Thursday, September 12, 2013

Our Plane and Boat Ride experience to Boracay during Monsoon Season

Our Boracay trip has been booked last year when Cebu Pacific offered their piso-fare deal. We weren't very much aware of what our schedule will be but since the total amount that we paid for was only around Php 600 including also the surcharges, we decided to push through anyway. 

It was Sunday when Maring came and left by Tuesday but monsoon rains were still pouring come Thursday morning. Upon arriving at Terminal 3, the usual empty areas were packed with people. Some sleeping, some waiting for flights and a lot of people have been stranded the day before.

Since we had companions who had earlier flights that have been moved, we were aware that our 1205 flight to Caticlan might be moved to a later time. Because of this, we went to Mrs Fields and had a relaxing meal while we wait for further announcement on our flight's status. The boarding areas were actually packed with people who should have left earlier. 

We were surprised to hear that our flight was prompt. We actually caught up with our companions who were supposed to leave 45 minutes earlier than us. We were happy though that there wouldn't be anymore waiting time when we reach Caticlan.

Because the plane was small (propeller type), we were aware that it may be a little bumpy. Our take-off was good but when we were going through the clouds, the turbulence was much worse than expected. It was a good thing that this was a short flight and there were no meals, otherwise, I'm pretty sure that a lot of drinks would have been spilled because of the really turbulent ride. We thought that after that one set of turbulence, everything will be okay. But during landing, we didn't expect it to be just as bad! As much as I want to be as calm as I can, I could help but pray for our safe landing because for a moment, I thought we were about to crash. I couldn't define how awful it could be but my husband who was seated 2 rows behind me shared that Japanese people who were sitting next to him was showing each other their wet and sweaty hands because of the tension. After we landed, everyone just cheered and I thank God we were able to arrive safely to our destination. You might say that it's a little discriminating because the weather that day was really bad but, our companions who landed about 5-10 minutes earlier (same airline company as us) didn't experience the rough turbulent ride that we did. Maybe because their pilot was more experienced than our pilot? Not too sure as well but it would really be better if they let more experienced people handle smaller planes so that people won't be scared to death on their plane ride.

and so, I searched for scary landings on Youtube...

Ours was not as scary but I got interested and watched several more "crosswind" landing videos -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMvLuUJFHYk
Going back, our package included transfers. We easily made our way to the ferry port via a private van from the airport. After reaching the port, we waited for 15 minutes until we were requested to board the vessel that will bring us to the island. After the tough plane ride that we had, we didn't realize that being at sea will be more challenging. Other than the boat not being as clean and tidy, the waves were stronger than usual. Good thing that it didn't take more than 15 minutes for us to reach the island because we didn't have sea-sickness medicines with us!

Seeing the island though, it was very much worth all the hassle that we had to go through. It was a one-of-a-kind experience that we will never forget! We were all very happy though that we were riding PAL on our way back to Manila - their pilots are really better!

LaNnA
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