Boracay's new dawn: Philippine paradise island reopens with strict new rules

No partying, drinking or smoking on the beach under new rules to preserve environment

Visitors gather along the beach on Boracay. AP Photo

A father and son build sandcastles. AP Photo

Tourists visit the beach on Boracay. AFP

Tourists ride on a bangka on Boracay. EPA

Filipino government officials wave to arriving tourists. EPA

Tourists arrive. AFP

A view of the beach'. EPA

Filipino Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu leads the ceremonial opening. EPA

Tourists arrive. AFP

Tourists on the beach.

Tourists visit the beach. AFP

The Philippines on Friday reopened its famous holiday island of Boracay that was shuttered to mend decades of harm caused by unchecked tourism.

The white sand idyll was closed to visitors in April after President Rodrigo Duterte called it a "cesspool" tainted by raw sewage flowing from hotels and restaurants straight into the sea.

But the spruced up resort has a slew of new rules that restrict drinking and smoking on the beach, limit the number of tourists and hotels, all while a renovation spree continues.

Among the first visitors to land just after dawn on Friday were first-timers attracted by the prospect of a cleaner, less crowded island.

"When I saw pictures of tourists in Boracay lying like sardines in a can, I didn't want to come here," said German visitor Josef Fuchs, 61. "Now I expect to have a few good days here."

Once a quiet hideaway favoured by backpackers, the tiny island was transformed by overdevelopment into a mass destination seeing some two million visitors per year.

Under the new regime, the beachfront is cleared of the masseuses, vendors, bonfires and even the builders of its famous photo-op sandcastles it was once crowded with.

Buildings were bulldozed and businesses pushed back to create a 30-metre buffer zone from the waterline.

Construction is everywhere with road repairs, hotels and resort renovations happening around the island.

All water sports save for swimming are also banned for the time being, while Boracay's three casinos have been permanently shut down in line with Mr Duterte's wishes.

Boracay, which major tourist magazines consistently rate as among the world's best beaches, measures a mere 1,000 hectares.

Yet it was seeing up to 40,000 sun worshippers at peak times, with tourists spending $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) a year but also leaving mountains of rubbish and an overflowing sewer system.

The new rules say only 19,200 tourists will be allowed on the island at any one time, with the government aiming to enforce that by controlling the number of available hotel rooms.

Nearly 400 hotels and restaurants deemed to violate local environmental laws have already been ordered closed and airlines as well as ferries were told to restrict service to the area.

Drinking and smoking are banned and the huge multi-day beach parties dubbed "LaBoracay" that drew tens of thousands of tourists during the May 1 Labour Day weekend will be a thing of the past.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said last week she hopes the new Boracay will be the start of a "culture of sustainable tourism" in the Philippines. The country's other tourist destinations will be next, she said.

Tens of thousands of workers were left unemployed when the island's tourism machine was deprived of visitors.

"Life will go back to normal. We will have money and work again," said Jorge Flores, 45, a hotel worker. "In the past six months, hotels here were like ... a ghost town."

Other places in the region strained by mass tourism have also used closures as a tactic to protect the sites from destruction.

Thai authorities announced in October that the glittering bay immortalised in the movie The Beach will be closed indefinitely to allow it to recover from the impact of hordes of tourists.

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