Cliff Diving at Ariel’s Point in Boracay!
This is a series of special summer episodes of When In Manila – When In Boracay!
I’m not going to lie to you, this is only my second time in Boracay and I actually wasn’t that impressed the first time I came here. Of course, the first time I came here, I didn’t try CLIFF DIVING!!!
OMG TO THE 10th POWER!!!!
Cliff Diving made this trip, I rescind, the Philippines, wait, my whole life… Cliff Diving made my whole life worthwhile!
Not only was that one of the best experiences in my life, but that was definitely one fear I never thought I would overcome! Even better, it was totally affordable.
For a tiny fee, P1,200 (about $27 US Dollars), you get a boat ride from Boracay to Ariel’s Point, which is about 30 minutes away. There, you have unlimited drinks, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, along with lunch and of course your boat ride back to Boracay during sunset. Oh, let’s not forget the unlimited number of cliff dives, jumps and (like my friends) belly flops that you can do.
So you get picked up by a boat at the Boracay beach front (in my case right in front of my hotel – Astoria Resorts Boracay) that takes you to a different island, Ariel’s Point, where you do your Cliff Diving.
Right when we got there we could see how beautiful this island was! Another thing we immediately noticed were the planks or diving boards sticking out the side of the rocky corralled wall of the island. Next thing we know, as we pulled up to the island…. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Someone jumped! And holy smokes that looked FUN.
Hannah of FlairCandy.com immediately got into her swimwear and lined up to do a jump, oh and it was a very short line. Lots of first time cliff divers were there, slowly walking out to the end of the plank then staring down and screaming some obscenity or slowly walking back to rethink their strategy… or their life.
I of course had my excuse on why I couldn’t jump yet… “Oh go ahead guys, I’m videotaping… you know… for the site…” I squirmed.
So one after another my friends went off to stare fear right in the eye, until eventually, my time had come.
I stepped out into the great blue oblivion, which was the end of the diving board and just stared at the emptiness of the ocean. Then I walked back and said a few cuss words. Then I told myself not to think to much and to just do it… and that I did.
The trick with cliff diving is that you need to just jump with your body and land with your feet – Easier said than done and definitely not easy to comprehend if you’ve never done this. Pretty much, you need to hit the water with your feet first. So let’s just say that my first jump wasn’t all that smooth. I think my ass and my feet hit the water at roughly the same time. So cliff diving really made me feel like I just got out of prison…
But it wasn’t really that bad. A little water bruise never killed anyone!
Anyway, YOU, yes YOU, need to come out and try Cliff Diving as well! I swear, the worst thing that could happen is that you belly flop and end up with a red tummy… like my friends did… but that’s a different story (that HILARIOUS story here – http://www.wheninmanila.com/how-not-to-cliff-dive-and-falling-in-gay-love-with-marc-nelson)
Of course, with jumping comes bragging rights that you can hold for the rest of your life, or at least for the rest of the day, especially as new jumpers come to try it out for the first time. It was actually really funny how many jumpers were scared shitless before jumping, then bragged as if they were a damn Olympic gold medal winning diver after finally falling to peer pressure and jumping.
So next time, When In Manila, get out of that crazy city and come to the tropical island paradise of Boracay!
Then, When In Boracay, try out your flying skills at Cliff Diving by heading over to Ariel’s Point! It’s a bit nerve racking, but you’ll live with pride the rest of your life for overcoming this awesome Jump!
*Some photos courtesy of Hannah from FlairCandy.com taken with a Sony TX1 that Sony let us borrow.
*Thanks also to South East Asian Airlines (SEARIR) for being our airline partner and to Astoria Resorts for our accommodations.
Cliff Diving at Ariels Point in Boracay!
Cliff Diving at Ariels Point in Boracay!
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