Boracay’s white sand beach
Summary
Boracay is the all-too-classic story of breathtakingly beautiful beach and great relaxed vibe gets taken over by mass tourism and development. If you’re up for a very busy party experience by a beach then you’ll have fun – the beach really is gorgeously white and with stunning sunsets to enjoy (although various spots in Thailand offer this at a better level). Also, if you’re keen on a similar busy vibe for a base for kitesurfing, then go for it as the beach on the opposite side of the island is very good
But, if you’re not, I think you’ll be disappointed. Half the beach venues in South East Asia offer comparable beaches, but without such overcrowding and with a more chilled out vibe. They’re also a lot easier to get to as Boracay often has limited flights with a couple of changes. The nicer hotels at the far ends of the beaches and over the headlands are an improvement, but you’re paying over the odds for what you’re getting. I wouldn’t recommend for scuba diving either – I did my PADI Open Water course there, which was fun, but again there are so many better dive spots around South East Asia
Not a fan!
highlights
#1 The stunning sunsets
#2 That beautiful white sand, so fine it squeaks. Despite the crowds, it really is gorgeous
#3 The party processions and general party feeling. When its gets going, its good fun
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Better Tropical Experiences around SE Asia
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone