This is what you can expect from Boracay Island:

White Beach, many people and an amusement park atmosphere

Yeah, I know. “Really? Boracay? After all one has heard about it?” some of you may ask now (or think). Yes, Boracay. Point.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the island

Boracay was in the media in 2018 because the entire island was closed for a full 6 months for any tourism. So to speak as renovation, because a lot of negative things came to light. Especially about the hygiene conditions, as the waste of the toilets went directly into the sea. Of course not where the absolute showpiece beach White Beach is, but on the opposite side of the island. Where the wind-and kite surfers are… On Tablas Island we had learned from Cameron that many surfers suffered serious blood poisoning after their wound (which they got while scraping a rock or coral) was inflamed because of the E.Coli bacteria that were in the water.

After 6 months of cleanup, the problem should have been solved. Allegedly the hotels (at least the big ones) now have their own sewage treatment plant. Tasha from Tablas Point Resort knows many inhabitants of Boracay, because she worked there for a while. And they say that the sewage pipes have been extended about 500m and now the waste simply flows further out into the sea. Only the hotels and the government itself know if that`s the case. How it`s regulated on other small islands all over the world you never really know as a tourist anyway. This problem certainly doesn`t only concern the Boracay Island.

That’ s what it looked like on Boracay shortly after the reopening

What is certain is that many positive things have been changed. On the beach, there are security personnel, who fines people who leave garbage, smoke or consume alcohol. The mass garbage that had accumulated was dumped (where, only the government knows…). The use of plastic dishes and drinking straws was completely forbidden. Now there are often drinking straws made of steel or bamboo that can be reused. Also we could drink the drinking water in many restaurants and bars (without consequences), because they had installed filter systems. It didn’t taste as badly chlorinated as the one you get in many restaurants in America. For a small surcharge (sometimes even free of charge) we could have our steel drinking bottles refilled and so we could help at least a little against the mountain of PET bottles.

Motorized water sports were also prohibited. It was pleasantly quiet on the beach.

And to improve the appearance, the power cables, which can be found in Asian countries stretched on masts in the air, were laid under the ground. But when we visited 2 months after the reopening, these works were still in full progress and the main road was uncovered. Apart from the construction noise, the penetrating smell of the sewage pipes was the bigger problem. But this will not be an issue anymore and only disturbed us when crossing this road when we left our hotel and came back again.

Also the maximum number of guests has been limited

What was also drastically changed is the maximum number of guests allowed on the island per day. This is surely one of the most important points they had changed. Even so, with the new allowed number, there was still an extremely high number of people staying at the restaurants and bars of Section 2. I don’t even want to imagine what it was like before. It felt a bit like an amusement park (not that this is a bad thing in general). A colourful jumble of restaurants and bars and music was played everywhere. For us it was definitely a change from the very quiet islands we usually visited.

Our accommodation (Plan B)

Actually I booked an Airbnb first, but unfortunately the owner had to cancel it at short notice, because since the reopening a permit is needed. So I didn’t have much hotels to choose from anymore (as it was New Year’s Day), which were attractive and didn’t cost a fortune.

We liked the Lime Hotel very much. The staff were all very nice and the rooms were modern and clean (and affordable, unlike those with direct sea access). At first we had a normal double room, but since all of them were already fully booked for the New Year’s night, I had to book a family room for that night. The morning after the New Year’s Eve celebration we moved into this one for our last night.

The pool on the roof offered a nice view of the sea and the

sunset.

White Beach – Boracay`s Highlight

White Beach, is really beautiful, you have to give him that. The white sand was very fine and the water was fantastically clear. It’s great to see that so much attention is paid to the fact that no more rubbish is left behind. Quite a rarity in the Philippines.

We were very lazy in the 4 days we spent here and didn’t even take our camera to the beach at daytime. Unfortunately you have to be content with the photos of my mobile phone, which is a bit outdated.

Station 3: During the day our favourite section of the beach

We walked about 20 min. each way to Station 3 of the beach every day and settled down in the shade of the palm tree on the following photo. Most people stay at Station 2 (where all the restaurants and bars are) which meant for us that it was very quiet and almost deserted here at Station 3. Wonderful to relax.

The sandcastles that were built daily were very impressive. For a tip one was allowed to take a photo of them. It would probably take me forever to build such a thing, but practice makes perfect, as is well known. In former times Boracay was known for really big sandcastles, but this is strictly forbidden since the new rules are in force.

One evening we finally took the camera with us to photograph the sunset.

Pub Crawl on Boracay. A must do, if you like meeting people, bars and parties!

New Year’s Eve was exactly as I had imagined. We joined the Haqqy Pub Crawl Group. A Pub Crawl means that you meet at a meeting point, pay the participation fee first and get something to give the group a united appearance and that you see who belongs to it. Here this was a yellow t-shirt and bracelet and a shot glass that we wore on a chain around our neck. Then you get to know other participants and a little later you go from bar to bar and at the end usually to a club. As the organizers have deals with the bars, one gets a shot or discounts on certain drinks in each of these bars.

We experienced the countdown in a cool bar directly on the beach. An unforgettable memory!

What`s a Pub Crawl?

A Pub Crawl is an easy way to get to know the area and other people and have a fun evening. Since then we are friends with a great couple from London. Last year I even visited them.

I consciously decided to plan Boracay in the middle of our trip, so that we could celebrate New Year’s Eve there and recover a little from travelling around. Contrary to other islands, there`s a lot going on and there are numerous restaurants with different cuisine to choose from. An absolute contrast to the other, rather quiet islands. In retrospect I would not book 5 nights here, but with 2-3 you`ll definitely make a good choice. To spend less time there isn`t worth it, especially as you have to get to the island first.

My conclusion of Boracay:

Even after the reopening there`s still a lot going on. You can still party. But because of the safe beach and the many different restaurants it`s also a suitable island for families.

This is how the Boracay Island`s divided:

Station 1:

• Here you`ll find rather luxury hotels. Nice for a walk on the beach. Pretty quiet.

Station 2:

• Here the bears tap-dance .;-) Here you`ll find many mid-priced hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs and lot of people.

Station 3:

This is where you`ll find rather cheap accommodations. Formerly known as the backpacker section. There are a only a few restaurants and bars in this beach section. Very quiet beach section. We came here daily throughout the day.

Station X:

• Located within Station 2 on the main street and is the courtyard of the Hue Hotel. A pool, a bar and a food court are located here.

D Mall:

• Also located within Station 2, this area is full of shops, restaurants and bars.

Info and tips:

• The island Boracay is only 7 km long and 1 km wide.
• On the island there`s the White Beach, which is one of the most beautiful beaches of the world.
• The area around the White Beach is divided into sections (stations).
• From Caticlan Ferry Port you can reach Boracay Island by boat in about 15 minutes.
• These boats run about every quarter of an hour.
• Before you can get to the ticket counters inside the building, you have to identify yourself, so that they can check if you have already a hotel booking and if the hotel has a permit. (At least that was the case when we were there in December 2018.)
• Since the reopening “only” 54`945 persons are allowed on the island at the same time. The number consists of 19`215 tourists and 35`730 employees and inhabitants and per day no more than 6`405 tourists are allowed to arrive.
• This means book early. 😉
• Hotels must have a permit.
• Many Airbnb`s have no permit. For me it would be too risky to book one. You could easily book one which doesn`t have a permit and then you`ll not be allowed to enter the island and have to book a hotel again.
• To be 100% sure, here`s the official list (state of 02/28/2020) of all hotels that have a permit:

Hoteltips:

• Lime Hotel, The hotel I booked has 4 stars and is in the lower middle class price segment. Unless you are there over New Year’s, it`s cheap I would say. It`s located on the main street in section 2.
• Alta Vista de Boracay. This is the hotel that our friends from London have booked for their honeymoon. They were very pleased with it. It`s in the same price range as the Lime Hotel and is situated on a hill almost at the very north of the island. They loved the view. You can reach the beautiful Punta Buga Beach by foot within 25 minutes. To the White Beach you need about 1 hour by foot. If you want to be closer to the White Beach, I recommend to book another hotel.

When I had to change from the Airbnb, which I had booked first, to a hotel, there were only max.5% of the hotels available (and many of them didn`t seem clean enough). So the Lime Hotel was a good choice. But if I would go to Boracay again, I would book one of these hotels:

• Crimson Resort and Spa. Luxury resort with private beach. 1 hour to Station 1.
• Coast. Four-star hotel. Upper middle class price segment. In Station 2 where also the ChaCha`s Beach Cafe is located.
• Astoria. 4 star hotel, same price segment as the Coast, in Station 1.
• Zuzuni Boutique Hotel. 4 stars, in the lower middle class price segment. Located in the transition from Station 1 to 2.

Restaurants in Station 2 that I can recommend:

• ChaCha`s Beach Cafe. Direct beach location. Belongs to the Hotel Coast. Mixed menu. Sometimes very slow service. But food and drinks were very good, so we came here twice.

• Hoy Panga. Here they have (among other things) Smoothie Bowls! What did i miss that after i got to know it in Bali.

• Nonie`s. Located in Station X. Slowfood. Healthy cuisine using local products. Here we had by far the most exciting food on Boracay. We came here once for breakfast and once for dinner. They also have sticky rice with mango for dessert! Something I learned to love in Thailand.

• Coco Mama. Also located in Station X. Heavenly coconut ice cream with coconut chips and mango, puffed rice and on request other topings. A piece of luck!

• Truefood. On the beach. Good Indian cuisine and nice service. Comfortable sitting area on the upper floor of the restaurant. From here you have a nice view to the beach.

• Steampunk (Bite Clubs Burgers). It’s at D Mall. Delicious crispie chicken burger, cool interior in steampunk style.

• Lemoni Cafe. Located right next to the Steampunk Restaurant. Extreme tasty cheesecakes! But also the other desserts were great. Attention, the vegan date balls contain a lot of ground cashew nuts! Not that you feel as bad as my husband afterwards.

Bar with great drinks at Station 3:

• CocoLoco Bar. Was on the way back from “our” palm tree towards Station 2.