No trip to Boracay is complete without a night on the famous Boracay Pub Crawl.
While the island was known for its nightlife, outside of the former big party weekends like Laboracay and Holy Week most of the venues can be very hit and miss.
Some nights they are full, others completely empty. If you get on the pub crawl then the party will follow you no matter where you go.
If you visit the island you should do the crawl at least once… Maybe twice.
The Pub Crawl Crowd
You will always find a hot pot of cultural diversity.
A mix of tourists, locals, and OFWs home for their annual visit will make up the crowd. Everyone has an interesting background and a story to tell (well most people).
You will usually have a good mix of guys and girls and somewhere between 50-150 attendees.
On the bigger nights, things can get a bit chaotic to say the least!
I have attended the pub crawl both with people, and when traveling solo.
Had a great time on both occasions and was a great way to meet some people to hang out with on the night and for the rest of your visit.
Cost and Inclusions
Your ticket for the night is p990 (about $20) and is pretty good value compared to a regular night out drinking, and to other activities on the island.
This comes with a stack of extras:
- Your pub crawl t-shirt
- Wrist band
- Shot glass
- Fast access to all venues
- Shots on arrival (and departure) at all venues
The shot glass will be on a lanyard that goes around your neck so you don’t lose it…. It will get a workout. Trust me!
Bar Itinerary
Meeting Point
The night always kicks off at the Exit Bar meeting point, which is home base.
I always enjoy this part of the night. It is a great chance to chat to as many people as you can before heading to a noisy venue.
This is also when everyone is at their soberest – so it is the most awkward part of the night.
Always best to move around and introduce yourself to people early so once the drinks to kick in you are more of a familiar face.
You will spend about 45 minutes at four or five bars throughout the night. I can never remember how many…. or where they are.
On arrival you will get a yellow t-shirt, and a shot of something. Again my memory is fuzzy here. I remember something that tasted like coffee.
Everyone will write a name, or nickname, of their choosing on the shirt so that people can learn your name.
Pro tip: This can be a great conversation starter. My brother just wrote Anonymous as his name. People couldn’t help but ask him about it all night.
The Crawl venues
The venues on the itinerary will change from night to night. This is great if you want to back up for a few nights on your visit.
Great to discover bars that you didn’t know were there, or at an end of the beach you had not yet visited.
- Epic
- Wave
- Club Paraw
- Gypsy Shack
Something that I do remember is that the list of venues does change regularly. I have been on the Boracay Pub Crawl three times now and my most recent adventure went to two bars I didn’t know existed.
So it is a good way to discover new places. Of course, if you want to go there again you have to remember where they all are. I can’t help you there.
Games Between Bars
At least once a night they will take the whole crowd down to the beach to play some games, have some shots, and get to know more of your fellow pub crawlers.
This is usually a few bars into the night when people are full of dutch courage and a bit more rowdy.
My memory is again hazy of what the games were, but I do remember laughing my ass off many times at this stage.
And once leaving the area handcuffed to two people for a long walk up the beach to the next venue.
One was an Indian working in Dubai and a Filipino OFW. Both interesting people and they became drinking buddies for the night.
The Final Stop
As the night draws to a close you always seem to end up a long way from D-mall towards Station 1.
Once the official crawl is over people will either hang around at the final bar until late, or disperse across the island.
You will always find a handful of yellow t-shorts at Epic until the early hours of the morning. So you will never run out of people to party with.
It can be a long walk from there back to your nearest late night food options. A drunken stumble down the beach is always fun with your new group of friends.
Great for Solo Travelers
My last trip was a solo one, and the pub crawl was great to meet a few people to party with.
A much better choice than being that random guy approaching tables for someone to share a beer with. Never an easy thing to do in Boracay with everyone always drinking at isolated tables, and being served at tables.
Not much room to make an introduction there unless you are very brave and/or charismatic.
It can also brighten up your trip to see some familiar faces the next day on the beach. Of course, the conversation always starts with “what was your name again.”
You can avoid this on the pub crawl as everyone has their name written on their yellow Boracay Pub Crawl shirt. An iconic symbol on its own.
The pub crawl leaders are all very welcoming and made sure you were looked after throughout the night, and that everyone was involved in the activities.
I had no hesitation in flying solo at the pub crawl. After attending a couple of times with my brother we kept losing track of each other in the crowd anyway.
So it wasn’t that much different once you got a few drinks deep.
Minor Precautions
When on your way home there are a few basics to be aware of to ensure safe passage. This is not including your drunken state – common sense prevails here.
Transport
If you are noticeably drunk, expect to pay more for a tricycle. Most drivers are well rehearsed in when a tourist becomes less price sensitive.
But the difference will be trivial in most foreign currencies. So don’t sweat it.
Prostitution
Another word of caution for the late night walk home is that there is a lot of prostitution in Boracay that comes out late at night.
Most just hang out in bars and keep to themselves unless approached.
But, when the crowd thins out the undesirables can become more persistent. You are likely to be approached by prostitutes lurking in the dark who’s gender can be a bit of a grey area.
This secret photographic evidence of such an encounter always makes me laugh.
Had to let this go on long enough to snap the pic before I let the guy know that this super friendly lady was, in fact, a prostitute… and wasn’t a lady.
The pub crawl runs on most nights with the biggest being the Friday and Saturday night crawls.
If you are on the island for a week you will find by Sunday you will have a mostly different crowd to party with as people come and go from the island.
How to Buy Tickets
During the day you will see the pub crawl reps at Station 2 recruiting people as they walk by.
They can be very persuasive!
You can also buy them online via the pub crawl website.
Check online for t
Final Word
I would recommend the pub crawl to both solo travelers and those in a group. It is great fun no matter what crowd you start off with and you will be sure to make plenty of new friends along the way.
My only word of warning is the dreaded Boracay Pub Crawl Facebook page.
They have a photographer who captures the night at every turn and some of those fuzzy memories could become very permanent and very public moments.
There are thousands and thousands of past pub crawlers who are members of the FB page and it is only a matter of time until someone you know finds the evidence of you in all your drunken glory.