Fly to Boracay and become a mermaid！ Boracay also has a branch of the Mermaid School.

Text/Photos bySheila

Once, after a meeting, I impulsively bought a round-trip ticket to Boracay as I returned to my seat. Since I was traveling alone, there was no need to discuss it with anyone—I just went for it, very carefree. (Spotlight on me, please!) I have absolutely no sense of numbers; I only scored 13 on the math section of my university entrance exam, so naturally, I didn’t compare flight prices or anything. I’m just someone who’s bad at math and also very lazy. Anyway, I saw that during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday period, Cebu Pacific Air had three seats left, so I immediately swiped my credit card. It felt like when you’re shopping and the salesperson says, “Only one left in all our stores province-wide!” Could you not buy it?? Could you really not buy it?? In short, I’m weak in math and also weak in willpower.

▲ To fit the theme, here’s a photo of me in mermaid class on Boracay.

▲ Why go to Boracay?

I don’t know why, but when I was a kid, I really wanted to go to Boracay. I even forced a friend who was going to Boracay to buy me a custom-printed T-shirt with “Sheila ♥ Boracay” printed on it. My friend actually got it for me, but later I thought, there’s no point wearing that shirt. People would definitely ask, “Oh, you’ve been to Boracay? Was it fun?” But I’d never been haha. Anyway, I never ended up wearing it out.

▲ Oh, I just looked it up—those custom T-shirts were ordered from a famous shop on Boracay called Island Souvenirs.
Strangely enough, I also once casually said I wanted to have a beach wedding in Boracay when I grow up. Looking back, I feel like my ambitions were way too small. Island weddings should definitely be held in places like Hawaii, Fiji, or the Maldives to be truly impressive. I have no idea what I was thinking back then... Later, when my previous company’s team trip was to Boracay, I was saving up for a trip to New York and thought, “Who wants to spend money going to the Philippines?” (nail-biting)
Last winter, I unexpectedly came across a report about the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy, and there was a branch on Boracay. I was completely sold. Somehow, I’ve always felt like I must have been some kind of mermaid in a past life. Right then and there, facing my computer screen, I made a girlish wish: I must take this class.

So the reason is simple—I was destined to take mermaid class, and while I was at it, check out the Boracay I’d dreamed of as a kid. That’s pretty much it, nothing else major.
▲ Transportation & Accommodation

△ This is the Tambisaan Beach where I stayed. From time to time, you’d see some bangka boats bringing tourists here for snorkeling.
Aside from being bad at math, I’m also not great at organizing information. Like every time I travel, when friends ask me how much I spent, I really can’t calculate it. Organizing receipts gives me a bit of buyer’s remorse, so I can’t give exact numbers. But I’ll give a rough estimate—sincerity is more important.
Transportation – Cebu Pacific Air:

▲ On the return flight, the heavens smiled upon me—there were three whole rows empty behind me. I wore clothes, okay.
Of course, because it was during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the ticket price was a bit outrageously high. Even more outrageously, I still bought it without hesitation. Round trip was about NTD 12,000 (including 10kg checked baggage). I stayed in Boracay for 5 days and 4 nights, leaving late and returning midday. Actually, Boracay isn’t as easy to get to as you’d think. I flew from Taipei to Manila, arriving around 3 a.m., then transferred to Caticlan Airport, arriving around 5:30–6 a.m. Then I took a tricycle to the boat to Boracay. I won’t go into too much detail because I just followed the crowd and somehow ended up in Boracay (super irresponsible). Once at the Boracay pier, there are plenty of tricycles. The only way to get to your hotel is by them—the fixed price is 100 pesos, unless you find others to share and split the cost.

Alright, let me write a bit about the two main routes from Taiwan to Boracay, but generally, flying into Caticlan Airport is more convenient and time-saving:

From Taipei to Boracay:
1. Taipei → Manila Airport → Caticlan Airport → Take a tricycle (~10–15 mins) to Caticlan Pier → Take a boat (~20 mins) to Boracay. 2. Taipei → Manila Airport → Kalibo Airport → Take a van (~1.5–2 hours) to Caticlan Pier → Take a boat (~20 mins) to Boracay. Transportation costs:
1. Tricycle to Caticlan Pier: Fixed price is 50 pesos per tricycle, and you can share with others.
2. At Caticlan Pier, you pay three fees: Environment Fee (75 pesos per person), Pier Fee (50 pesos per person), and Boat Ticket (25 pesos per person).
3. Attention！ Before leaving the Philippines, you must pay the airport tax: 200 pesos for domestic flights from Boracay, 550 pesos for international flights from Manila. I completely forgot about this and spent all my remaining money on Andok’s roast chicken. I was even trying to blow it all on chicken wings. When I had zero pesos left, I realized I needed to pay the airport tax. They wouldn’t accept USD, so I had to get money exchanged under police supervision to leave safely. Pay attention—better to keep at least 1,000 pesos on hand before leaving!!
Accommodation – Airbnb:
My travel style is pseudo-backpacking, so I don’t need to stay somewhere super nice. As long as it’s clean, safe, and not too far from the action, it’s fine. I’m a big fan of Airbnb—I found places in New York and Bangkok through it. Having enjoyed it, I used Airbnb again in Boracay and found a great place on Tambisaan Beach. My definition of a “great place” might differ from others’. For example, if you’re scared of insects, panic without internet, can’t walk far, hate dogs/cats, or can’t handle heat, this might not be for you. Also, there’s no address.

▲ The room basically looks like this. Definitely a pro move to make your towel into a swan. The window on the right leads to a small balcony. The room is a bit dim, but it’s livable.

I originally booked the Homey Beachhouse Budget Fan Room—which, as the name suggests, is cheap and only has a fan. I didn’t mind because I hadn’t used air conditioning for almost four summers in Taiwan and was totally fine with it. It was only NTD 700 a night, so I thought, why not. Unexpectedly, the heavens blessed this fake Taiwanese girl, and the landlord gave me another air-conditioned room—the Cozy Budget Bamboo Aircon Room—for just over NTD 200 more per night. I totally got a deal. The landlord is a very fluent English-speaking Filipino woman named Frances. Her homestay seems to still be under expansion, so there are a lot of workers on the first floor. Though I’m not sure if they’re actually working, because every time I leave or come home, I see them watching TV or playing billiards.

▲ Just looking at the roof from the balcony, you can tell—it’s really a little wooden house, no joke.

Frances’s homestay is a two-story beachfront wooden cabin. The eaves are made of banana leaves, and the house’s pillars are almost entirely supported by wood—making it a hybrid structure of concrete and timber. The rooms are all on the second floor, with only a latch lock on the door. However, the workers are all downstairs, so it’s quite safe (though saying that sounds a bit odd). Anyway, it suited my taste perfectly. The room even has a small balcony. Looking out from the back, you see a neighbor’s vegetable garden overgrown with weeds, and if you glance up the slope, you’ll spot a few goats tethered and grazing. The balcony has a wooden table and tall wooden stools—perfect for drying laundry or just lazing about. It’s incredibly cozy.

I’m no expert, but here’s my sincere take on the room’s features:

1. Its location is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s situated on Tambisaan Beach. The upside is that you only need to descend the stairs and take about 20 steps before your feet touch the water. Every morning, I’d wake up, grab my mask and snorkel, and head straight into the sea. Of all the places I visited during my five days in Boracay, Tambisaan Beach remained my favorite—quiet, with crystal-clear water, and most of the time, the sea is very calm with little wind or waves. Being a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to snorkeling, I was always worried about being swept away by the waves, so I never dared swim too far. But here, I swam farther each day than the last. The water depth is around two to three meters, allowing me to see more and bigger fish. In fact, many bangka boats (outrigger canoes) anchor nearby, offering snorkeling opportunities in this area. Isn’t it just wonderful? The downside, however, is that Tambisaan is located on the eastern edge of Boracay Island, actually quite a distance from the tourist-heavy downtown area. Going out or returning home requires taking a tricycle or motorbike taxi, with a ride of about 20 minutes. Every day, I’d walk for roughly three minutes and come across a cluster of motorbike drivers (“kuyas”), then start bargaining with them. The fare to the city area ranges from about 20 to 50 pesos, depending entirely on how bold your face is and your luck.

▲The crossed-out spot is Tambisaan. The city area is centered around docks 1, 2, and 3—it’s really quite far.

2. It’s clean and affordable. There’s housekeeping that sneaks into the room to change the sheets and towels and checks the supplies.
3. Being a wooden cabin means sharing space with bugs. There are little ants on the wooden floors, and geckos pop up from time to time. They might even be related to those found in southern Taiwan—the kind that go “chirp chirp chirp.” Anyway, if you don’t move, they won’t either. Just coexist peacefully.
4. The WiFi isn’t very stable. Except for near the door, there’s no signal anywhere else in the room. So these past few days, I’ve been crouching on the floor, glued to the doorway to get online (Spotlight, shine on me again).
5. There are many stray dogs—or maybe pet dogs (I can’t really tell the difference)—in Boracay. Even the so-called pets aren’t well taken care of. Often, dogs would lie at my room door or at the stairway, blocking my way downstairs. But since I love animals, I didn’t mind at all.

6. Compared to downtown Boracay, the people here are very friendly. Though I can’t promise anything, I was genuinely lucky—every kid and teen I met here became my friend.

▲This brother-sister duo played with me for two days in a row. I kept wondering why they weren’t in school on weekdays. Later, the landlord told me their parents were unemployed and couldn’t afford tuition fees, so they spent all day playing on the beach.

▲The two teens I met on the morning of my last day in Boracay while snorkeling. They asked if I wanted to swim with them. I said yes, and somehow ended up being led to super deep waters, even to another deserted little beach.

▲How far? I’m not lying—look at the three tiny black dots in this photo. The one in the middle is me, the other two are the teens. We were only halfway through. Oh, and I only found this photo later at the airport while checking my phone. At first, I had no memory of taking it, then I realized the sister must have snapped it while I was swimming far out—and she even zoomed in!!!! Yes, I had left my phone carelessly on the beach chair...
7. The nearest shop is just a sari-sari store selling snacks, cookies, drinks, and bread that feels like it’s been sitting around for two centuries. Anything else you might want? Nope, not available here.

▲This bread looked like it had been around for two centuries, so I bought it to feed fish while snorkeling.
Alright, I admit I’m really not very professional—I just want to talk about whatever I feel like. As for the rest of my Boracay travel log, there won’t be any structured “Day 1, Day 2” stuff. I’m just going with the flow, unfiltered. So, stay tuned for the next update!

[Related Info]
Cebu Pacific Air
Airbnb

Sheila▲Mermaid Travel Log

A mermaid stranded on the island with 800-degree myopia, constantly adventuring to explore the so-called free ocean and keep living—truly one of a kind.