Paradise Philippines

Welcome to another feature on Paradise Philippines; our destination on the spot is Boracay.

Boracay is a popular Philippine paradise known all around the world. It is one of the country’s top destinations, and is constantly abuzz with both local and foreign tourists. Its main attraction is its powder fine white sand and clear blue seas.

Boracay Island is located off the northwest corner of the island of Panay, and belongs to the Western Visayas island-group, or Region VI, of the Philippines. The island is approximately seven kilometers long, dog-bone shaped with the narrowest spot being less than one kilometer wide, and has a total land area of 10.32 square kilometers.

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. The sunset on western side of the island is fantastic!

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, across the island from White Beach, is a secondary tourism beach and Boracay’s main windsurfing and kiteboarding area.

Boracay would have remained a secret if not for a few foreign travellers who accidentally stumbled upon the place. There are many stories how Boracay was first discovered by international tourists. Some say it was a movie crew which spread word about the island, while others say it was German traveler Jens Peters’ book that gave rave reviews about Boracay, thus sending tourists on their way.

Boracay is 200 miles south of Manila and 2km off the northwest tip of the island of Panay in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Getting to Boracay is easy.

If you are flying in from Manila, you can fly to Caticlan via Asian Spirit or SouthEast Asian Airlines. This is a one hour flight and the fastest way to get to Boracay. You will land in Caticlan on Panay Island. From the airport, proceed to the Caticlan port which is just minutes away, for a boar transfer to the island.

Since these flights to Caticlan are few and often times fully booked, another option is landing at Kalibo. There are more airlines serving this route, in particular Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific, aside from Asian Spirit. Kalibo is an hour and half travel to Caticlan jetty port or Tambisaan pier, depending on the season of they year. Upon reaching Caticlan or Tambisaan, your off by boat to the Boracay boat station of your choice. There are three boat stations aptly named, Station 1, Station 2 and Station 3.

Aside from Manila, there are also flights from Cebu to Caticlan, and these flights are much shorter.

That concludes our Paradise Philippines feature on Boracay.