Price check 2013: here's a list of top things to do in Boracay with latest rates, current prices and tour package rates for your Boracay budget planning, in addition to swimming, beach bumming, bar-hopping, and bikini-babe watching.

Please keep these in mind so as not be duped by people and scammers preying on unsuspecting tourists
Top Things to do on Boracay Island:

White Beach on a horseback?

Can't believe Boracay Tourism people allow horses on White Beach (or the information Tutubi got is incorrect)
(Rate: PhP700.00/hour)

Boracay Segway Rental

Segway tours on the beach is only for the lazy, sickly, or people with finicky feet.

Boracay White Beach's sand does not feel hot on your feet due to its unique chemical composition.
(Rate: PhP1,500.00/hour)

Boracay Paraw Rental (sail boats)/Island-hopping Tour

sailboats, locally known as paraw, with their colorful sails, waiting for customers for a sailing trip

Ah the romantic sunset paraw cruise used in that romantic wedding proposal by the Department of Tourism (DOT) or just paraw rental or Boracay paraw island-hopping tour (Rate: PhP800.00/hour)

Helmet Diving

it's just submerging yourself for a few minutes using a helmet linked to your air-supply. Not something for Tutubi though as he can hold his breath for a few minutes under water. besides the hefty helmet diving rate of PhP1,700.00 is too much for his peso-pinching, budget travel ways

Parasailing


You get to fly above the sea suspended on some sort of parachute (chute or kite whatever) while being pulled by a speedboat. Quite a little adventurous already and with a price of PhP800.00/person is quite alright. (This used to cost around PhP2000++ back then but competitive pricing drove down prices; good for tourists, bad for business)

Boracay ATV Rental

Want to go around Boracay Island on your own, even to Mt. Luho, Boracay's highest peak? You can rent an ATV in Boracay for a pricey rate of PhP3,500.00/hour on White Beach but there are ATV rental shops in Barangay Manoc-manoc near Fairways and Bluewater offering much cheaper rates a tricycle ride away. It's always best to ask around.

All Terrain vehicles (ATV) parked near Mount Luho Viewpoint. Most of the off-roaders were Koreans and other foreigners

ATV stands for all terrain vehicles, motor powered vehicles, variants of which are called dune-buggies or bug cars

If you're on a very tight budget (or just can't stomach how expensive ATV rentals are in Boracay), just walk to the nearest tricycle terminal and rent them to take you to Mt. Luho, will not cost you an arm and a leg, and will probably cost you about PhP300.00/hour depending on your haggling skills.

Boracay Go Kart Racing

What? You came to the best beach in the world to Go Kart? hmmm you must be really bored there with lots of moolah to shell out P2,500.00/15 minutes of adrenaline rush along Boracay's Go Kart racetrack.

Anyway, this is a free country. Do as you wish (walang basagan ng trip)

Sky Cycle Ride:

You ride some sort of a bicycle perched on cables high up. If you're not afraid of heights, this may be for you. Skycycle rate of PhP79.00/ride is cheap enough not to burn a hole in your pocket.

Swim Like a Mermaid in Boracay:

New ideas to lure tourists may be hard to come by in Boracay that some smart people thought of a way to teach tourists how to swim like a mermaid. You will be given mermaid fins and tail and teach you the moves after which you may have your picture taken as mermaid/merman at a price of PhP1500.00. At least you know how it feels like to be Little Mermaid, Dyesebel or Aryana for a short amount of time but not at a cheap price.

Have a massage on the beach

Perfect at the end of your tiring day and the beginning of your nightlife in Boracay. Masseurs there mostly use coconut oil. Massage rates come at PhP300.00. Not bad but if you prefer the facilities of a real spa and you can pay for it, you can get it in some exclusive Boracay resorts e.g. Shangri-la Boracay massage costs PhP5,800.00/hour and be treated like a king/queen, amazing isn't it?

You know what's the best and cheapest thing to do in Boracay? Just walk along the beach and admire the beautiful scenery, beautiful people but never mind the vendors and hecklers who offer you something every 2 steps you take along the way-- the things Tutubi hate about Boracay and other touristy places :(

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This list of top things to do in Boracay is not yet complete. Tutubi's friend who supplied these information has yet to provide some of them including latest rates for banana boat rides, SCUBA diving lessons, snorkeling, jet ski rentals, kiteboarding, kitesurfing, windsurfing, zorb ball, fish spa, et al.

As always, Tutubi does not endorse any company nor is affiliated with any of them offering any of these services and tour packages. You need not have to look for official websites, telephone contact numbers to see them or book/reserve them in advance. Some of those you see on discount voucher sites are still marked up well above these rates and only made you think you've save money (of course the highest discount you can ever get is not to try them at all)

Where to book/try them? Just walk on the beach, you'll see them or people will come to offer them to you, sometimes in droves!

Related Posts on Boracay:
How to Get to Boracay
Halal Food in Boracay

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Aklan, Boracay, Western Visayas

Quezon Memorial Circle used to be a scary place at night and just a jogger's place in the morning but lately there's been many improvements and added attractions like Paddle and Pedal (boat rides), Circle of Joy children's playground, Circle of Fun (ala carnival), various restaurants, bike rentals, tiangge stalls and there's this adventure: the zipline

there are now at least three ziplines in QC, the first one is at the La Mesa Ecopark, then another one at Circulo Verde in Libis, Quezon City and now this new attraction at Quezon City Circle.



Note that Tutubi has yet to try the zipline, height is about 20 meters, length is about 100 meters. safety? can't comment too so no reviews for now

Quezon City Memorial Circle Zipline Rates:
One way: PhP100.00
Two way: PhP150.00

Open daily from 8am to 9pm

no entrance fee at Quezon Memorial Circle
plenty of car parking spaces for PhP15 (cars/vans)

For an online map of Quezon Memorial Circle, click here. For directions and information on how to get there, click the link about if below.

Related Posts on Quezon City:
Quezon City Hall
Quezon Circle Monument

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Metro Manila, Quezon City

Just a quick post, as seen on Jessica Soho, there's a zipline at SM Mall of Asia grounds that costs just PhP150.00/person. No idea of the length and where exactly it is but Tutubi may one day go there, quite far from his home base in QC, not this holy week though as all malls don't open on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

This may have been featured by other travel bloggers but new to him. he has lost his enthusiasm with ziplines (sometimes called flying foxes) as they seemed to have sprouted almost everywhere, typical Filipino "gaya-gaya, puto maya" fashion.

No need to click to expand...as Tutubi said, this is a quick post. :P

Labels: Adventure Tourism

A new community-based adventure tourism initiative in Puerto Princesa, Palawan is the installation of a zipline on top of Ugong Rock, a karst formation in Barangay Tagabenit where the sign along a dirt road leading to the jump-off point was seen by Tutubi on the way to Sabang. It's also one of five projects of the late environmentalist Doc. Gerry Ortega (of ABS-CBN Bantay Kalikasan), together with the Bacungan River Cruise Floating Restaurant, Pambato Reef Dalubkaragatan, dolphin and whale-watching tour in Puerto Princesa Bay and firefly watching tour in Iwahig River.

For the lack of time and no other adventurists with him, Tutubi deferred trying out the new zipline at Ugong Rock and instead posting the information for readers of this blog.

Here's the latest information Tutubi gathered from his correspondence with the Tagabenit Guide Association handling the Ugong Rock tours and zipline adventure package:

Ugong Rock caving/spelunking tour: PhP100.00/head to tour the Ugong Rock formation's cave.

Ugong Rock Zipline (opened on January 22, 2011)
Price for the Ugong Rock climb and zipline: PhP350.00 (introductory rate)
Length of zip line: 330 meters (approximately 21 seconds)
Open hours: 8am to 5pm daily (including Sundays and holidays)
Contact Person: Marivel Ocajada
Contact Numbers: +63.930.862.2750; +63.918.755.8993 for Ugong Rock tour reservations.

Note: you need to climb up Ugong rock (through the cave's cracks and crevices) then go down via the long zipline. There's no cable car nor elevators there. :P

Tutubi intends to visit Palawan again sometime in the future and setting his sights on finally trekking the Monkey Trail (adventure trail leading to the Underground River in Sabang) and this new Zipline in Palawan. (Note this is a new one and Tutubi has yet to see the cables and dampers so he can't comment if the new tourism facility is safe. Recommend waiting for some time for it to establish a safety record)

Should you visit Ugong Rock ahead of Tutubi, please post updated information, pictures and videos by hitting the comments!

you may also be looking for:
palawan zipline, palawan spelunking, caves in palawan, caving, palawan zipline rates, fees

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Ecotourism, Mimaropa, Palawan, Puerto Princesa

First seen by Tutubi on TV with Diane Castillejo and Marc Nelson trying out the Philippines' first Skywalk Extreme on Studio 23 show Sports Unlimited on top of Crown Regency Hotel and Towers in Cebu City's Fuente Osmena, the adventure tourism facility was tried out by Tutubi recently after months of "planning" that eventually materialized along with two of his peers who were able to synchronize their hectic work schedules just to go there together.

After a tireful day working followed by a hearty dinner at Conching's Native Chicken and Fastfood near SM City Cebu, Tutubi and his peers hied off to Crown Regency Hotel to unwind and check out the adventure place they only used to see on tv.

the large logo of Skywalk Extreme where you can pose for souvenir pictures before/after your daring walk
the souvenir photo counter where you can have your pictures printed/saved to CD and to claim your certificates of surviving the skywalk
the turnstile area of the facility, the farthest your camera can go before you store them in your free lockers

Cameras are not allowed while you're doing the SKywalk or Edge Coaster ride, like similar touristy places, they ban cameras not just for safety but for...you know why...and have official photographers, with pathetic photography skills, to take your pictures that you can buy for PhP200 per print or P750 for everything stored in a CD.

The Edge Coaster Ride is a ride around the edge of Crown Regency Hotel and Towers where you can see the panoramic view of Cebu City, day or night, with the full view of the city below you-- not for people afraid of heights!

a stolen shot of Edge Coaster Riders on the 38th floor


The Skywalk Extreme lets you walk around a platform circling the building about 6 feet wide, made of glass so you can see objects below, while you're attached to safety harnesses. A photographer takes your pictures around several scripted poses.

Skywalk Extreme: a pretty thrill-seeker holding on to dear life while striking a pose with Cebu nightscape as a backdrop.

What's so funny was that that Tutubi met two friends from the Mentor group who manages their company's team-building programs but were unaware that there's such a facility at Crown Regency Hotel and Towers that they didn't know even if they were at the hotel the night before.

Tutubi merely narrated a long list of adventure places in the country but cannot divulge his identity to be the author of this travel blog...so much for the primacy of privacy over publicity :(

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SkyAdventure
Location: Crown Regency Hotel and Towers
Fuente Osmena, Cebu City

Rates and fees:
Entrance Fee: PhP200/person
Skywalk Extreme: PhP200/person
Edge Coaster: PhP200/person

Separate entrance fees and rides. Discounts offered for students or for those availing of other promos. Day tour rate of PhP888 inclusive of entrance fee, 1 ride, 4d movie and spa( 1 hour massage)

for updated information or group tours, you may get more information from Sky Adventure's official website or calling their contact numbers for inquiries.

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you may also be looking for skywalk crown regency, edge coaster cebu, sky walk entrance fee

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Cebu, Cebu City, Central Visayas

During pre-Christmas family field trip to Picnic Grove in Tagaytay, it's actually the Tagaytay Zipline and Cable Car that really got the curiosity of Tutubi though he knows it's a shorter version of the dizzying flying foxes of Mindanao particularly in Davao.

UPDATED: June 2015

The zipline cuts across a portion of Tagaytay ridge with lush vegetation below and the shimmering Taal Lake and Taal Volcano as backdrop. One souvenir photo is free to brave souls who tried to cross over. Mugs with photos of your adrenaline rush moment for sale at PhP200.



The zipline system uses a harness that can carry three persons as big as sumo wrestlers and two orange-colored tires as dampers to soften the landing on the platform

Flying like Superman with Taal Volcano on the background



Across the same valley and along the "flying fox" is Tagaytay cable car though the better can be found at Tagaytay Highlands.





Tagaytay Zipline and Cable Car is a separate company and not under the management of Tagaytay Picnic Grove.

Tagaytay Zipline specifications:

Height: 300 feet
Length: 250 meters
Speed: 60 kilometers per hour


UPDATED: March 2014

Picnic Grove Entrance Fee: PhP50.00

Tagaytay Zipline Rates and Souvenir Prices:
Weekday rate: PhP200.00/person one-way, PhP300.00/person round trip
Weekend and Holiday rate: PhP300.00/person one-way, PhP400.00/person round trip
Tip: parking can be a challenge in weekends but the area has large parking area but not much restaurants for a Tagaytay food trip

rates come with 1 free souvenir photo

Operating Hours:

Open Daily: 9am to 6pm
Open during Holidays (Christmas, Holy Week (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, Easter Sunday), New Years Day, Labor Day, my Birthday :)

Picnic Grove Foot spa:

(tip: try it on a weekday if you're a big group if you can to save on total zipline cost.)

Nope, this zipline is not the nearest to Metro Manila for in Quezon City Memorial Circle and at La Mesa Ecopark there are now ziplines in operation. The latest seems to be the new 200 meter long and 20 ft. high Rocket Zipline in Corregidor. Subic Tree Top Adventure Park also has what they call Superman zipline and all the others are in Mindanao.

Related Posts:

How to get to Tagaytay
Tagaytay Picnic Grove
Davao Zipline
La Mesa Ecopark

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Metro Tagaytay, Tagaytay City

An engineer and avid fan of megastructures, Tutubi was able to cross San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the country connecting the islands of Samar and Leyte, even in the middle of heavy rains.

This time, he went off to check for himself the newly-opened bridge in Leyte Island in the town of Sogod. This he did by canceling an earlier planned trip to Sohoton Cave in Basey, Samar across Leyte Gulf.

Agas-agas Bridge from one end of the viaduct. Note the bahay kubo (native huts) below to add scale
The two piers supporting the bridge with a height of 292 feet visible on this photo. The platform on the sides of the bridge made available another bungee jumping in the Philippines' Eastern Visayas region

Recently inaugurated by PGMA, Agas-agas bridge was constructed to address the safety issues of frequent landslides and erosion in the area particularly during heavy rains and typhoons. I was funded by the Japanese government through the Official Development Assistance (ODA) fund and construction supervised by Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. of Japan.

a "side view" of the bridge taken from the old dangerous road it replaced
The tallest Bridge in the Philippines lies at kilometer 1007 marker and only habal-habal (motorcycle taxis) are available as public transportation from Mahaplag, Leyte or Sogod, Southern Leyte

With huge potential as an adventure tourism destination, made a part of the 350 meter long viaduct is a platform specifically for bungee jumping enthusiasts. Aficionados of other extreme sports like paramotor, downhill skateboarding zipline and rapelling are also expected to visit the Philippines highest bridge.

DPWH Agas-agas Bridge Field Office with ample parking space for possible adventurers to park their vehicles

(right picture: the two huts in the green valley below the bridge with a small waterfall in view, part of the Leyte Mountain Trail)

Tutubi wasn't able to see or experience any extreme sports at Agas-agas but on his return to Dulag, Leyte that he realized that he was able to set foot on the province of Southern Leyte.

How to get there:

Don't even think of commuting to Agas-agas bridge for for there's no public transportation that pass by the route except the hardy habal-habal. Mahaplag is a town of Southern Leyte and can be reached after about two hours travel from Tacloban City, about 70 kilometers away via zig-zag roads cutting through the beautiful landscapes of the so-called Leyte Mountain Trail. The bridge is located at the kilometer 1007 marker.

Related Posts:

The Longest Bridge of the Philippines

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Bridges, Eastern Visayas, Southern Leyte

Zip lines, according to wikipedia, consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. They are designed to enable a user propelled by gravity to traverse from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable, usually made of stainless steel, by holding on or attaching to the freely moving pulley." It's also known as a flying fox, zip wire, aerial runway, death slide or tyrolean crossing).

After seeing the Camp Sabros zip line featured at Sports Unlimited, an adventure tv show, with Dyan Castillejo doing the slide and another feature of the camp by Susan Enriquez on Kay Susan Tayo Sunday morning tv, Tutubi got the basic information for the gaining popularity of the zip line in Davao del Sur.

The zip line at Camp Sabros, currently the second longest zip line in the Philippines, boast of a length of 380 meters and 400 meters (yes, there are two of them). The 380 meter is called Slide for Life, 150 feet from the ground and takes an average of 50 seconds to ride.

Zip Line Cost:
Solo Ride : PhP 200.00
Tandem Ride" PhP 150.00/head
Round trip: PhP 400.00

How to get to Camp Sabros:

Digos City is approx 50km from Davao City. To commute there, board a bus at the Ecoland Bus Terminal in Davao, either Davao Metro Shuttle, or Weena Bus. Travel time is about 1.5 hours. Better contact vans for hire to take you to the trekkers checkpoint when you get to Digos City bus terminal.

From Davao City or Gen. Santos City, hire a van, preferably a 4x4 or SUV, to take you to Digos City. Travel time is about ninety minutes. In Digos, look for direction signs to Kapatagan then towards Mt. Apo National Park and Mt. Apo Mountaineering Trekkers Information Center, a militaty checkpoint in Sitio Baras, Kapatagan, Digos City. From there, you need to trek uphill for about 30 minutes to reach the Camp Zabros.

Camp Sabros
Telephone number for reservations and inquiries: Edwin Sacdalan at +63.920.875.0015
Camp Sabros has no official website
Camp Sabros Entrance Fee: None (isn't that great?)

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Outland Adventure or Project Challenge Foundation
Talomo District, Davao City

The Accelerator, 200 feet high, one kilometer in length and sends the zip-line adventurer flying at 100 kilometers per hour is very much appealing to speed freaks.

Claimed as the longest and fastest zip-line in Asia, a record previously held by Samui Fun Park in Koh Samui in Thailand with its 730 meters flying fox.

Is the zip line safe? For safety of riders, the zip-line uses a redundant harnesses cables and pulleys plus a three break system to further reduce risks.

Cost: P950 to P1,250 per person (corporate rate). No telephone numbers or official website as of this time.

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Another zip line in Davao is located at Eden Nature Park called the Sky Rider!
Eden Nature Park PhP 235/person day tour

How To get to Eden Nature Park:

either you hire your own vehicle (van for hire or car rental) or book beforehand for the shuttle service to the park with pick-up point and drop-off point at Matina Town Square (popularly called MTS) every Saturday and Sunday (twice a day) at 830am and 11am (with return trips at 1:30pm and 4pm respectively) at a cost of PhP200.00/person. On weekends, the shuttle is available for special trips at PhP1,500.00

To reserve a seat, please call +63.82.299.1020; +63.82.296-0791; +63.82.299-0313; +63.918.930.7590 or email info@edennatureparl.com.ph

List of Other Zip Lines in the Philippines:

Macahambus Adventure Zipline, Cagayan De Oro City
110 meters and height of 60 meters high (approximately 14 secs)

The Zamboanga del Sur canopy walk and Zipline
154 meters in length, about 80 feet above ground
Location: Dao (former PADAP compound), Zamboanga del Sur

In Luzon, a zip line also beckons adventurers to Tree Top Adventure Park in Subic Bay. It's 130 meters long called Superman Adventure, the zipline at Picnic Grove in Tagaytay, another zipline at Camp Explore in Antipolo, Rizal and the nearest of them all is at the La Mesa Ecopark in Quezon City.

For those involved in Tourism, the old adage is really true: Build it and they will come!

Sources and Links:

Kay Susan Tayo, Sports Unlimited
Directions and information given by a friend of Tutubi living in Digos City
Wikipedia
My Sinigang
Pedroiho

UPDATED: November 30, 2008

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Davao City, Davao Del Sur, Davao Region

The Philippines is a veritable bird watching mecca that can lay claim as having the most number of endemic bird species per square kilometer, greater than Indonesia and Brazil. It's sad though that many of them are listed as either threatened or endangered species. Foremost among these is the majestic Philippine Eagle.

The country also lies in the path of bird migration with Candaba, Pampanga,
Olango Island in Cebu and Agusan Marsh in Mindanao, where thousands of migratory birds from Japan and mainland Asia escape the winter.

In Metro Manila, the University of the Philippines (UP) campus, you can spot a number of birds besides the ubiquitous maya (rice bird): blue-winged kingfishers, orange-tinged Cattle Egret, Barred Rail, White Breasted Waterhen, Brush Cuckoo, Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, the colorful Colasisi, andAshy Ground Thrush.

Bird Watching Sites in Metro Manila:

University of the Philippines (UP) campus, Quezon City
Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Quezon City
Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat
Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City

For serious bird watchers, there is now the “Birdwatching in the Philippines” manula that serves as a guide to several bird-watching sites:

Puerto Princesa City’s Subterranean River National Park;
Rasa Island (Narra, Palawan);
Hundred Islands National Park;
Bangrin Marine Protected Area (Bani, Pangasinan);
Subic Bay Freeport Zone;
Balanga City (Bataan);
Candaba Marsh (Pampanga);
Mt. Palay-Palay National Park (Ternate, Cavite);
Villa Escudero (Tiaong, Quezon),
Alcoy Forest (Cebu);
Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat
Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary (Lapu-Lapu City) and the
Philippine Eagle Center (Davao City).

Bird Waching Tours and Packages:

Wild Bird Club of the Philippines who organizes the annual Philippine Bird Festival
http://www.birdwatch.ph/

Haribon
http://haribon.ph

“A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines” by Robert S. Kennedy, Pedro C. Gonzales, Edward C. Dickinson, Hector C. Miranda Jr. and Timothy H. Fisher.

“Birdwatching in the Philippines” Volume 1 produced by the Department of Tourism in cooperation with the Wild Bird Club and the Recreational Outdoor Exchange. The bird watching manual written by Carlos M. Libosada Jr., book design by Robert Alejandro illustrated by Arnel Telesforo and many photographs from a team of professional photographers cum bird-watchers.

Labels: Adventure Tourism, Birdwatching