Charlie’s Bar where Happy Hour brings you two pina coladas for the price of one - bliss!

View from Charlie’s during Happy Hour

Life’s a beach, and then you dive...
Anon.

Boracay is off the north-western tip of Panay in the Philippines, has clear water, beautiful beaches and no vehicles. It is seven km long and only one km wide. It can only be reached by boat - you have to fly into either Caticlan or Kalibo on Panay and then take an outrigger from Caticlan to one of three stations along the beach.

We didn’t book any accommodation, just walking up the beach checking on room availability and prices until we found a small hotel on a coral outcrop overlooking the beach and surrounded by bougainvillea. So Young has never

forgiven me for the fact that there was no hot water! But it is that sort of resort - you need to bring a torch to walk back from the restaurant in the evening. There are some more up-market hotels but generally it is for independent, experienced travellers who don’t mind minor inconveniences in order to relax in a relatively unspoilt location.

The diving and snorkelling was good without being spectacular; we saw some grey reef sharks, but mostly smaller coral fish. There are also a lot

of good restaurants including a really good Mongolian barbecue, although I ate too many small chillies and was on fire for the rest of the night - a case of showing off gone wrong if I recall correctly!

Our favourite bar is Charlie’s where we watched the sunset each evening.