For White Beach, fine pale sand and calm clear water through the dry months, on an island small enough to cross in minutes that has learned, the hard way, to look after itself. The east coast adds kitesurfing on Bulabog and snorkelling off the sand at Tambisaan, and Caticlan is an hour's flight from Manila.

How do you get to Boracay?

Fly to Caticlan and take the boat. The Godofredo P. Ramos airport is a few minutes by road from the jetty, and the crossing to Cagban, the island's main port, takes about fifteen minutes. Kalibo, fifty kilometres away, carries most of the international routes and adds up to two hours by road before the same crossing. On the island the e-trike, an electric tricycle, is the taxi.

When is the best time to visit Boracay?

October to March, in the amihan, when White Beach is calm. Christmas to the end of February is the busiest stretch. April and May are hot and dry, and the Filipino school holidays fill the island; Holy Week, in March or April, is among the fullest weeks of the year. The habagat, from June to October, brings rain and rough water on the western shore and the chance of a typhoon, and the island is emptier.

Is Boracay still crowded?

At the centre, in season, yes. The middle of White Beach fills every evening, and the closure cleaned the beach and thinned the buildings along it without thinning the visitors. The far ends are calmer. Puka, on the northern shore, is the least developed of the beaches, and Tambisaan on the east coast is quiet outside the monsoon months, when the boats land there.

Is Boracay good for families?

Yes, in the dry season above all, when the water off White Beach is calm. With children, an apartment on the east coast earns its kitchen and its driver. The day starts at the family's own table, and the sunset on White Beach is a van ride away.

Boutique Hotels in Boracay - White Beach, Bulabog, Tambisaan

Pool, loungers and a canopied daybed on the lawn at Under The Stars, with palms and Tambisaan Beach beyond — The pool garden at Under The Stars, a few steps from Tambisaan Beach 📍

Where to stay in Boracay

Where to stay is a choice of shore. White Beach divides into three stations, named after boat landings that have long gone. Station 1 at the north end has Willy's Rock standing in the shallows and the paraw drawn up for the sunset sail; Station 2 has D'Mall and most of the noise; Station 3, to the south, is the quiet end. Diniwid lies the other way, a small cove reached by the footpath that rounds the headland above Station 1.

On the east coast, Under The Stars keeps a garden that runs down to the sand at Tambisaan. The apartments are the size of houses, around 500 square metres apiece, with a bathroom to every bedroom and a terrace the length of the unit facing the morning sea. It was built for families and for a wedding that takes all of it, and members book it at rates we hold for the Club. The snorkelling starts off the sand and runs out toward Crocodile Island. There is no restaurant. A butler runs the house and the private chef cooks the day's catch in its kitchen; the van and its driver go to White Beach for the sunset and come back when the house decides.

What to eat

Seafood is bought before it is ordered. At D'Talipapa, the wet market behind Station 2, you choose from the stalls by weight and carry the bag to one of the small restaurants round the market, where it comes back grilled over coals or simmered in sinigang, the tamarind-soured soup that is the country's idea of comfort. Two island habits are worth acquiring. The chori burger is a grilled chorizo patty in a bun, sold from stalls along the beach path. The calamansi muffins at Real Coffee are sharp with the small green Philippine lime, and they leave the island by the box.