Backpacking Boracay
Boracay is the famous one, and plenty of backpackers skip it on principle: it is busier, more developed and more expensive than Siquijor or Siargao, and it has resorts. Then they go anyway and find out that White Beach genuinely is four kilometres of powder so fine it squeaks, with water that shades from clear to turquoise in about ten steps.
The island closed for six months in 2018 while the government cleaned up its sewage and tore down what should not have been built. What came back is stricter and considerably better: no smoking, drinking or eating on the sand, no fires, no ordinary vehicles anywhere, and a beach you can actually walk the length of.
Two to three days is right. €25 a day, and the trick to keeping it there is walking two streets inland for dinner.
Why Boracay is popular with backpackers
- White Beach: four kilometres of powder white sand, and it lives up to it
- Sunset on a paraw, the traditional outrigger sailing boat, for about €8
- Station 3 and Station 2, where the hostels and the cheap food are
- Kitesurfing at Bulabog from June to October, one of the best spots in Asia
- Island hopping to Puka Beach and Crystal Cove for half a day
- No cars anywhere: the whole island runs on electric trikes
- A talipapa fish market where you buy the fish and pay someone to cook it
Best time to visit Boracay
Everything here turns on which way the wind is blowing, because that decides what White Beach looks like: flat and glassy in the amihan, choppy with seaweed in the habagat.
In the habagat the action simply moves to the other side of the island. Bulabog Beach, ten minutes’ walk east, gets the wind and becomes one of the better kitesurfing spots in Asia, exactly when White Beach is at its roughest.
Backpacker budget: around €25 a day
- €9hostel bed
- €3local meal
- €1.50beer
- €1e-trike per ride
Guide prices from our own days in Boracay. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
Station 2
White Beach is divided into three stations, and Station 2 is the middle one. Station 1 is the quiet, expensive end with the widest sand; Station 3 is cheaper, more local and where a lot of the hostels are; Station 2 sits between them with D’Mall, most of the restaurants and the night out.
Everything is walkable along the beach path, and the island is ten square kilometres, so nothing is far.
Good to know about this area
- Station 2 is the centre: restaurants, bars, D’Mall and most tour desks
- Station 3 is cheaper and quieter, and still a ten minute walk away
- The beach path runs the whole four kilometres, and there are no cars on it
- No smoking, drinking or eating on the sand itself, and it is enforced
- E-trikes for about €1 a ride, because ordinary vehicles are banned
- D’Talipapa fish market is a few minutes inland from Station 2
Best hostels in Boracay
All within reach of the beach path, which is the only road that matters here.
Frendz Resort and Hostel Boracay
The best known backpacker hostel on the island: pool, rooftop bar and a social programme that runs most nights. Almost three and a half thousand reviews and a 9.4.
If you want Boracay to be sociable rather than a resort island, start here.
Chill Out Hostel Boracay
Exactly what the name says: relaxed, close to the beach, and smaller than the big places. Popular with people who want White Beach without the programme.
Ocean Breeze Inn
Comfortable rooms, central, and close to White Beach. A step up from a dorm at a price that still works on a backpacker budget, and rated 9.4 across six hundred stays.
Best things to do in Boracay
A beach, a boat, a sunset and some wind. Boracay does not pretend to be complicated.
Island and beach hopping
Half a day around the island by boat: Crystal Cove, Crocodile Island for the snorkelling, and Puka Shell Beach at the northern tip, where the sand is coarser and there are a fraction of the people.
The easiest way to see that Boracay has more than one beach on it.
Sunset on the water
Boracay’s sunsets are genuinely the thing, and the whole west coast faces them. The paraw, the traditional double outrigger sailing boat, takes you out on the water for about €8 as the light goes.
For the louder version there is a catamaran with a bar on it, which is a very different evening and also a good one.
Helmet diving
You walk on the seabed with a clear helmet on your head and air piped down to you, so your head stays dry and you can wear glasses. No certification, no training, and no experience needed.
It is not diving and it is not trying to be. As a way of getting a non swimmer onto a reef, it works.
White Beach
Four kilometres from Station 1 to Station 3, sand fine enough to stay cool under your feet even at midday, and no vehicles anywhere along it. Walk the whole length once: the character changes completely from one end to the other.
Sunset is the moment, and it happens every evening for free.
Puka Shell Beach
The north end of the island, and the calm answer to White Beach. Coarser sand made of crushed puka shells, a handful of stalls, and far fewer people.
Fifteen minutes by e-trike from Station 1, and worth an afternoon.
Bulabog Beach and the kitesurfing
The east coast, ten minutes on foot from White Beach, and where the island’s wind goes. From June to October this is one of the best flat water kitesurfing spots in Asia, with schools along the beach teaching beginners in waist deep water.
Even if you never get on a board, it is worth walking over to watch.
Parasailing over the bay
Fifteen minutes on a parachute behind a boat, a few hundred metres up, with the whole four kilometres of White Beach underneath you and the reef edge visible as a line of colour change.
Book through a proper operator rather than with someone who approaches you on the sand.
Mount Luho
The highest point on the island, and from the platform you can see both coasts at once: White Beach on one side, Bulabog and the wind on the other.
A euro fifty and a short ride up. Best early, before the haze builds.
How to plan your days in Boracay
The island is ten square kilometres, so two days covers it. Pick how long you have.
Walk White Beach. Four kilometres of sand split into Station 1 (quiet and expensive), Station 2 (busy and central) and Station 3 (cheap and backpacker). Walk the whole length once.
Tonight: sunset on a paraw, the traditional sailing boat.
Island hopping and Puka Beach. The boat round past Crystal Cove, Crocodile Island and Puka Shell Beach, where the sand is coarser and it is much quieter. Snorkelling is usually included.
Tonight: eat and drink along Station 2, where the night is.
Mount Luho or the water. The highest point on the island looks over both coasts. Otherwise this is the day for parasailing, helmet diving, or kitesurfing at Bulabog in the habagat.
Tonight: fly out via Caticlan or Kalibo.
Food and drink in Boracay
This is the most touristed island in the Philippines and the beachfront prices say so. Two streets inland, around D’Mall and in the village, the same food costs a fraction.
The thing to do at least once is D’Talipapa, the fish market: you buy your fish, prawns or crab by weight at one stall and carry them to a restaurant next door, which cooks them for a separate fee. Ask both prices before you point at anything.
At the talipapa you buy fish by the kilo and pay the restaurant next door only for cooking it. Ask both prices before you point at anything.
Getting there and onward
Boracay has no airport of its own. You land at Caticlan or Kalibo on the neighbouring island of Panay and cross by boat.
Getting there. Caticlan is ten minutes by boat from Boracay. Kalibo is an hour and a half by road plus the boat. Caticlan is far more convenient and usually more expensive.
On the island. Only electric trikes, because ordinary vehicles are banned. A ride is about a euro, and the beach path itself is car free.
Onward. Flights from Caticlan and Kalibo to Manila and Cebu. Ferries run to Romblon and Mindoro too, but they are slow.
- PlaneCaticlan or Kalibo, 1 hr from Manila
- BoatCaticlan to Boracay, 10 minutes
- E-trikeElectric only on the island, about €1
- ParawSailing boat at sunset, about €8
- Island tripPuka Beach and Crystal Cove, half a day
Staying safe in Boracay
Safe and well organised, particularly since the island shut for six months in 2018 for a clean up. What came with that is a set of rules that are actually enforced.
- Be able to show your return flight or your accommodation. It is checked on arrival
- Watch the flags. In the habagat there is real surf on White Beach
- Take your rubbish with you. There are genuine fines for this
- Photograph watersports equipment before you take it out
- Smoke, drink or eat on the sand itself. It is banned and it is enforced
- Build sandcastles or light a fire on White Beach
- Book a watersports activity from someone who approaches you on the beach
- Turn up in high season without a booking
Rebels on the Road tip
Everybody spends their days on White Beach and almost nobody finds Ilig-Iligan Beach on the north east side. It sits tucked between the hills and the tour boats do not stop there. Take an e-trike out early in the morning: clear water, hardly anyone about, and a far more ordinary Boracay than the one on the postcards. With a bit of luck you share it with a couple of fishermen. It feels like a side of the island most visitors never see, and it is fifteen minutes from the busiest sand in the Philippines.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Boracay?
Two to three. One for White Beach, one for island hopping and Puka, and a third for Mount Luho or the water sports. The island is ten square kilometres, so more than that is a beach holiday rather than a stop.
Is Boracay as good as the photos?
Yes. White Beach is genuinely one of the best beaches anywhere, and a lot of people find it better in person than in pictures. The sand really is that fine and the water really does do that.
Which station should I stay in?
Station 2 for the centre and the night out, Station 3 for the cheaper hostels and a quieter stretch of sand. They are a ten minute walk apart along the beach path.
Is Boracay expensive?
More than most of the Philippines, and manageable. About €25 a day works if you sleep in a hostel and eat inland rather than on the sand. The beachfront restaurants are where the budget goes.
Do I need to book before I arrive?
Yes. Since 2018 you have to be able to show accommodation and a return flight on arrival, and in peak season the beds go. Book at least the first night.
Can I drink on the beach?
No. Smoking, drinking and eating on the sand itself are banned, and it is enforced with fines. The bars and restaurants set back from the beach are where all of that happens.
What about the seaweed?
From June to October the habagat blows onto White Beach and brings seaweed and chop with it. That is also exactly when Bulabog on the east coast becomes a great kitesurfing spot, so the island still works, just the other way round.
When is the best time to visit Boracay?
January to April, when White Beach is in the lee, the sea is calm and it stays dry. December already has the calm sea, with more showers. May is hot and busy with Filipino holidaymakers. June to November is the rainy season and cheap, and from June to October it is windy and the kitesurfing season.
