The island resembles a big green bone and is about 4 km long. It is located on the north-western tip of the island of Panay about 400km south of Manila. Formerly known as an insider's tip for backpackers, it is now fully developed for tourists and offers a lot of variety. However, the journey is still a real adventure. From Zurich we travelled with Malaysian Airways via Kuala Lumbur and Borneo to Manila. This trip alone takes about 20 hours. After a night in Manila (we stayed at the hotel) we went on to Caticlan with a DeHavilland Dash-7 of the Asian Spirit Airways (one year later the plane broke in an emergency landing).

The airport consists of a straw hut and a short runway, which also requires a machine with STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) capabilities. The runway is also used by the children on their way to school. Once arrived, you wait for the bus that takes you to the harbor, where one of the typical outrigger boats waits for the arrivals. Anyone expecting a bridge or similar will be disappointed. The entry into the boat leads over a 30 cm wide board and is the purest balancing act. Arrived on Boracay we go to the beach via an even narrower board. Wet shoes or worse must therefore be taken into account.

The journey is definitely worthwhile. Boracay has a 3.5km long white powder sand beach, separated from the main road (3m wide sandy path) by many palm trees. The hotels were all on the west side at that time. Actually like an island in the Maldives, if it wasn't for the busy life on the streets.

Island Sketch