Borocay Island is a really nice place to slow down and spend a little time. The island is about 5Kms long by 2Kms wide running approximately North-South. However, its main attraction is the 4Km White Beach on the West coast; a white powder beach running down to clear, gently lapping water. Many folk will say it is spoilt by the tourism with barely a yard of beach that isn't given over to either a hotel, a restaurant or some other tourist service. On the other hand, I'm a tourist! In the whole week I've been here, I have barely moved off the White Beach.

Earlier this week I had a Filipino Massage. I'm not sure even now what made it particularly "Filipino" (maybe something to do with some hot Banana leaves?), but it does help one relax in to a very laid back way of life here. There is lots of opportunity to sit with a smoothie and watch the world go by.

There are also lots of activities running from the beach, such as Para-sailing, Scuba Diving, Zorbing, Go-Carting, "Sur Maasage Surrr", etc. A chose to do a sail around the Island with a little light Snorkelling thrown in. I wonder if the Barrier Reef has spoilt me, but the snorkelling was OK but not spectacular; lots of little fishes and a very stressed looking coral reef. On the other hand, the sailing around the island was great. I hired the boat, the skipper and his mate for 3 hours. It was a traditional boat; quite a narrow hull but with out riggers on both sides to keep it stable. The space inside the hull was only big enough for our bags and things, and we all sprawled on the netting slung between the hull and the out riggers. Steering was done by a small rudder deflected by two ropes pulling left and right, and there was a mainsail and a jib. I didn't get to steer the boat, but did become part of the crew, helping to balance the boat as it sailed across the wind. As we sailed around the island and moved out of its shadow and the water got a lot rougher, the wind a lot stronger and generally wetter and more fun. At one point, the conditions were strong enough that we were able to overtake a boat with a motor!

Yesterday I had a blast in a Jet Ski. I've done this before, but it is always surprising how quickly these things accelerate. More fun and more getting soaked. Well, what do you expect from a beach holiday.

Off the water, the restaurants along the beach are many and varied. They cater for all the basic food groups: Burgers, Fried Chicken, Chips and Ice Cream. Actually, this is unfair. Besides the usual (Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, etc.) there are some more unusual options such as Swiss, Austrian, Korean. All of meals I've had have been very nice. I particularly enjoyed the Barbecue Crocodile; tastes like pork but is firmer.

There is also a great range of places to simply sit and have a drink. However, I found that my favourite was Charlh's bar, right on the sea front where you could watch the sun go down. They sold San Miguel Stubbies (~2/3 of a pint) for 70 Peso's (~£1). Oh, and during happy hour you got 2 for the price of one, so more than a pint for £1. Happy hour last from 4pm to 9pm!

So this has been a great place to recharge the batteries ready for the next stage of my travels. I suspect I will be doing a lot of moving about over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas. Tomorrow I am heading to Iloilo City on Panay for a few days before catching an overnight ferry back to Manila. Form there I fly to Singapore for a few days and then on to Bangkok. I've not planned much beyond that except that I've booked the Varinda Garden Resort on Ko Samui for Christmas and New Year (see http://www.varindasamui.com). But now I need to start pulling my things together so I am ready to leave - I need to catch the 5am boat off the island tomorrow so that I can get the 6am bus to Iloilo.