Boracay Island - Philippines

Boracay Island Map

Hovering like a butterfly a few miles off the northern coast of the Western Visayan island of Panay, tiny Boracay was an unknown, unsung paradise until a couple of decades ago, when the hippie fashion for puka shell necklaces unleashed a modest economic boom overnight. Enraptured visitors were soon extolling the pristine beauty of its sugar-sand beaches, glassy waters and coral reefs, and even though these new arrivals brought with them a selection of the more inevitable trappings of tourism, the palm-fringed shoreline still retains its idyllic perspective today. You’ll be better off in Bali if you prefer a little cultural variety in between the basting sessions; Boracay is essentially for beach freaks who need little more by way of daytime diversion than bird song and a sea breeze. (Water sports, cycling, riding and tennis will adequately absorb excess energy.) As night falls, an imaginative palette of distractions illumine the scene; you can dine to live rock music in a beachside café or choose from a Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, Chinese, Italian or Swiss-style menu in one of the island’s restaurants. Caticlan, the starting point for the 15-minute banca crossing to Boracay, has a direct air link to Manila; or it you plan your visit to coincide with the Ati-Atihan festival in Kalibo in January, a brief detour will enable you to participate in a riotous Filipino-style Mardi-Grass fiesta in which local citizens and visitors with soot-blackened faces perform tribal dances in procession through the streets.

White Beach in Boracay - Philippines

Boracay's two primary tourism beaches, White Beach and Bulabog Beach, are located on opposite sides of the island's narrow central area. White Beach faces westwards and Bulabog Beach faces eastwards. The island also has several other beaches.

White Beach is the main tourism beach. It is a bit over four kilometers long and is lined with resorts, hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, and other tourism-related businesses. In the central portion, for about two kilometers, there is a footpath known as the Beachfront Path separating the beach itself from the establishments located along it. North and south of the Beachfront Path, beachfront establishments do literally front along the beach itself. Several roads and paths connect the Beachfront Path with Boracay's Main Road, a vehicular road which runs the length of the island. At the extreme northern end of White Beach, a footpath runs around the headland there and connects White Beach with Diniwid Beach.

Bulabog Beach in Boracay - Philippines

Across the island from White Beach is Bulabog Beach, a secondary tourism beach and Boracay's main windsurfing and kiteboarding area.

How To Get There & Away

Boracay can be reached from Manila by daily flights on Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines, Asian Spirit, Seair and Pacific Air. Caticlan is nearer the island, but the airstrip is short and narrow, and only the smaller planes of Asian Spirit, Seair and Pacific Air can land on it. The larger aircraft of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines fly to Kalibo, the capital of Aklan. From Caticlan it takes about 15 minutes by boat to Boracay; from Kalibo, an hour and a half by bus plus the 15-minute boat ride.