Boracay

White Beach is the reason most people come: about 4km of fine, pale sand on the island's west side, with shallow, clear water around 28°C all year and sunsets straight out to sea. Life runs along it from morning to night. Station 1 in the north has the widest, softest sand. Station 2 is the busy middle, and Station 3 in the south is quieter.

From roughly November to May the northeast winds leave White Beach calm and glassy. From June to October the southwest monsoon brings waves and seaweed to it, and the sheltered east-coast beaches take over for swimming. Puka Beach in the north is wilder and coarser underfoot, and Diniwid and Ilig-Iligan are small, quiet coves.

Eating on Boracay means seafood and beachfront dining rather than a food culture of its own. The best local experience is D'Talipapa, the wet market near Station 2. You buy prawns, crabs, lobster or fish at the stalls and take them to one of the small kitchens around it to be grilled, steamed or cooked in garlic butter. Calamansi shakes, mango shakes and grilled skewers sold from carts fill the gaps.

Along the beach path there are dozens of restaurants with tables on the sand, serving Italian, Greek, Indian, Korean and a lot of pizza and grilled seafood. It is pleasant and easy, but much of it is interchangeable, and Filipino cooking is easier to find in the inland streets than on the waterfront.

Boracay has essentially no sights in the usual sense. There are no museums or historic buildings, and only a couple of small village chapels. The island's original Ati people still live here, but there is little a visitor can see of their culture. People come for the sea and spend their days on it.

Nights here are spent on the beach. Around Station 2, the beachfront bars turn up the music after sunset, fire dancers perform on the sand, and a few dance clubs keep going past midnight on weekends and in high season. For many younger Filipino and Asian visitors, going out is a central part of the trip, and the crowd is at its biggest from December to May and around the long weekend at the start of May.

The scene is lively but narrow. It is mostly one stretch of similar bars playing chart music, with some cocktail spots and quieter lounges towards Stations 1 and 3. Anyone who wants an early night will find the northern and southern ends calm enough.

The island is small and low, with one wooded hill, Mount Luho, which gives a view over both coasts. What it does best is on the water. Bulabog Beach on the east side is one of Asia's best-known kitesurfing and windsurfing spots from about November to April, when steady winds blow across a shallow lagoon. Traditional outrigger sailboats, called paraw, take visitors out at sunset, and island-hopping boats stop at snorkelling spots such as Crystal Cove and Crocodile Island.

Divers find walls and reefs close to shore, but there is no real hiking and no wilderness. The landscape is a pretty coastline rather than a reason in itself to make the trip.

There is little to visit beyond the island itself. Island-hopping trips are about the sea and the cliffs rather than places. Carabao Island, a short boat ride north, has fishing villages and quiet beaches, and on the Panay mainland Kalibo is a plain provincial town, about two hours away, that comes alive only during its Ati-Atihan festival in January. Most visitors simply stay on Boracay.

From November to May, White Beach works very well for young children: the sand is soft, the water is shallow and warm, and it slopes very gently. Filipino culture is warm towards children, and staff and other visitors will fuss over them. Many resorts have pools and family rooms, and Station 1 and Station 3 are calmer places to stay than the busy middle.

Apart from the sea, there is little made for children. There are no zoos, aquariums or parks, and during the monsoon months the main beach can be too rough for small swimmers. The journey here, by flight, van, boat and tricycle, is a long day with toddlers, and the heat and noise of Station 2 at night suit older children better than babies.

Once you are here, getting around is simple. A sandy path runs the full length of White Beach, so most restaurants, bars and shops are within walking distance. Electric tricycles run the main road for longer hops to Puka Beach, Bulabog or the jetty, and nobody needs a car.

Getting here is the hard part. The quickest route is a short flight to Caticlan on the mainland, followed by a tricycle or van to the jetty, a boat crossing of about fifteen minutes and another tricycle to your hotel. Flying into Kalibo means adding a road transfer of about two hours. Expect every arrival and departure to take most of a day.

Shopping here is mostly beachwear, sarongs, shell jewellery and T-shirts, sold along the beach path and in D'Mall, the open-air shopping lanes behind Station 2. There is a small mall near the main road for basics. Woven and pearl goods from elsewhere in the Philippines turn up in a few shops, but there is no real craft scene or fashion shopping to speak of.

Boracay costs more than most of the Philippines, but a visitor can still keep spending modest. Beachfront hotels in Station 1 and the large resorts at the island's northern tip are expensive, and prices rise sharply from Christmas to Easter. Guesthouses a few lanes back from Station 2 and Station 3 cost much less. Local meals, market seafood, electric tricycles and beach massages stay inexpensive. Imported wine, cocktails, water sports and the fees and transfers needed to reach the island are the costs that add up.

Live performance here means acoustic and reggae cover bands playing in beachfront bars, and fire dancers spinning on the sand after dark around Station 2. It is enjoyable background to an evening, but there is no theatre or concert hall and no performing tradition of the island's own to seek out.

Massage is part of daily life on the island. Therapists work in tents and on mats along White Beach, and the inland lanes have small spa shops. Larger resorts, especially at the quiet northern end and on the hills above Diniwid, run full spas offering hilot, the traditional Filipino massage that uses warm oils and banana leaves. Yoga classes are easy to find, usually on rooftops or on the sand.

For a restful stay, choose Station 1, Station 3 or the coves to the north. Station 2 has music, touts and crowds well into the night. The island has no hot springs or bathing tradition, so the wellness here comes from the massages and from the slow pace of beach days.