Boracay’s Dirty Little Secret

Think you’re sinking your toes into soft, powdery paradise? Think again.

Beneath Boracay’s iconic white sand, plastic is silently piling up—hidden under mounds, lodged between tree roots, and waiting to be washed into the ocean. In just 20 minutes of cleanup, Zed and I unearthed:

🚨 2 plastic bags

🚨 8 plastic wrappers

🚨 5 plastic straws

🚨 1 broken plastic utensil

🚨 2 PET bottles

🚨 3 bottle caps

🚨 1 Styrofoam box

🚨 3 pieces of fishnet

🚨 Handfuls of broken plastic fragments, sticks, and blister packs

BUT this wasn’t in some neglected corner of the island. This was in Station 1—supposedly the cleanest part of the world famous Boracay Island.

Station 1 of Boracay island in all its pristine, powdery white glory. Or does it have a dirty little secret?

Now, do the math: if two people found this much waste in 20 minutes, how much plastic is lurking beneath Boracay after 2 million tourists visit each year?

The average tourist generates 3-4 kg of trash per day—how much of that is plastic?

After the 6-month closure in 2018, Boracay collected 43,700 tons of waste. How much of that do you think was plastic?

From Sailing Paradise to a Plastic Wake-Up Call

Before Boracay, we were in Palawan for the BPI Signature Yacht Series - Busuanga Leg, sailing through private coves untouched by mass tourism. From the deck, it was paradise. But even in these remote areas, locals told us plastic waste is washing up every day, getting tangled in mangroves, and showing up in their catch.

With our fellow sailors from Karakoa and Hurrican Hunter doing the coastal clean up in Boracay.

In Boracay, we saw it for ourselves. With fellow sailors from the Boracay Sailing Regatta — Selma Star, Karakoa, Hurricane Hunter, and others—we teamed up for a cleanup, organized by BPI and WWF. It didn’t take long to realize the problem wasn’t just what we could see—it was what was buried beneath.

Plastic isn’t just polluting the beach; it’s becoming part of it.

Will Boracay Face Another Shutdown?

Not long ago, Boracay was forced to close for six months to recover from over-tourism.

Today, plastic is creeping back, threatening to undo all that progress. The Philippines already dumps over 350,000 tons of plastic into the ocean annually—one of the worst in the world. If we continue at this rate, will Boracay face another closure? And will Palawan be next?

Zed of PARMS/Selma Star analyzing the trash we collected along the shores of Boracay Station 1 - mostly plastic wrappers, bottle caps, and plastic straws.

The problem isn’t just the waste we see—it’s the plastic that stays buried, the microplastics that enter the water, the debris washing up on shores long after tourists have left.

Paradise Doesn’t Protect Itself—We Have To

Cleanups help, but they’re just a Band-Aid solution. Plastic pollution starts with us—and so does the solution.

✅ Tourists: Skip single-use plastics. Dispose of waste properly.

✅ Businesses: Use sustainable packaging. Manage waste responsibly.

✅ Communities: Push for stricter environmental policies.

Every straw, bottle cap, and plastic wrapper left behind today will outlive us all. If we don’t change how we travel, Boracay’s famous white sand might one day be remembered not for its beauty, but for the plastic buried beneath it.

Local fishermen docked at Station 1 sands preparing for their haul for the day,

If Boracay’s sand could talk, what stories would it tell? Tales of sun and sea—or of the plastic slowly becoming part of it? Boracay shut down once. Will history repeat itself?

Next Stop: Tidy Up The Tides Bi-Monthly Coastal Cleanup at Lighthouse Marina Subic.