Best Beaches in the Philippines - Boracay

[Travel Guide]

What makes a beach gain the reputation of being one of the world’s best? Such is simply a gift of nature. And Boracay is more than endowed with the gifts of paradise. Boracay is paradise itself.

Geographically, Boracay is approximately 7 kilometers long. The narrowest part of this island is just about one kilometer wide. And the whole shape of the island is similar to that of a dumb bell. Situated off the northwestern end of Panay, an island in the Visayas region of the Philippines, the small island of Boracay has also become the ultimate vacation destination in the country. The main reason is the almost four kilometers of long white sand beach.

This Boracay Beach has already gained international fame. In 1990, Boracay was featured in the BMW Tropical Beach Handbook as one of the best beaches in the world. In 1996, Boracay was recognized by the British Publication TV Quick as the world’s top tropical beach. Now, more than a decade later, Boracay still remains the best beach in the Philippines.

The famous white sand beach is at the west coast and located between the picturesque villages of Angol and Balabag. The sea water is shallow and seemed to be purposely made for the enjoyment of mortals. The sand is brilliantly white, amazingly fine-grained and invitingly soft. And this white sand stays that way even during the hottest of day.

The locals are cheerful. After all, they live in paradise and that fact alone is enough to keep oneself happy. The locals are also helpful and accommodating. They wanted to show off their beach and aimed to make the stay of the tourist as one of the most memorable and pleasurable vacation experiences. The whole atmosphere of the place is a unique combination of tranquility and activity. That is, people in Boracay are involved in all sorts of pursuits but no one is in a rush.

On the white beach, the tourist can choose among the 350 beach resorts. There will always be a perfect room for the tourist who is looking for a particular design, type, or fancy. And there will always be an accommodation for every range of budget. The more expensive ones boast of ultra-modern amenities while the cheaper ones offer the basic facilities.

Boracay also offers a wide range of food stalls, bars, cafes, restaurants, and grill houses to entice and satiate one’s gustatory senses. The restaurants can certainly satisfy even the most discriminating gourmet. Then, there are beer joints and discos where the tourist can while the night away.

During the day, swimming is not the only preoccupation of the tourist in Boracay. There are water sports, jet skiing, kayaking, and island hopping. One can play beach volleyball or visit the butterfly garden. One can trek and discover bat caves. And one can join a dive boat which will take the tourist to wonderful dive sites.

[olivier]

hi, how to go there from dumaguete ?

[The Dane]

My whole family is coming to the Philippines to visit me in January/February, and one of our trips out will be from Dumaguete to Boracay.

I havent quite decided what route we will take...
You can either take a bus up to Bacolod - 6 hours.. then a boat over to Iloilo and a bus again from there up to Caticlan... this is the cheapest route...

Another route would be taking a bus or ferry to Cebu and fly from there to Caticlan.. You can fly Seair, but I think they charge too much for a flight up there compared to the distance traveeled and other airline fares...

the last route I would consider is simply to fly from Dumaguete to Manila and then fly back down to Boracay... this is the longest route distancewise, but probably the fastest.

You can get a one way Dumaguete to Manila for P1600... and if you fly to Kalibo in stead of Caticlan then you can probably get that for P1600 as well with Cebu Pacific.

[2blackbelts]

Before buying property in Dumaguete, we looked long and hard at Boracay. Unfortunately, with the island so small, and getting used up quickly, we could not find any affordable oceanfront. In turn, we were going to build on a cliff overlooking the beach, with a nice walkway down to it.

The house was much more expensive than what we are doing in Dumaguete, plus, I heard the cost of living is much higher in Boracay as well.

With Boracay being the party capital of the Philippines, and Asia as well, we didn't want to move there for that reason. Our daughter would have had to take a shuttle boat back and forth to the mainland to go to college.

Final assumption, too small, too expensive, too many people, too touristy. Dumaguete is perfect for us to live, maybe Boracay to visit.

2 blackbelts

[cool_78]

Boracay is simply the best beach in the Philippines, hope I have the chance to return there again

[chrissar]

We wanted to go there on our last visit to the Phils but got no time, so instead, we went to Bohol and stayed at Tropics Hotel and had a wonderful time. It's only my brother (from Chicago) and friends made it, and basing on their pics- it looked like paradise, modern paradise to me.

[Timn8ter]

Final assumption, too small, too expensive, too many people, too touristy.

True, true. It's a great place to visit, do a little partying, etc., but we came to the same conclusion concerning living there. I took this shot standing on top of the grotto back in 2001. It was shortly after the 9/11 attack on New York and very few people were traveling.

[Timn8ter]

This is a shot taken from the bluff above Diniwid Beach in 2005. A lot more boats this time.

[Timn8ter]

This is the side opposite White Beach where the wind surfers usually hang out. It's less developed here (so far) and where the more affordable properties are. The prevailing winds shift direction every 6 months or so. As a result when the prevailing winds are on the White Beach side many boats are anchored here.

[yabs]

I think it should be said it WAS the best beach but no more due to rampant development , overcrowding and environmental degradation. It was proved in
the 90's that the ecoli count was too high for public health and this swimming in off white beach was not advisable. This is seen by the return of phosphate
loving algae at end of the peak months which feeds of the sewage.
Most coral is also dead as a result but due to the fact that you may get mown down by a jetski it is not advisable to go swimming anyway.
All in all its another paradise lost to greed by the tourist industry.
It will only get worse with Hilton etc saying they will build. HIlton are by far the worst. Always high rise concrete monstrosities. I for one have never been more disapointed by a beach than white beach
don't believe the hype