This Week in Boracay (January 25 to 31, 2020)

It will be mostly sunny throughout the week with some morning showers. Overall, nice weather will prevail throughout the week with maximum temperature of 29 °C and a minimum at 26 °C [1]. With this kind of weather, it's a good time to go on an island hopping activity. There are tours circling the island, as well as some that visit nearby attractions. One island you can visit is Carabao Island in Sta Fe, Romblon which can be seen when you’re in Puka Beach. Another destination is the cliff jumping site of Ariel’s Point in nearby Buruange town. For safety, always wear your life jacket while on the boat.

Whether it’s been a long time since your last Boracay visit or it's your first time on the island, you’ll surely notice the roads from the port as there are still portions of the main road that are still under construction [2]. Expect to experience a little heavy traffic and a bumpy trip especially along the main road in Station 1 in Barangay Balabag. This is still part of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the tourist island.

Collection of fees for pontoons are no longer allowed as the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) ordered the Local Government Unit (LGU) to stop it [3]. The collection of fees were considered as a violation by the task force. The discontinuation was enforced after various complaints were lodged against the PhP30 collected from every tourist using the pontoon. The pontoon is used for island hopping activities and other water sports activities.

It's safe to say that tourism in the island has recovered already after its closure in 2018 as it welcomed more than two million tourists in 2019 [4]. Data from the Department of Tourism showed a 116 percent increase in the number of tourists arrivals in Boracay. Chinese tourists are the top visitors of the island, followed by South Koreans and Taiwanese. A total of 434,175 Chinese tourists visited the island in 2019 while South Koreans reached 400,610. The increase in tourism arrival is attributed to the growing number of flights from mainland China and Korea to Kalibo.

Another good thing that happened after the rehabilitation of the island is the growing number of turtles hatching on the beaches of Boracay [5]. No wonder the island is now called a turtle haven! A series of activities to release Olive Ridley turtles have been done in the island in the past months. Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources continue to monitor various nesting sites on the island.

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