Boracay is one of 7,000 or so islands in the Philippines. On a map of the Philippines, Boracay is located about halfway down north to south and about halfway across east to west, just to the north of the northwest corner of a large island named Panay. Boracay is about 7 km long and 2.5 km wide at each end. The island is roughly dumbell-shaped, with the long axis oriented more-or-less north to south.

The middle part of the island is less than a kilometer wide and has beaches on both the east and west sides. The main beach on the west side is about 4 km long, and is called White Beach. On the east side, the main beach is about 1.6 km long and is called Bulabog Beach. There are about ten or so smaller beaches sprinkled around the island, some reachable

Surfers enjoying the pristine beach.

Boracay generally has two seasons, wet and dry. The wet season is called Habagat, and runs approximately from June through September. The dry season is called Amihan, and runs approximately from October through May. There is some variability in this, and the switch between wet and dry seasons can vary from year to year by as much as a month.

During the dry season, there is a pretty steady wind blowing from east to west. The north and south ends of the island are a bit hilly, channeling the wind onto Bulabog Beach and making that beach ideal for windsurfing and kiteboarding. White

Boracay's famous White Beach.

Partly because of the seasons and the associated wind pattern, tourism is heaviest during the dry season. Most hotels and resorts have Low and High Season price levels, and some have additional Peak Period pricing. Peak periods, periods of heaviest tourist arrivals, include the Christmas/NewYear and Chinese New Year periods, and the Easter Season.

White Beach

The sun setting in Boracay

The Beachfront Path begins about 1.5 km south of the northern end of White Beach and runs for about 2 km, ending about half a kilometer north of the southern end of the beach. White Beach faces west, and spectacular tropical sunsets are often seen from it. The sun sets sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 PM, depending on the time of year, and many of Boracay's beachfront bars have a Happy Hour from 5 to 7. Three boat stations located along White Beach serve as Boracay's primary entry points during the dry season.

Palm trees on White Beach