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Climate
The Philippines has only two seasons: Dry and wet.
The dry season is from December to June. Surface temperatures
average 25 degrees Celsius from December to February,
and can go as high as 38 degrees from March until June.
This is also the peak tourist season, as most sunworshippers
take advantage of the pleasant weather.
The wet season is from July until November, with temperatures
on the surface ranging from 28 to 30 degrees Celsius.
An average of 20 typhoons or tropical storms sweep
through the Philippines each year, usually in the wet
season from July to November. Boracay very rarely experiences
a direct hit, however. Most typhoons graze the eastern
part of the Philippines and go north towards Taiwan.
The Philippines has very high humidity. This means
that brief rainshowers can occur anytime, but since
the weather doesn’t matter underwater, scuba diving
is a popular year-round activity.
A special note about monsoons: From November to March,
the northeast monsoon, or amihan, blows across Boracay,
creating optimum conditions for windsurfing and kiteboarding
along the eastern shore. Winds are usually strongest
from late December to early February. During these months,
diving is limited to the western side of Boracay.
The habagat, or southwest monsoon, affects Boracay
from July to October, sometimes creating 2-meter waves
on the western side of the island. Scuba diving is restricted
to
Boracay’s eastern part during this period.
Electricity
The electricity on Boracay Island is 220v AC, 60 cycles.
While the power company, AKELCO, is currently upgrading
its services, power failures, locally called "brownouts",
are still common, so in choosing a place to stay, be
sure to ask if they can ensure 24-hour power.
Health
Bottled drinking water is available at all resorts,
restaurants and grocery stores on Boracay Island. In
some establishments, tap water is not potable. Be sure
to ask before you drink. Drink lots of water to avoid
dehydration.
Mosquitoes are not really a problem, but they do become
aggressive around sunset time.
We recommend that you use insect
repellent when you go outdoors.
Metropolitan Doctors Medical Clinic and Island Clinic
have doctors on call 24 hours a day. House calls can
be arranged on request. Farmacia Gomez and Harlem Drugstore
are two of the largest pharmacies on Boracay.
For scuba divers, hyperbaric physician Dr. Maria Cristina
Teotico can be contacted at the Metropolitan Doctors
Medical Clinic. The nearest recompression chamber is
one hour away at Saint Patrick’s Hospital in Batangas
City.
Money
The Philippine peso is divided into 100 centavos. Banknotes
are available in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200,
500 and 1000. The most common coins are 25 centavos,
one peso and five pesos.
The larger business establishments accept all major
credit cards and traveler’s cheques, although
some places may add a surcharge for credit card payments.
Cash payments in Philippine peso, US dollars or Euro
are commonly accepted.
Three banks-- Allied Bank, located on the main road between
Boat Stations 2 and 3, and Bank of the Philippie Islands and Metro Bank, also on the main
road near D’Mall-- offer full banking services
including foreign currency exchange of bank notes and
traveler's cheques. All have ATMs on-site.
Cirrus, Maestro, American
Express and Mastercard cardholders can also withdraw
cash at these ATMs, but due to high demand, funds may not be
readily available
Land Bank of the Philippines at Boat Station 1, on the beach, is another full-service bank which accepts
foreign currency exchange and has an ATM machine.
Post and Communications
There is a small post office at Balabag Plaza, open
on weekdays only. The Boracay Tourist Center also has
a faster but costlier postal service. Parcels may be
sent via LBC Express or Federal Express.
There are many internet cafes on Boracay. Most offer
broadband connections. Inso Internet Café and
Tourist Center Intenet are just two of the larger ones. New Wave Divers provides free Wi-fi access to our customers. There are also many Wi-fi hotspots around Boracay.
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Boracay: How to Get Here |
