Pack your bags! Boracay Island in the Philippines is set to reopen to tourists this 26 October 2018, the country’s Department of Tourism announced.
When President Rodrigo Duterte declared the closure of the small island back in April, he had also called it a “cesspool” – the island’s crystal clear waters and white-sand beaches were being choked by contamination, overcrowding and mismanagement of waste. During the months-long closure, major efforts were made to clean up Boracay.
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New rules
Now, while it’s exciting to have one of Philippines’ most popular destinations back on your bucket list, you need to know the new rules: smoking and drinking has been prohibited in public and on the beach. It will only be allowed in specific areas.
“No more drinking and smoking in the white sand, why? Because this is a public beach; do you want your children, your family to walk around the beach with broken glass and cigarette butts?” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
Boracay will also no longer have its famous Laboracay parties, which often drew around 60,000 to 70,000 people for three days to the island. “Definitely, Boracay island cannot accommodate that number of people,” Puyat said, adding that there will be a limit to how many people are allowed on the island at any one time.
Add a general ‘no littering’ to the list, because we all need to be responsible nomads – not just in Boracay, but everywhere we go.
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