BORACAY TOURIST INFORMATION
WHAT IT'S LIKE IN BORACAY

At only 4.5 miles long, Boracay is small enough to navigate by walking or you can rent a bike or motorbike. However there are many electric tricylcles and the gasoline also on the island for rent sort of like a taxi only it is a converted motor bike. But don’t let its small size fool you—you’ll have several excellent beaches to choose from. Puka Beach is known for beautiful white shells; White Beach has picture-perfect sunsets; and Balinghai Beach is a secluded spot, perfect for honeymooners. If you visit during the dry season, you’ll agree this is one of the best beach destinations in the world. There is the high and low season. High season is mostly sunny and warm, low season is much the same with often rainy days and there can be winds at times. During the low seaon typhoons tend to come and go, but for the most part Boracay is protected by the main land Aklan, Malay.

We dive year around and unless the coast guard shuts down activities for a typhoon we are diving.
November – February: Northeastern monsoon, known as “Amihan,” has temperatures ranging from 77-90º F (25-32º C). Nights are cooler with the occasional rain shower and may be as cool as 72 degrees (22º C).
March – June: Summertime. Expect hot, summer days and nights in the order of around 82-100º F(28-38º C), interrupted by the occasional cooling thunderstorm.
July – October:  Southwest moonsoon, known as “Habagat”, is the wettest season and can get very sultry and humid, especially in August.
December -May are considered the busiest months, with the most tourists coming. June-September is considered as the off-season months and rates are generally the cheapest for hotels and flights.
Christmas vacation is a popular tourism time.  Think carefully before choosing Easter (holy week) for your vacation as the beach can get very crowded.
In January, Boracayans celebrate the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival in the third week of the month, which is much like Mardi Gras; it’s a huge tourist draw.
There are three stations in Boracay 1-3 for boats and hotels
However the White Beach is divided into parts even though it is a small island
White Beach is divided into three areas from
• Station  1 — Quiet and bigger beach areas some post it as the most expensive area however   we have hotel budgets from all places on the island for every budget
• Station  2 — Party Central and busy
• Station  3 — Most crowded beach area and with the most new construction making it very noisy
We are located at station one very close to willy’s rock.
CLIMATE
The Philippines has only two seasons: Dry and wet. The dry season is from December to June. Surface temperatures average 25 degrees Celsius from December to February, and can go as high as 38 degrees from March until June. This is also the peak tourist season, as most sunworshippers take advantage of the pleasant weather.
The wet season is from July until November, with temperatures on the surface ranging from 28 to 30 degrees Celsius.

An average of 20 typhoons or tropical storms sweep through the Philippines each year, usually in the wet season from July to November. Boracay very rarely experiences a direct hit, however. Most typhoons graze the eastern part of the Philippines and go north towards Taiwan.

The Philippines has very high humidity. This means that brief rainshowers can occur anytime, but since the weather doesn’t matter underwater, scuba diving is a popular year-round activity.

A special note about monsoons: From November to March, the northeast monsoon, or amihan, blows across Boracay, creating optimum conditions for windsurfing and kiteboarding along the eastern shore. Winds are usually strongest from late December to early February. During these months, diving is limited to the western side of Boracay.

ELECTRICITY

The electricity on Boracay Island is 220v AC, 60 cycles.

While the power company, AKELCO, is currently upgrading its services, power failures, locally called “brownouts”, are still common, so in choosing a place to stay, be sure to ask if they can ensure 24-hour power.

HEALTH
Bottled drinking water is available at all resorts, restaurants and grocery stores on Boracay Island. In some establishments, tap water is not potable. Be sure to ask before you drink. Drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.
Mosquitoes are not really a problem, but they do become aggressive around sunset time. We recommend that you use insect repellent when you go outdoors.

Metropolitan Doctors Medical Clinic and Island Clinic have doctors on call 24 hours a day.

House calls can be arranged on request. Farmacia Gomez and Harlem Drugstore are two of the largest pharmacies on Boracay.

MONEY
The Philippine peso is divided into 100 centavos. Banknotes are available in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000. The most common coins are 25 centavos, one peso, five pesos and ten pesos.

The larger business establishments accept all major credit cards and traveler’s cheques, although some places may add a surcharge for credit card payments. Cash payments in Philippine peso, US dollars or Euro are commonly accepted.

Three banks – Allied Bank, located on the main road between Boat Stations 2 and 3, and Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metro Bank, also on the main road near D’Mall – offer full banking services including foreign currency exchange of bank notes and traveler’s cheques. All have ATMs on-site. Cirrus, Maestro, American Express and Mastercard cardholders can also withdraw cash at these ATMs, but due to high demand, funds may not be readily available.

POST AND COMMUNICATIONS

There is a small post office at Balabag Plaza, open on weekdays only. The Boracay Tourist Center also has a faster but costlier postal service. Parcels may be sent via LBC or JRS Express.

There are many internet cafes on Boracay. Most offer broadband connections.