Why the Philippines beaches are among some of the best in the world 

I once moseyed along Panglao’s lengthy Dumaluan Beach as the heat drained from the day. Kicking up pure white sand barefoot, I passed a beach bar where cocktails were being served for sunset, the slow ebbing tide now a silvery hue. During daytime the sea had been richly turquoise, and clear enough to see corals.  Dumaluan is one of the Philippines’ more popular resort-based beaches yet much of the country’s coast is completely undeveloped with pristine beaches offering myriad possibilities to access the natural environment away from resort hotspots. Take, El Nido in North Palawan for example. It hosts resorts, yes, but also far-flung remote limestone islands possessing some of the most beautiful unadulterated beaches in the world. Many have coral reefs ripe for diving and snorkelling while naturalists will love the fringing rainforests crackling with birdlife.

Beach over-tourism leads to excessive development impacting the natural flora and fauna, not least sensitive coral reefs, by litter and marine pollution. This was Boracay’s fate, a small resort island of blindingly white sand beaches that in 2012 was awarded the title of best island in the world. But this masked problems created by its popularity. Six years later, in a bold move, given Boracay was attracting £760 million of revenue annually, the Philippine government demonstrated a commitment to preserving Boracay’s natural capital by closing it to tourism for six months to instigate a clean-up. Inappropriate developments were shut down, and those remaining had stricter environmental standards enforced.

From a previously unsustainable two million people each year, only 19,000 are now allowed on Boracay at any one time. Paradise has been rejuvenated. With 7,641 islands, many with completely untouched world-class beaches, there is space for sustainable tourism development alongside protective designations enforced by the Philippines, like the creation of the protected landscape and seascape of Mabani in Davao de Oro, initiated in 2000,  to ensure no future repeat of Boracay’s former woes.

I recall once when departing from my beachside accommodation on Dumaluan Beach for a morning’s snorkelling at the wondrous Balicasag reefs, that when I returned the same sunbathers hadn’t moved an inch from their sun-loungers.  This is of course entirely okay. Yet many of the Philippines’ finest beaches are never too far away from incredible marine activities like diving and snorkelling, wildlife encounters, and scenic landscapes. Panglao is a case in point. During my time there,  I made the short journey to Bohol to visit its UNESCO World Heritage Chocolate Hills – rounded limestone outcrops shaped like a basket of eggs. Talking of eggs, I went to see how asín tibouk (‘dinosaur eggs’) salt cakes are made by the Boholano using an age-old process. And I trekked around a small sanctuary to visit Bohol’s endemic wide-eyed primates, the tarsiers.

Reinforcing the message that there’s life beyond the sunbeds, Siargao Island’s fabulous beaches are currently all the rage. Down the eastern side of the country’s spreadeagled archipelago, Siargao’s exposure to the Philippine Sea has fostered one of Asia’s hottest surf spots. With the surfers have come a raft of nature-based activities and a wellness scene. The reef snorkelling is great, there are dreamy daytrips island-hopping to white-sand islets, and massage, yoga, and beauty treatments form part of Siargao’s spiritual and physical MOT.