Getting there

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has regular service between Manila and Beijing, five times a week. The flight takes about four hours and the round-trip ticket is 4,910 yuan ($646).

Visitors to Boracay have to take a 40-minute flight from the capital city to Kalibo on Panay Island. PAL has two flights daily and round-trip ticket is 1,590 yuan ($209). Then take a two-hour bus ride from Kalibo to Caticlan and a 10-minute boat trip from Caticlan to Boracay.

There are more than 300 resorts and inns in Boracay at various price ranges. Many of them are individually designed resorts with carefully tended gardens and tastefully decorated lobbies and rooms.

Prices can vary in different seasons. Around Christmas and Chinese New Year, price hikes of up to 200 percent are possible, while the off season from June until November is good for, at times, big discounts.

Of better resorts and inns, Boracay Regency is practically one of the largest hotel-type resorts in front of White Beach. It features one of the best swimming pools on the island. Customers of the resort's deluxe rooms at the first floor can directly step into the pool from balconies. Standard room with air-conditioning and hot shower is 6,080 peso ($124) per night.

Located within Boracay's "downtown" - an area in front of the White Beach behind D-mall grocery, the Tides Boracay is one of the island's newest and poshest resorts. Its standard rooms feature modern interiors and big windows. The rate for a standard room with air-conditioning and hot shower is around 2,700 peso ($58) per night.

Opened in 1989, the Panoly Resort Hotel is the first high-end resort in Boracay. At the northern tip of the island, the resort features an exclusive white sand beach and a water sports center of the hotel's own. The only problem is that the lane connecting the resort with the main road is too steep and impossible for tricycles to climb. As a result, guests have to walk back to the hotel when they leave the island's bar area. The rooms range from $175 to $315.

The Patio Pacific Beach Resort is only few minutes walk from White Beach. With only 62 rooms, the tiny resort features a swimming pool, a fitness and wellness center, a spa and a climbing wall. The rate for a deluxe room is $200.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/23/2007 page19)