Travel Guide Boracay Island

Boracay is a tiny island in the far northwest of Panay, 216 kilometers from Manila as the crow flies. This little jewel stretches over 8 kilometers in length and one kilometer in width, bathed by the Sulu Sea and the Sibuyan Sea, nestled between the municipality of Caticlan and the island of Carabao. This paradise island of coral limestone, with its pristine white sandy beaches and translucent blue waters, is without doubt the country's most popular tourist destination, with two million visitors a year in recent years, and up to 40,000 tourists visiting at any one time. One of the world's most beautiful beaches, White Beach (the famous beach on the west coast) has for several years been invaded by thousands of tourists of all nationalities, particularly during the high season. Lovers of the area have long regretted this influx of visitors, which tends to alter the island's character. Indeed, tourist activities and infrastructures have developed ever more rapidly, to the detriment of natural areas, for the comfort of travellers arriving from all over the world. New roads have been laid out, fast-food chains have set up shop and hotels have sprung up like mushrooms. The number of buildings has multiplied, and the charming nipa bungalows have increasingly given way to concrete constructions more popular with Asian tourists, who now constitute the largest clientele, benefiting from direct flights to Kalibo from Korea in particular. Today, this little corner of paradise is far from being the most authentic destination...A jewel, victim of its own success. Threatened by tourist overfrequentation, rampant pollution and the negative effects on its environment, the island described as a "septic tank" by President Duterte closed its doors and banned access to tourists from April to October 2018. The aim was to clean up the island, rehabilitate the drainage system and clean up the anarchic development of the hotel offer. Beyond this major clean-up operation, Boracay was again closed for several months in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. Since then, it has adopted new rules: smoking, eating and drinking alcohol on the beaches is prohibited; the number of hotels is restricted; visitors, limited to 19,200 at any one time, must show their accredited accommodation reservation to enter the island; and finally, gigantic parties like the famous LaBoracay are now a thing of the past. So, is Boracay moving towards more responsible tourism? To be continued...