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Boracay Rules for Visitors: What Is Banned and the Source for Each Rule

Rules and Money · checked October 2026

In brief

Boracay’s visitor rules are set mostly by municipal ordinances of the town of Malay and by guidelines issued when the island reopened on 26 October 2018. The ordinance texts are not published online, so each rule below is attributed to the news report that describes it.

  • Banned on the beach, as reported: drinking alcohol (fines of PHP 500 to PHP 2,500 or 30 days, May 2017)1, smoking2, dining, and tables, chairs and massage beds46.
  • Single-use plastics are banned across the municipality; fines fall on businesses, not visitors11.
  • Littering, public urination and spitting carry PHP 1,000 to PHP 2,500 or 10 days to 6 months, as reported10.
  • Casinos were not allowed in 2018; Kaban Hotel and Casino opened on 16 September 2026616.
  • In March 2024 a business leader said some limits had eased, but smoking and drinking on the beach “remain disallowed”5.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main rules in Boracay?

No drinking or smoking on the beach, no dining or tables and chairs on White Beach, no disposable plastics for businesses, and fines for littering12461011. Each is attributed to municipal ordinances or 2018 guidelines.

Can I drink on the beach in Boracay?

No. It is banned on the beach and was reported as still disallowed in March 2024; hotels and bars are the exception15. See smoking and drinking on the beach.

Are casinos allowed in Boracay?

One opened on 16 September 2026, after a 2018 statement that none would be allowed616. See the casino page.

Can I bring a beach chair or umbrella to White Beach?

Tables, chairs, loungers, umbrellas and massage beds were banned from the main beach in 20186, and in 2024 the mayor’s office treated portable chairs as covered8.

What is the fine for littering in Boracay?

PHP 1,000 or 10 to 30 days for a first offense, PHP 1,500 or 20 to 30 days for a second, PHP 2,500 or 1 to 6 months for a third, as reported10.

Are there beach parties in Boracay?

The 2018 rules required a special-event permit; a March 2024 report said dusk-to-dawn parties were “already allowed”, and the mayor barred them on Good Friday 2024659.

Is sunscreen restricted in Boracay?

No Malay, DENR or national rule was found. A nationwide bill was filed in 2020 and shows no enactment in the Senate record to April 202215.

Where can I read the ordinances?

The municipality’s ordinance texts are not published online; the numbers on this page come from news reports8.

The detail

This page is the index to the rules a visitor can break on Boracay, with the legal source for each as far as the news reports give it. Seven further pages go deeper: the 2018 closure, drones, smoking and drinking on the beach, the casino, ATMs and money exchange, tipping and SIM cards and eSIMs. The fees collected at the port are in Boracay fees.

The short answer
If you are… Do this (as reported)
Planning a drink on the sand Drink inside the hotel, bar or restaurant; the beach is off limits12
A smoker Do not smoke on the beach or in public areas26
Bringing a folding chair Leave the chair at the hotel; the municipality read the rule as covering portable chairs in 20248
Planning a beach party Check the date: loud-music parties were barred on Good Friday 2024 by a mayoral order9
Using plastic bottles and sachets Hotels, restaurants and similar businesses may not use disposable plastics; the fines fall on them, not on you11
Interested in the casino One opened in September 202616

How the rules work

Boracay has no single rulebook. The rules come from three layers, and none can be read online as a primary text.

  1. Proclamation and task force guidelines (2018). Proclamation No. 475 closed the island under the disaster law, and a task force set guidelines for the reopening6. The details are in the 2018 closure. The mayor’s office was still citing the proclamation and the disaster law as a basis for beach enforcement in 20248.
  2. Municipal ordinances of Malay. Most behavior rules come from these. The municipality’s ordinance texts are not available online, and a local newspaper said the same in 20248. The numbers below come from news reports, not from the ordinances.
  3. Memorandum orders. The mayor can bar permits or events for a set period, as in the Good Friday 2024 order9.

Enforcement is by the Malay Auxiliary Police, the separate Beach Guards, the Tourism Regulatory Enforcement Unit and the island police8. By late April 2019 the unit’s chief said 739 Chinese, 277 Korean and 92 Filipino tourists had been apprehended since January for smoking, littering and eating on the beach, and “were made to pay fines”14. In a 2024 case about portable chairs, enforcers could not cite the ordinance on request8.

The rules, one by one
Topic Status (latest report) Source as reported Penalty as reported
Drinking alcohol on the beach Banned on the beach and near riverbanks, parks and roads; allowed in beachfront venues “not extending beyond the vegetation line” (May 2017); still “disallowed” (March 2024) Ordinance authored by Councilor Nenette Aguirre-Graf, number not given15 PHP 500, PHP 1,000, then PHP 2,500 or 30 days (May 2017)1
Smoking Banned in public places and on White Beach; allowed in hotels and resorts (August 2018) Municipal Ordinance No. 272 per Rappler; anti-smoking ordinance per GMA432 PHP 500 to 2,500, then PHP 1,000 to 5,000, then PHP 5,000 plus community service (April 2015)3
Dining and grilling on White Beach Dining on White Beach prohibited; hot-coal roasting of meat and electric lights on the main beach banned (November 2018). Grilling away from the beach was never banned47 Municipal Ordinance No. 1324 Not published
Tables, chairs, loungers, umbrellas, massage beds Banned on White Beach Stations 1 to 3, Puka, Ilig-iligan and Bulabog (2018); portable chairs treated as prohibited in 202468 Municipal Ordinances No. 132 (s. 2000) and No. 183 (s. 2003), per the mayor’s office8 Not published
Beach parties Banned without a special-event permit in 20186; “already allowed” dusk to dawn in March 20245; none on Good Friday 20249 Special-event permit; Memorandum Order 2024-369 Not published
Noise Boracay declared a noise-sensitive zone4 Municipal Ordinance No. 1444 Not published
Single-use plastics Disposable plastic items banned for hotels, resorts, restaurants and similar businesses across the municipality11 Municipal Ordinance No. 386 (s. 2018)11 On businesses: PHP 2,000 and warning; PHP 2,500 and confiscation; permit cancelled11
Littering, public urination, spitting Prohibited in public spaces, waterways and recreational areas10 Municipal Ordinance No. 311 (s. 2012)10 PHP 1,000 or 10 to 30 days; PHP 1,500 or 20 to 30 days; PHP 2,500 or 1 to 6 months10
Pets on the beach Disallowed in beach areas (2018)6 Task force guideline; no ordinance number reported6 Not published
Vendors, ambulant masseurs Regulated; vendors and beach massage targeted by the 2018 rules412 Municipal Ordinance No. 1814 Not published
Sandcastles “Regulated” from 2018; makers were charging PHP 20 per photo days after reopening12 Not identified Not published
Fire dancing Malay considered an ordinance in 2013 to regulate when and where, because fuel stains the sand13; allowed in front of one named hotel in March 20245 Not identified Not published
Casinos Not allowed in 20186; Kaban Hotel and Casino opened in September 202616 Policy statements, no ordinance identified Not applicable

Figures and ordinance numbers are as given in the bracketed reports; the ordinance texts are not published online to check them against.

Rules that bind buildings, not visitors

The 2018 guidelines also banned structures and activities “at all times within the 25+5 easement area”, a no-build zone, and within the beach vegetation area, according to a DENR undersecretary7. In 2020 an executive order recorded that 33 percent of establishments still violated the beach easement and 27 percent the road easement17. The easement is a rule for owners, but it explains why the beach looks different from pre-2018 pages. For the closure’s legal sources see the 2018 closure.

What has changed since 2018

Sources disagree The 2018 guidelines allowed no beachfront parties without a special-event permit6. In March 2024 a Boracay Foundation board member said dusk-to-dawn beach parties were “already allowed”5. Meanwhile the Malay mayor barred permits for parties and loud music from 6 a.m. Good Friday to 6 a.m. Black Saturday in 2024, which the report calls a tradition since 20099. No ordinance text on the change is available, so plan around the stricter reading: ask the hotel whether a party needs a permit on the date you travel.

The same March 2024 report says fire dances were allowed in front of one named hotel, and that smoking and drinking on the beach “remain disallowed”5. It is a single quoted business-association source, not an ordinance. By contrast, in 2024 the mayor’s office still treated portable folding chairs on White Beach as prohibited under the older ordinances8.

What you may have heard

What you may have heard Several claims circulate on travel blogs without an ordinance behind them: that regulated beach beds are now allowed in designated zones, that sandcastle makers are licensed, that collecting sand or shells is forbidden, that kerosene fire dancing was banned at the reopening, and that reef-safe sunscreen is required or recommended. None of these could be tied to an ordinance in the sources used here. The beach-bed claim is contradicted by the mayor’s office, which in 2024 pointed to the older table-and-chair rules8. On sunscreen, no Malay, DENR or national rule was found; a House bill to ban reef-toxic sunscreens nationwide was filed on 28 January 2020 (House Bill No. 6093), and the Senate record, current to 20 April 2022, shows no enactment15. Ask your hotel before relying on any of them.

The other rule pages

Sources (17)
  1. Liquor ban on Boracay beaches, river fronts, public places — Inquirer, May 2017. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  2. Smoking, drinking to be banned in Boracay White Beach — ABS-CBN News, 28 August 2018. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  3. A smoker heading for Boracay? Know designated smoking areas first or get fined — GMA News, 17 April 2015. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  4. Boracay visitors back to old habits — Rappler, November 2018. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  5. Boracay nearly 100 percent full, says foundation — ABS-CBN News, 25 March 2024. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  6. Bans galore await tourists when Boracay reopens — Inquirer, 29 September 2018. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  7. DENR clarifies prohibitions in Boracay — Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 21 October 2018. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  8. Clarification on using portable chairs on the beach — Boracay Sun News, 26 June 2024. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  9. Malay mayor imposes ban on parties, loud music in Boracay on Good Friday — Rappler, March 2024. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  10. People littering in Boracay may face imprisonment — Rappler. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  11. Boracay reopening: disposable plastic items banned — Inquirer. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  12. Boracay rules not yet in place — Inquirer, 30 October 2018. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  13. Local govt wants to regulate fire dancing in Boracay — GMA News, 2013. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  14. Chinese tourists are Boracay’s top ordinance violators — ABS-CBN News, 26 April 2019. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  15. House Bill No. 6093, 18th Congress — Senate Legislative Reference Bureau, record current to 20 April 2022. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  16. Boracay’s first hotel-casino opens — GMA News, 18 September 2026. Accessed 2026-10-03.
  17. Executive Order No. 115, s. 2020 — Office of the President, 11 May 2020. Accessed 2026-10-03.