Boracay Destination Guide
Boracay is not as well known globally as it perhaps should be. It is a lovely beach-destination and for about one-third the price of a similar western holiday, you can certainly have your cake and eat it too! Boracay is especially known for its 'White Beach,' situated at the West Coast between the villages of Balabag and Angol. With over 300 beach resorts, you're surely set to find a good place to stay in Boracay. The water is warm, and the sand is soft and loose, finer than most beaches in the archipelago. Boracay also offers a extensive range of nightclubs, pubs, restaurants and bars that are open until the early hours. In the following sections, we have attempted to give you a brief synopsis of Boracay's City Guide.
Boracay is a small beautiful island, surrounded by coral reefs, located west of Panay island in Visayas of the Philippines.
Our Boracay Destination Guide below together with our Boracay Tour Suggestions will tell you all you need to know about the best places to visit in Boracay. For tips on how to get around in Boracay, read our Boracay Transportation guide.
Things to See & Do in Boracay
High season in Boracay is from November to the end of May, while the low season is from June to October. Boracay also has Super-peak seasons which are Christmas and New Year, Holy Week and Chinese New Year. Visitors are advised to make accommodation and tour bookings well in advance.
- Beaches in Boracay
- Dive Sites in Boracay
- Boardsailing - if you're into action!
- A round of Golf?
- Unwind and relax with a Massage
- Bat Caves of Boracay
- Dead Forest
- Mount Luho
- Nabaoy River
- Important Numbers - Tourism and Travel
- Malay cave walk
- Boracay Tourist Centre Information
- Further Reading
- Malay Eco park
- Kar-Tir Shell Museum
Beaches in Boracay
Puka Shell Beach is quite an isolated beach and is the ideal beach to head for when you wish to escape from crowds of holiday makers. The white sands and the serene blue sea are enough to capture anyone's heart, but sometimes the sea shows a wilder side when the wind direction changes.
Punta Bunga Beach and Balinghai Beach are fairly quiet beaches, but slightly far from Boracay's main area.
Ilig-Iligan Beach is another lonely beach and is located very close to the shell museum. But this beach is not for the casual swimmers, as it tends to have rough waters.
Bulabog Beach is located on the eastern side of the island. A coral reef protects it from the high sea tides, creating a shallow, peaceful lagoon. Though it's a little shallow for swimming, you can do great parasailing and windsurfing. Windsurfing lessons and equipment as well as kite-surfing and boarding lessons are offered for beginners.
Diniwid Beach is separated from White Beach by a rocky divide. The beach is secluded and quite small and rocky. It's just walking distance away from White Beach but is a quiet and appealing alternative. The beach has become busier due to recent hotel developments.
Manoc-Manoc Beach is a rocky beach one needs to climb and hop over rocks and boulders to reach its white, sandy shores. It's situated at the other end of Boracay.
The beaches of Boracay are great places to enjoy the many watersports that can be enjoyed during your stay in Boracay including Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, diving and sailing.
Dive Sites in Boracay
Boardsailing - if you're into action!
Activities like long board cruising, wave jumping and flat-water speed sailing are offered in Boracay. Bulabog beach is great for those into slalom, speed, and high-wind short board sailing. The Boracay International Fun Board Cup is also held here annually. Tabon Strait has much rougher winds, and is great for high-performance sailing, but only for the really skilled sailors. White Beach, on the other hand, is protected from the North-East Monsoon, and is great for beginners. Windsurfing in Boracay is a favoured past time for both locals and tourists alike.
A round of Golf?
Unwind and relax with a Massage
Bat Caves of Boracay
If you like the idea of thousands of bats of all sizes and species flying over your head and all around you, then you should not miss the Boracay Bat caves. These caves are located on the north-eastern coast of Yapak, and are reached only after traversing deep jungle paths. Brave tourists, spelunkers, and the focused photographers and naturalists can hire young children from the nearby villages as local guides and head for bat stench-filled caves in the evenings when the bats are awake and flying their nocturnal flight over the heads of visitors. The bat species include small cave bats and flying foxes or giant fruit bats with a wingspan up to 4 feet. This last one is certainly not for the faint-hearted and can get quite scary.
Dead Forest
An eerie atmosphere awaits you in this Dead Forest, which is located right next to the fishponds on the south side of the island. These clumps of bare trees are silhouetted against the dark night and create strange and scary pictures, encouraged by your active imagination. Sometimes this ambience does make your hair stand on end, the spell probably only broken by the mosquitoes around.
Mount Luho
Nabaoy River
The short 15 minute trike ride takes you through lush rice fields and very local village life. Once at the river enjoy a refreshing swim and try local food at any of the wonderfully native riverside restaurants perched on the river banks. Ask for the freshwater shrimps, they might not always be available but if they are you're in for a treat.
Important Numbers - Tourism and Travel
Bureau of immigration : 288 5267
Department of Tourism: 288 3289
Department of Tourism (DOT Boracay) (036) 288-3689
Philippine Country Code (63)
Philippine Time Zone +8hours
Boracay Area Code (036)
Police: call 135 and 166 in emergency or 288 3066
Hospital 24hr hotline: 141 or 288 3041
Allied Bank: Main Road near Boat Station two - 288 3026
Metro Bank: Main road near D'Mall - 288 5868
Bank of the Philippine Islands: D'Mall - 288 6612
Malay cave walk
Boracay Tourist Centre Information
The Boracay Tourist Centre has become an institution of sorts, and is a hub not only for the tourists, but for the residents and businesses as well. It is still the ultimate one-stop shop of Boracay. It has reliable and quick Money Transfer facilities, Credit Card Facilities, Foreign Exchange, Telecom, Postal and Internet Services. There is a state-of-the-art internet café, a mini-mart for buying all sorts of things needed daily, safety deposit boxes and a travel centre, making life for tourists a lot easier. The mini-mart even sells a good range of things like towels and T-shirts and other kinds of things you need while on a beach holiday in Boracay. Photo shops develop photos in an hour. There is even a boutique selling all kinds of native arts and crafts. They sell original articles, but can be a little expensive.
Boracay Tourist Centre
Mangayad, Manoc-Manoc, Boracay Island, 5608 Malay, Aklan, Philippines
Tel.: +63 36 288 3704 / 05
+63 36 288 3023
e-mail: info@touristcenter.com.ph
Boracay Tourist Center Web site
Malay Eco park
Kar-Tir Shell Museum
Visiting Kar-Tir Museum at Ilig-Illigan village is a good way to get introduced to Filipino culture. It has a fascinating display of pottery, carvings, hand-woven articles and even traditional costumes from various regions of Philippines. The entrance fee is minimal.
