The White Beach in Boracay some 315 km (196 mi) south of Manila in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines has been judged by the TripAdvisor community as the 25th Top Beach in the World in 2018, with the added distinction of being the only Asean beach to make it into the global top 25.
Taking the second and third rank on an Asean only basis are Ngapali Beach, Myanmar, followed by PhraNang Cave Beach in Ao Nang, Thailand at number three.
For sheer choice Thailand is home to the most top beaches in Asean with four entries, with Nai Harn Beach, Karon Beach, and Kata Noi Beach on the island of Phuket taking positions four, seven, and nine respectively, while Thong Nai Pan Noi Beach on the island of Ko Pha Ngan ranks as the eighth top beach in Asean for 2018.
Joining Boracay on the list of top beaches in Asean for 2018 is Nacpan Beach in El Nido on Palawan island at number five, and Yapak Beach (Puka Shell) also on Boracay in position ten. Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia at number six rounds out the ten top beaches in Asean for 2018.
Continuing to work through TripAdicor’s 25 Top Beaches in Asia list finds Selong Belanak Beach on the Indonesia island of Lombok at position 11, followed by An Bang Beach at Hoi An on the central Vietnam coast ,and Las Cabanas Beach, on El Nido, Philippines in positions 12 and 13 respectively.
Asean’s last entry in the 25 Top Beaches in Asia list is Cambodia’s Otres Beach outside of Sihanoukville on the country’s south coast, giving it the title of the 14th top beach in Asean for 2018 .
Boracay’s two primary tourism beaches, the White Beach (on the west coast) and Bulabog Beach (on the east coast) are both within a short walking distance from each other.
Bulabog Beach is not as developed and is nowhere near as beautiful as the White Beach, and so sees just a tiny fraction of the number of visitors. It is also much more quiet compared to White Beach, making it perfect for those who want to get away from it all, or spend some quality time with their significant other.
Boracay is a cesspit says Philippine President
However, while the TripAdvisor community is clearly enamoured with the tiny island, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is not so enthusiastic, describing it as “a cesspit” on February 8 this year, and threatening to shut down all commercial activity on the island. “You go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? Shit. Because it all comes out in Boracay,” he said at the time.
Since then the Philippine Ministry of Environment (MoE) has conducted more than 300 sanitation checks on businesses operating on the island, with 51 given 60-day warnings to either comply with environmental regulations or be shut down.
In an attempt to clean up its beaches Thailand recently introduced a smoking ban on 24 of its popular tourist beaches, with designated smoking areas for those who wish to comply with the new law, and fines of up to Bt100,000 (about US$3,192), and/ or 12 months in jails for those who wish to remain defiant.
The ban was introduced after studies found as many as 138,000 cigarette butts on each 2.5 kilometre (1.39 miles) stretch of Thai coast, with one location in the Southern Thailand province of Songkhla unearthing more than 1,770,000 cigarette butts.
According to TripAdisor the Top Beaches in the World list for 2018 was derived from the quantity and quality of traveller reviews and ratings for beaches on TripAdvisor gathered over a 12-month period. This year’s awards saw 355 beaches globally being ranked.
Feature video Faris Aljuryyed
Related:
- Boracay still among top 25 beaches in the world (Rappler)
- Bournemouth beats Phuket in TripAdvisor ‘Top 25 Beaches – World’ rankings (Phuket News)
- Palawan, Boracay in Conde Nast, Trip Advisor top list (GoodNews Pilipinas)
- ‘The Punisher’ says island paradise is a ‘cesspool’ (News.com.au)
- Butt Out! Smoking Ban Hits Thailand Beaches (video) (AEC News Today)
Boracay’s White Beach the top beach in asean in 2018 (video) added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on
View all posts by Stella-maris Ewudolu →
Stella-maris Ewudolu
Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.
She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.
Latest posts by Stella-maris Ewudolu (see all)
- Zoonotic crossover fear sees Vietnam ban (almost) all wildlife trade (video) – July 26, 2020
- Job & revenue losses: COVID-19 to hurt Asean airlines the most – July 24, 2020
- Philippines morning news for July 24 – July 24, 2020
- Philippines morning news for July 23 – July 23, 2020