Boracay, Philippines (January 9, 2026)
Boracay, Philippines is exactly as you’d expect and then a whole lot more. Incredible food, stunning white sand beaches, inexpensive massages, beauty everywhere you look and more activities than you’ll ever have time to do properly. But what has truly blown me away are all the sand artists.
This is real. No artificial intelligence was used to create this image!
How? That was the first question that jumped to my brain. How in the world does someone do this with the medium of wet sand? I don’t care what tools you have at your disposal, this is art at its finest. Life is beautiful because of its impermanence. We only have this life and then it’s gone. What we choose to do with it is up to each of us individually. Which is what comes to mind when I look at sand art.
By its nature, sand art is temporary. The artists know this which is why they are even willing to add today’s date at the bottom. Waves will eventually reclaim the sand to the ocean at high tide. Or high winds will blow it over. Or a kid will run full force into it as this looks so inviting to jump on and trample (as appreciation for hard work and effort comes much, much later in life ;-)
Even more beautiful when the sun goes down. Wow!
I don’t know about you, but I missed the level of detail that went into this sand art … until all the night light showed the exquisite detail. Why go to all this trouble? As you can imagine, people line up to get their picture in front of this artwork. At 50 PHP per person (less than $1 USD), the artist makes money taking pictures of the people who want to put this on their Instagram accounts (and many, many people do). I’m fascinated by this sand art economy and am curious if it will catch on in other locations … perhaps it already has I’m just unaware of it. That’s one of the many reasons I love to travel.
Impossible to “capture” a sunset accurately, but it’s really fun trying
Sunsets are another reason I love to travel. While a sunset is constant, the geography around the sunset is what makes it so special. I’ve watched epic sunsets in places like Big Sur, California (thanks to Lisa de Marignac). But there’s something special about being on an island.
Where I’m staying here in Boracay, there’s a solid 3 miles of white sandy beach. I know because my Apple Watch records my walks in the evening as I watch the sunset. In addition to all the shops, there are really fun walking paths that wind around different parts of the island.
Okay, sorry for so many pictures. It’s easy to get carried away here when there are such incredible contrasts between the ocean, sky, plants, sand and rock. Everywhere I look there’s something calling my attention and it’s easy to get lost in all the beauty that surrounds me here on this island. So I’ll just share one last thing I thought was truly unique: A rock shrine just off the sandy beach.
Shrine of the Virgin Mother Mary that’s walkable from the beach
It’s really beautiful at night. I’m not sure how they light this one up, but however they add all this light at night, it really makes everything pop. The sun set in the background is a really nice feature if you catch it at the right time of dusk.
This should give you a good idea of what it’s like here in Boracay, Philippines. As I continue my adventure around the world, I feel so lucky to be able to witness all of this first hand.
