Anda de Boracay in Bohol Should Learn from Boracay’s Fate

I was so amazed by the beauty and grandeur of the Alicia Panoramic Park (aka Binabaje Hills) that I craved for more places to see in Bohol. As I continued my trip to the southeastern part of the island province, the wanderlust in me took me to Anda de Boracay, a beach attraction in the Municipality of Anda.

I first learned about the Anda beach from a friend who recommended it with great enthusiasm. And after doing some research about it, I was convinced to include it to my itinerary. In fact, I was so excited going there that I even reviewed some photography courses as I thought I could see and take plenty of stunning landscapes of this attraction.

But I have to be honest…

When I finally got there, it simply failed my expectations I was surprised that what I saw was not what I expected it to be. The supposed long stretch of powdery white sand beach comparable to, well, you guessed it, Boracay in Aklan, was covered with (mostly) organic trash (and by that, I mean those seaweeds and algae washed ashore). They were an eyesore. It seemed to me that the place was not regularly cleaned and maintained. As to why, tourists could only speculate about it.

The shoreline of Anda de Boracay covered with seaweeds and algae washed ashore (Photo taken on July, 22, 2018)

Please don’t get me wrong on this post. I mean, this is not meant to discourage you to go there, but rather, this is aimed to encourage the people there to do better management of this tourist spot – to allow it flourish not to deteriorate.

Despite my observations, I still love Anda de Boracay for it is wondrous to see such a beautiful gift of nature – with its white sand beach, enticing seawater, and unique rock formations. Plus, it can be enjoyed by anybody without being charged for an entrance fee as it is a public beach. But the fact remains that it was not the Anda de Boracay that other travelers painted it to be. While the trash were mostly nature-made, the indications that it could go worse were visible as I could also see plastic and other man-made rubbish scattered in the area.

Truly, a clear plan of action must be initiated to keep this place from more environmental issues.

The local government of Anda should step up their drive to get the beach back to its pristine condition again – and keep it that way.

The resorts operating in the area should do their part as well.

They should learn from Boracay’s fate.

As mentioned, part of my trip to Anda beach was to do a landscape photography and I simply could not find an ideal spot to capture the best possible angle of this attraction. I could not take pictures without having those eyesore (the untidy beach line) in the frame. It was pretty frustrating. The good thing was, the people I met there were super friendly and it somehow balanced out my emotion. But it did not change the fact that I really thought the place should be treated more favorably in terms of cleaning and maintenance.

I also had conversation with some tourists and they were just as disappointed as I was. They said they came all the way from Iligan and Cebu and they were excited to see Anda de Boracay but the place simply did not live up to its promise.

I asked some locals about why the beach appeared untidy. They said, “the beach is regularly cleaned during weekdays and the workers take a break on weekends” and “the trash you saw was not actually there the whole year round – only during the Habagat season”. That’s a good thing to know. But still, they should find ways to keep the place clean, right? I just then innocently suggested that the beach should be cleaned during weekends as well as higher volume of tourists tend to flock during those days.

Again, the local government, particularly the local tourism office, should play their part more enthusiastically, even aggressively for that.

Now, the question becomes: Should I visit Anda de Boracay again? Definitely, yes! I hope, at that time, much improvements have been made.

For now, I could only dream of an Anda de Boracay that is vibrant, clean, well-maintained, and more tourist-friendly. Perhaps, it takes more courage and strong political will to realize that dream.