12 Ways to Really Enjoy Your Marine Walk + Island Hopping in Boracay

Leave all your hydrophobia behind and start considering half a day Island Hopping with Marine Walk in Boracay. Aside from getting the experience of dipping yourself in the beautiful blue green waters of the island, you will discover that Boracay is more than just a white sand beach with many chicks in bikinis.

In Island Hopping, your boat will be your bestfriend so prepare to rock with it for some adventure of a lifetime! Try to get the best deal with the locals offering Island Hopping services without cutting their throats. You can normally get a 4-hour Island Hopping for as low as PhP2,00.00 per group (We are 5 in the family.) and if you're lucky they may even take you in front of Manny Pacquiao's private rest house located at the other end of the island. They don't normally volunteer to offer this one. But sure you can urge.

There are many interesting private resorts in the island not known to the eyes of many. You need a chartered boat in order to get there. But you may be able to get a sight of them if you're going Island Hopping. These places are hideouts of folks who love the island's white sands but not the loud night party`sounds.

If you're curious on how beers and other commodities reach the island, you will get the chance to see how all these logistics activities happen when you explore the outside waters. People are quite surprisingly just using a common boat to transport all those stuffs from the base port to Boracay Island. Along with the porters and carriers in just one boat. Click on the photo above to see it in a larger size. Amazing, eh?

There are a couple of Marine Walk stations like the one shown above. You will need to register and pay first at the Marine Walk service provider before your guide or boatman takes you here. Then again I think you can also ask your guide or boatman to haggle for the price of the Marine Walk for you. I have heard that service providers can charge as high as PhP1,000.00 per head. Whereas our guide haggled for us to as low as PhP500.00 per head.

Listen carefully to the instructions of your Marine Walk guide. He will give you tips on how to neutralize on your breathing as you wear the helmet and submerge your whole being to the waters. Take a look at the simple tips below that you may follow as soon as you encounter difficulty with your breathing or as soon you felt some pressure pounding on your ears underwater.

• Swallow.
• Move your jaw left and right.
• Breathe through your mouth.

Afterwards, using your hands communicate to the guides who will be with you. They shall not only ensure your safety but also take your photos and videos, give you bread crumbs to feed the fishes and maybe even help you find Nemo (the clownfish) if it's your lucky day! Here are some of the hand gestures I remembered.

• OK gesture = "Everything is alright. Let's go and find Nemo now."
• Flat hand, palm below, shaky gesture = "Something's wrong. Help me fix this glitch. I need to see that clownfish!'
• Index finger pointing upward = "Let's go up. I quit. I'll just catch the movie in the DVD again."
• Peace sign = "Picture! Picture!"

The small helmet weighs around 25 Kg. while the larger one is around 30. I am not sure about the exact science applied on this helmet but it's amazing. Pressurized oxygen perhaps that disallows the water from coming in to the helmet and thus allows us to breathe? Nah. Better drop the topic.

Oh yes! Sometimes lucky divers are able to spot some clown fishes in the area. The guides say they come very rare and they usually hide in the corals. You're a one hot lucky guy if you can see one or two.

All the while I thought I was going to see some crocodiles in the Crocodile Island. But what we found is something more interesting than that. Look at the formation of the island in the picture above.

I dunno what magic this Sea Buko vendor have inside his turban but I was totally amazed at (1) how he manage to get himself and his coconuts intact amidst the wavy sea with his flat and slightly dilapidated  kayak and paddle (2) how he was able to cut open the coconuts in just three strokes and (3) where does he keep his bills / money without having 'em wet?

I bought three coconuts for us out of amazement.

Sea Buko anyone?

Sold only in the Philippines.
 

If you like caves, there's actually a cave near the island that's perfect for spelunking. It comes with a fee of PhP200.00 per head though inclusive a tour guide. Try it for fun!

Of course, you can always request your boatman to take you to a nearby bay and stay there for a while before going back to the island. Reflect. Take a picture. Watch the sun as it begin to set. And then enjoy the entire experience of being one of the only few people who can be there at that time. If you're a big thinker, imagine having your own rest house too somewhere near. Like Manny Pacquiao's.

So ready to do your Island Hop somewhere? Tell me about it, ayt?