I was one of the last visitors on Boracay before the Boracay shut down.

While planning my 10 day itinerary for the Philippines, I narrowed down my destinations to El Nido, Palawan, Cebu, and Boracay. I was iffy on choosing Boracay because it gets such a bad rap for being “dirty” and “touristy” online. However, everyone insisted that it was also known as the party island of the Philippines so I felt like I shouldn’t miss out.

The Atmosphere on Boracay

Boracay was the last stop on our trip, and I could tell that it was different than the other islands that we visited as soon as I landed. Unlike the barely touched towns of El Nido, Boracay was jam packed with tourists. Instead of the usual 2 person tricycle (the norm on other smaller islands), Boracay had resorted to mini bus-like automobiles. The streets were lined with hotels, shops and visitors. Luckily, we were staying on a side street more to the north of the island, so we could slightly avoid the crowds.

When we checked in, the hostel staff informed us that we would be some of the last visitors on the island, since Boracay would be shutting down to tourists for an undetermined amount of time.

While grabbing a ride to dinner, it was almost faster just to walk due to the amount of traffic on the tiny island road. We soon hopped out of the unicycle and resorted to getting there on foot. I couldn’t help but notice how hard it was to walk down the street on the torn up sidewalks. There must have been construction going on all the way down the main road. We quickly turned down a street to head towards the beach and the boardwalk there. This is where all the partiers hang out, packed beach bars with loud techno music and hookah lounges filled with colorful bean bags and sugary cocktails. I’m not going to lie, I had fun on my night out in Boracay. However, it is a little strange to think that this tiny ocean boardwalk was more crowded and industrialized than any beach board walk I’ve ever seen in the U.S.

how the locals live

The amount of people out on the beach drinking every night had to be contributing to the mass amount of garbage Boracay contracts on a nightly basis. Not to mention, the mass amount of litter all of the restaurants, hotels and bars were producing with nowhere for it to go. Garbage after all, was one of the top reasons why Boracay was being shut down.

As of April, no tourists will be allowed on Boracay for 6 months, in order to clean up the island which has been harmed by heavy commercialization and overdevelopment. The President of the Philippines ordered the shutdown after he spotted raw sewage being dumped directly into the ocean by tourism related businesses (disgusting I know, but probably not uncommon). Although many people agree that something needed to be done, a lot of locals will be feeling an economic impact since most of their wages came from tourism. Hopefully Boracay can clean itself up and bounce back from this hurdle, and maybe even teach a lesson to other areas of the world that are feeling an increase in tourism. A boost in tourism can be great for the economy, but not at the cost of the environment that produced it. If we don’t practice responsible tourism now, we won’t have anywhere to visit in the future.

Because, you may like my photos above.. but the reality is:

Photo from SkyNews

**Don’t let this article deter you from visiting other islands in the Philippines that are absolutely beautiful and off the tourist trail. I highly recommend visiting El Nido! You can view my 10 day itinerary for the Philippines here.