POSTED: 05 AUGUST 2010

Destination: The Philippines

Ann Rickard enjoys a touch of everything on Boracay Island

It makes you want to be a kid again. To be carefree and nimble, able to do one lithe backflip after another from a boat into warm turquoise water. These kids on the island of Boracay are showing off for our cameras, and their water acrobatics have uplifted us.

Not that we need uplifting. We’ve been more than happy — joyful even — ever since we stepped out of our luxury resort and on to a longboat to cruise around just a few of the 7000-plus islands that make up the Philippines.

We had sailed out of the comfortable cocoon of Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa early in the morning, bouncing over glorious clean water, stopping for an hour to snorkel above coral teeming with colourful fish, before gliding into a tiny bay on the south-east of the island to pick up a picnic.

While we waited for the food to be ferried to our boat, the children on the beach entertained us with their acrobatics, leaping on to the boat, back-flipping into the warm water and then posing for photographs before climbing on board to ask for a few pesos. Enterprising kids — and impossible to resist.

The island of Boracay is seven kilometres long and just a kilometre wide at its narrowest point. Known for its swaying palms, talcum-powder sand and crystal-clear water, Boracay has often been mentioned in surveys as one of the best beach destinations in the world. There’s an unmistakable feeling of “anything is possible” here.

Extensive development along the four kilometres of its famous White Beach means bars, hotels, shops and restaurants that beckon day and night. While we enjoy a busy beach scene, we sometimes need a little exclusivity, and that is exactly what we’ve got this time.

Aloof from the beach buzz, yet close enough if we want it, Shangri-La is a lush haven on the north of the island, enjoying a spectacular hillside location within an eco-reserve. Many accommodation options are available, from deluxe rooms overlooking the iridescent sea, to private hilltop villas complete with jacuzzis suspended on little platforms in the sky.

The temptation to do nothing but sink into Shangri-La’s welcoming arms is overwhelming, but our jaunty boat trip, the exciting snorkel, and the delightful kids, have all been invigorating.

Back at the resort just in time for drinks, we wondered briefly if this day could get any better. A walk along the winding path through Shangri-La’s luxuriant gardens past the free-falling pool to the Alon Beach Bar to find the lychee martinis at happy-hour prices, proved that, yes indeed, the day could get better. Add a blazing sunset and we had more happiness than one tropical island usually delivers.

Dress code on Boracay is mostly about sarongs and bare feet, but high up among the treetops at Shangri-La’s Rima restaurant you can don something a little more generous and eat inspiring Italian food cooked by an Australian chef. The snapper pie, brought to the table to have its lid removed so the truffle aroma assailed the senses of everyone else at the table, added a luxe touch to a sexy dining experience.

Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa is a complete destination within itself. With 350 metres of unspoiled beachfront and 14 hectares of lush rainforest, along with every conceivable facility available to spoil you, you really don’t have to leave the resort. Golf carts will transport you around the property, and you’ll need them. It’s hilly and hot, but a friendly driver will be at your door within moments of calling. Service is of paramount importance to the Shangri-La staff, and allowing them the pleasure of pampering you is your duty.

If you can lift yourself out of the Shangri-La languor, much awaits you outside. Diving, windsurfing, kayaking, horse back riding, caving, trekking, mountain climbing, biking, golf massages and snorkelling are all easily organised. Motor tricycles and pedicabs will whiz you quickly all over the island for a tiny cost and give you a frisson of daring on each ride.

World-class beaches on the island include Bulabog Beach, renowned for its perfect windsurfing conditions and Puka Beach, uncrowded and known for its sun-bleached puka shells. Dining experiences all over the island can be anything from street food to seven-star indulgence.

Boracay is a brilliant diamond in a cluster of sparkling islands in the Philippines, relatively inexpensive and easily accessed from Australia.

Disclosure: Ann Rickard was a guest of Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa.

Above: Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa.

Below: Kids just want to have fun.