Barefooting in Boracay

Manila Bulletin

BORACAY, Aklan (PNA) — Sink your ankles deep into the softest, finest, whitest sand. Sand so friendly, you can’t find it anywhere else in the world except Boracay.

It’s like burrowing into sifted confectionery sugar, top-cake flour, or baby powder. Gentle, gratifying. Bordering on the unreal. It’s just got to be what the sandman sprinkles at dreamtime.

Every particle that clings to your sun-drenched body is a speckle of white coral and shell worn down by the powerful ocean currents, and the annual typhoon waves. It takes patience to make a beach: each bit of organic building material must be rubbed, tossed and dragged about repeatedly by water movement till it breaks down into fine and still much finer sand.

The beach is a living earthscape. With every wave, sand is deposited and removed everyday. Boracay’s white beach is a delicate tribute to ecological balance. Whiteness is retained by keeping offshore coral communities healthy. It is also white because there is neither quartz, feldspar, nor magnetite to color Boracay sand otherwise.

The island paradise was born in pre-history when a reef platform attached to northwestern Panay Island rose and revealed two islets. Sand accumulated between the twain, wedding them into a Philippine contribution to the world’s natural treasures.

From Manila to Caticlan, it took less than an hour on board the Seair. The entourage is composed of Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon, Louie Pawid of DoT, two journalists from Lakbay TV and this writer.

Gordon was invited by Rep. Gabrielle Calizo to attend the public hearing of the joint Committee on Tourism and Local Government Units regarding tourism-related problems.

Seair is flying three times a day here, making a gateway vacation to this island paradise possible.

Sheltered from the fierce easterly typhoon, Boracay can be found at the northwestern tip of Panay, off the Sibuyan Sea. It has managed to pack its thousand-hectare area with all the elements of a tropical paradise – crystal blue waters, powder white sand, liberal doses of tropical palms and flowering plants, and a healthy marine life underneath the seas.

Boracay is made up of three little communities, Yapak in the north, Balabag in the middle and Manoc-Manoc in the south. Hilly elevations up to 100 meters above sea level characterize Yapak and Manoc-Manoc, intertwining trails link the small villages together.

Boracay would have remained a national secret if not for a few foreign travelers who accidentally stumbled upon the place. Some say it was a movie crew which spread word about Boracay to other sun worshippers. Others swear it was German traveler Jens Peters’ book, which included rave reviews about Boracay, that sent tourists on their way.

The island, roughly shaped like a dumb-bell, is seven kilometers and the narrowest spot is nearly a kilometer wide. Boracay Island is Aklan’s pride aside from the Ati-Atihan Festival.

The best part of the island is its four kilometer “White Beach”, also called Long Beach by the locals. It is situated at the west coast between the villages of Angol and Balabag and barangay Manok-Manok.

There are three boat stations along White Beach. Boats are usually bancas chartering. One of these costs approximately R200 for an hour per person. R500 for three hours and R800 for six hours.

Or one can try the tricycles with sidecars. They are one of the most popular transportation means in the country. The fare is from R5 to R20 per person. Or try renting a bicycle. They cost about R50 per hour.

It is not only home to the famous puka shells but also of corals — green, pink, blue, brown, red and white. These are made into necklaces, bracelets and earrings both for export and local consumption. Precautionary measures have been imposed by the government to prevent destruction of beaches where these precious shells are “mined”.

There are about 350 beach resorts with more than 3,000 rooms to suit virtually everyone’s taste. These include Robinson’s (a private house where the secretary stayed), Jony’s, Lorenzo, Club Panoly, Palomar, Pearl of the Pacific, Red Coconut, Sandcastles, Abram’s, Boracay Terraces, Willy’s, Casa Pilar, Friday’s and Boracay Regency, among others.

Boracay is not lacking in funfare, razzmatazz. There are rock bars, joints, and discos with amazing light and sound equipment open until the late morning hours, superb seafood restaurants and a choice of French, Italian and Philippine cuisine.

The place receives an average of 10,000 tourists during the peak season from November to May and at least 5,000 monthly on lean season from June to October.