Finally, there it was: the teeny-tiny Philippine island it had taken us 22 hours, three flights and 6,900 miles to reach. Boracay revealed itself teasingly from the corner of the plane window. First it was a distant green speck, then as we made our descent the contoured mangroves and turquoise outline came into view. At last the plane thudded to a halt on a runway that had been carved out of the jungle on next-door Panay island. As we emerged, the hot air outside was like a big blast of dopamine after the grisly winter we’d left behind in London.
I had come to the Philippines mainly for the beaches — the best in the world, so I’d heard. Add in filmic landscapes, smart hotels and first-class snorkelling and it all sounded, well, idyllic. The only snag was the long journey, as there are no direct flights from the UK. My husband and I flew to Manila via Kuala Lumpur and then on to Boracay, one of 7,641 islands in the archipelago. Boracay is tiny — only 500m wide in parts — hence its nearest airport, Caticlan, is on neighbouring Panay, from where it’s a short boat ride.
Our trip was to be a nine-day, toe-dip introduction to four islands — Boracay, El Nido (on Palawan), Panglao and Bohol — arranged by the tour operator Turquoise Holidays. Soon after arriving in Boracay, though, we were kicking ourselves. Why hadn’t we come for longer? This is the sort of place you fantasise about when you’re at your desk: powdery white sand, rugged green interior and glass-clear sea.
White beach is one of the most popular spots on Boracay
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Yet despite its appeal as an island-hopping destination, the Philippines’ tourism figures lag far behind those of its regional neighbours. Just over five million international visitors came to the archipelago in 2024; meanwhile Thailand received more than 35 million, Malaysia 38 million and Indonesia almost 14 million. There are signs this is changing, though. James Bell, the managing director of Turquoise, says the country is its fastest-growing Asian destination in terms of demand, and becoming “a real contender in the luxury sector”. A flurry of big-name hotel openings, increased investment in tourism infrastructure and new high-end cruises and tours are helping to lure the discerning traveller. For now, though, less attention means fewer crowds than Bali and Koh Samui, even on the better-known islands such as Boracay.
What you need to know
A luxury beach stay in Boracay
The Shangri-La Boracay, our base here, was the island’s first five-star hotel when it opened in 2009 and remains its fanciest stay, with an uber-luxe spa, four restaurants and two quiet sandy beaches. It also has one of the best breakfast buffets I’ve seen — sushi bar, smoothie station, frozen yoghurt, the works (B&B doubles from £450; shangri-la.com).
It’s not cheap — you can find plenty of comfortable, more affordable stays elsewhere on the island — but this is your best bet if you’re after decadence. Its location on Boracay’s quiet northwestern tip, a scenic speedboat ride from the hotel’s private lounge at Caticlan airport, adds to the White Lotus vibes. We were met on the jetty by waving staff and the first of many phenomenal sunsets we’d see that week — an eye-widening beauty streaked with pink, yellow and amber.
The hotel has more than 200 bedrooms and villas
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The 219 bedrooms and villas are spread amid a hilly jungle canopy. Even the smallest are spacious, with caramel and wood interiors, private verandas and big marble bathrooms stocked with Panpuri toiletries from Thailand. Our home for the next few days was a very swish two-storey treetop villa kitted out with sleek mahogany floors, jute rugs, antique-look wooden desks and a sea-facing sundeck with an infinity pool. “Just don’t leave the doors open,” the concierge warned, gesturing to the trees. “Monkeys.”
We had more room than we knew what to do with, and an enormous bed that looked particularly irresistible after so long in plane seats. Maybe it was the crisp sheets, maybe it was the still-warm cookies delivered to the door, maybe it was the tiredness — whatever the reason, we slept deeply that night.
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Exploring the island
The following morning we took a free shuttle ride from the hotel to the island’s busier centre. Boracay was once known as a party island but because of environmental damage it was closed to visitors for six months by the government in 2018 for a huge clean-up operation. Strict measures have since been introduced to prevent overtourism, including a daily cap on visitor numbers and designated drinking areas. These seem to have worked — the island I visited was clean and uncrowded, with a rustic beach-town feel.
You can walk across the middle of Boracay in 15 minutes, so we covered ample ground on our excursion, from D’Mall, a lively outdoor shopping complex selling everything from tourist merch to street food, to the popular White beach, a long stretch of sugar-white sand lined with Bali-style coffee bars and coconut trees. Back at the hotel, we rotated between the poolside restaurant and Punta Bunga beach, where we borrowed snorkelling gear and ogled the bay’s pristine coral reefs. In the evening we put on our finest and headed to the resort’s clifftop Sirena restaurant for plates of locally caught tuna and dessert of Boracay banana pie, a moreish take on sticky toffee pudding (mains from £14).
Punta Bunga beach has pristine coral reefs
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An unexpected storm — and a change of plan
It was lucky we got our fill of sunbathing and snorkelling that afternoon because we woke the following morning to a dark sky, sheetlike rain and aggressive waves that didn’t bode well for our speedboat ride back to the airport. It was late November, the tail end of the wet season here (June to November), so we hadn’t expected entirely balmy weather. Still, this was pretty bad, and we began receiving emergency text alerts warning us of a tropical storm. Our flight to El Nido on Palawan, the next island we’d been due to travel to for a few nights at the El Nido Pangulasian Island resort, was cancelled.
The benefit of travelling with a tour operator became apparent over the following days. Turquoise rejigged our itinerary and liaised with the hotels while we were marooned in not-very-Robinson–Crusoe style. We passed our bonus time at the Shangri-La with muscle-soothing Philippine Hilot massages at Chi, the hotel’s spa (60 minutes; £65); enjoyed the excellent room service; and made good use of the sauna — a strange feeling when it’s 30C outside, albeit wet. After two days the weather relented and we were able to travel on to Panglao, our next stop, having had to forgo a still stormy El Nido.
Sun, snorkelling and seafood in Panglao
Happily the rain stayed away from Panglao, the beachy isle 200 miles southeast of Boracay where we were spending the next four nights. Here the sun was shining, the air was so humid my glasses steamed up and there was a live band singing jolly tunes inside the airport terminal. Even the airport staff were warm here, calling out “Have a great trip!” as we left. That would never happen at Gatwick.
We’d had another awkward journey to get here — an hour’s flight from Caticlan to Manila, followed by a 90-minute flight to Panglao — but once again it was worth the effort.
Our base was the South Palms Resort and Spa, a sprawling MGallery Collection hotel that opened in August (B&B doubles from £265; accor.com). The shiny 188-room pad has the feel of a Caribbean fly-and-flop resort: huge lagoon pools, £5 happy-hour cocktails, free blueberry ice cream delivered to your sunlounger and impeccable service.
One of the pool areas at South Palms Resort and Spa
The rooms are spotless and modern; our bright junior suite came with homemade Filipino sweet treats and lemongrass tea, a private plunge pool and swoonworthy views over the beach. And we loved the hotel’s restaurants, particularly Uma, a Filipino spot with tanks full of live prawns, crabs and grouper that you can pick out for your dinner.
It would have been so easy to stay put by the pool, but Panglao makes a great base for discovering some of the Visayas region’s lesser-known islets, with Balicasag and Pamilacan — known for their marine life — a short boat ride away. So one morning we joined a group boat trip to charming Balicasag, where we spotted dolphins and snorkelled over electric-blue starfish, sea turtles and otherworldly reefs (£30pp; klook.com).
• 14 best beaches in the Philippines for a great island getaway
Tiny primates and centuries-old churches in Bohol
Another day we set off on a trip to the island of Bohol, connected by bridge to Panglao, arranged by our tour operator. It is best known for the Chocolate Hills, thousands of grass-covered domes scattered for miles. These were just as striking as we’d hoped they’d be — although at this time of the year they were matcha-coloured rather than the chocolate-brown shade they turn in the dry season. We rented quad bikes and careered round the muddy base of the hills before stopping for coconut wine, a beer-like Bohol staple, in a roadside hut.
The Chocolate Hills in Bohol
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Our guide, 25-year-old Sean Alcoser, grew up on Bohol and knows its every road, hill and local legend. The Philippines was occupied by Spain from 1521 to 1898 and there’s still a strong Spanish influence on Bohol’s culture, Alcoser explained, as we drove past streets with Spanish names and full-length portraits of Christ. The island is predominantly Roman Catholic and there are several beautiful colonial-era churches that are worth visiting. The 18th-century Baclayon Church, made from coral stone, with intricate ceiling frescoes bathed in colour from stained-glass windows, is extraordinary (free; geopark.bohol.gov.ph).
Inside Baclayon Church
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Just as marvellous was the wildlife on Bohol. The whole island is a Unesco global geopark and we drove past water buffaloes, colourful birds, pea-green rice fields and a forest full of lofty mahogany trees. The Loboc River, a green waterway bracketed by jungle in the centre of the island, made a dreamy backdrop for our lunch of stir-fried noodles and delicious ube ice cream, made from a sweet local yam — not together, I should add — at the Loboc River Resort. I’d have loved to stay the night at this serene boho-chic hotel if we were here longer (B&B doubles from £86; lobocriverresort.com).
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It wouldn’t be a trip to Bohol without seeing a Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s tiniest primates that’s indigenous to the island. The bug-eyed creatures are remarkable but emotionally fragile — they kill themselves when they’re stressed, said Alcoser, matter-of-factly, as we entered the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary (entry £1.90pp; tarsierfoundation.com). We trod carefully.
A Philippine tarsier
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We spent what was left of our trip horizontal on Panglao’s beaches, wishing we had more time there. Still, now I have plenty of excuses to return to this captivating country. When I do I’ll spend more time in frenetic Manila and its 16th-century old town, and I’ll make a second attempt at seeing El Nido. Hopefully with the weather on my side this time.
Claudia Rowan was a guest of the Shangri-La Boracay, the South Palms Resort and Spa Panglao and Turquoise Holidays, which has eight nights’ B&B with four nights at the Shangri-La Boracay and four at the South Palms Resort and Spa Panglao, including flights, transfers and tours, from £2,970pp (turquoiseholidays.co.uk)
