompanied by music and cocktails. Any couple would find this an idyllic and romantic way to wind down the afternoon.
But first, we headed over to Crystal Cove, to explore its two cave systems. Therese and I had visited the Crystal Caves before some eight years ago, but this time we were quite lucky: the underground cave tunnel connecting the two snorkeling sites was not submerged by the tides. So we gamely passed through a very spooky, very narrow passage opening up to crystal-clear waters for a bit of fish-ogling.
Despite all the controversy about Boracay’s overdevelopment, it still does offer some of the finest snorkeling and diving this side of Asia. I’ve tried many diving sites around Asia, visited many islands, but few compare to the Philippines’ variety of marine life. Especially off of nearby Crocodile Island (which we visited toward the end of the day, and so named for its resemblance to the reptile, not for any sightings). There, among about a half dozen other sightseeing boats (though there was no snorkeling traffic underwater), we explored the rich coral system to our heart’s content. My wife likened the coral to a condo complex, and she’s right: the fish come and go about their business, endlessly exploring their private worlds. It really is a different world underwater, and I’d take a day of snorkeling over watching television – well, most days, anyway.
After Crystal Cove, we visited a more secluded spot: Ilig-iligan, which has its small fishing community, but still provides a perfectly private place for an oceanfront lunch. Rolly Navallo, food and beverage manager of TropiCafé and Bar, had something special set up for us on the beach: a spread of fresh prawns and cooked crabs, laid out on a mat with fresh fruits and fresh buko juice (which we’d purchased out on the waters from a floating vendor). It was great to finally kick back and enjoy the scenery after all our underwater exertions.
Boracay Tropics arranges such beachfront picnics as part of their honeymoon package for an extra fee. It’s nice to have your lunch waiting for you, and you couldn’t pick a more scenic spot than Ilig-iligan island.
The afternoon back at Boracay Tropics was spent enjoying the amenities of the "Honeymoon Program." This meant an in-room massage for this happy couple, followed by some foot spa and nail salon therapy. The resort also offers a kid’s playroom with video games and a KTV room for those keen on karaoke, so as mentioned, it’s pretty easy to forget you’re on Boracay and confine yourself to the confines of your resort.
If you’re serendipitous, you’ll choose to slip into the kidney-shaped pool around dusk, when everyone else is off making dinner plans, and find that very rare quality on Boracay: unhampered, blissful solitude. A place like Boracay Tropics, set back from the mad hustle of the main beach, makes this escape that much easier.
Being different is first priority here, from the interior design to the food. TropiCafé is one of the few restaurants on the island serving authentic Aklanon food, and worth a trip on its own. Navallo, who cut his teeth in Manila restaurants, designed a native honeymooners’ dinner for us under a romantic, candlelit umbrella by the pool.
Though the oysters gratin and Szechuan prawns were excellent (don’t miss the amazing house specialty, patatim, perfected by a Chinese chef Cely pirated from Binondo), the highlight was the three Aklanon dishes. First was sinuam sa tahong, a delicately flavored clear soup of mussels and clams gently poached with spring onions and lemongrass, a popular Aklan herb. Then came laswa, a vegetable dish with patola, saluyot, eggplant and okra cooked in coconut milk, hibi (dried shrimp), and lots of ginger. But for Aklanons, the piece de resistance has to be their inubarang manok, native chicken flavored with lemongrass and served with heart of banana.
After dinner, we were up for some nightlife, so we headed to Club Paraw, past Station 1 and away from the madding crowd. It doesn’t start hopping till after midnight, so we enjoyed some prime chill time on the beach, where the club sets up mats, cushions and candlelit tables. Cushions seem to have become a signature of Boracay: a hip chill-out room we visited the previous day, the Bamboo Lounge, also had cushions instead of seats, and Boracay Tropics’ TropiCafé also has romantic, Japanese-chic raised booths draped with cloth and decked out with cushions. After all, it’s a tropical island: if you can’t kick back and chill out on cushions here, forget about it.