Boracay gestapo
Yesterday we went to a few different beaches to see how the closure of Boracay has changed things. Our second favourite spot was Puka Shell Beach. It’s still beautiful but there are not any places left for shade. They have some shops to sell things along the road but the ones on the beach are gone.
Today we got up to a thin overcast of cloud. By the time we finished our breakfast coffee on the patio the sun was poking through with the intensity we have become accustomed to.
Gary is feeling under the weather, he seems to have caught a cold bug. There are people from all over the world here and likely there is no better place to catch a new bug from the far reaches of the earth. So far the cold has only prevented diving. Hopefully it doesn’t last long but he’s pretty much written off diving again in Boracay. Our next stop is Coron where he hopes to be able to dive some WW2 wrecks, some of them rather shallow too.
Yesterday we saw a Chinese family get busted by the Tourism Regulatory Enforcement Unit (TREU). The TREU team consisted of 3 guys with forms dressed in uniform golf style shirts and one officer with a machine gun in battle fatigues! It is now illegal to drink alcohol on the beach in Boracay. No smoking, no alcohol, no littering of food and no glass containers. Here’s the deal, the Chinese family were sitting under the palm trees (Grandma, Mom, Dad, Kids). Apparently the fine is 2500 PHP (Philippine Peso) about $70 CAD. Next thing, the guy is on our case for carrying 2 corn on the cob (on sticks) to eat on the beach. He said throw the cob in the trash! Gary said I haven’t even started eating it! The officer says ok, when you are done. Gary said OK. Then Gary watched the whole procedure of the Chinese getting fined. He asked the TREU officer where exactly where are the garbage containers on this area of the beach? We could not locate any trash bins! He looked around (we think all vendors need to supply trash containers). Finally he asked a lady at a small stall and she points to a plastic bag hanging on the side of the building by a nail! We said OK. Thanks! When Gary went to deposit his cob, the lady said 5 peso please! WHAT? She just laughed, as she had witnessed the whole conversation with the TREU officer. We laughed it off but didn’t think is was so funny. If Boracay’s enforcement doesn’t want people eating on the beach, they should have signs everywhere to alert the tourist to these requirements! News flash, eating is OK, littering is not! Now in Boracay no beach beds, no umbrellas, no drink, no SMOKING, no garbage cans on the beach! But, they sell food, drinks and cigarettes right on the edge of the beach!
