Sink your toes deep into the softest, finest, whitest sand in the world. Sand so fine and rare, you can't find it anywhere else on this planet except Boracay.

It's like burrowing into sifted confectionery sugar, top-cake flour, or baby powder. Gentle, gratifying and soft. Bordering on the unreal. It's just got to be what the sandman sprinkles at dreamtime. Boracay's white beach is a delicate tribute to ecological balance. Whiteness is retained by keeping offshore coral communities healthy. It is also white because there is no quartz, feldspar, nor magnetite to color Boracay sand otherwise.

It's no surprise to locals that the island has been adjudged twice by European travel writers and tourism editors as the most beautiful resort island in the world.

The island paradise was born in pre-history when a reef platform attached to northwestern Panay Island rose and revealed two islets. Sand accumulated between the twain, wedding them into a Philippine contribution to the world's natural treasures.

Boracay can be found in the Philippines, at the northwestern tip of Panay province, an hour by plane from its capital city Manila. It has managed to pack its thousand-hectare area with all the elements of a tropical paradise crystal blue waters, powder white sand, liberal doses of tropical palms and flowering plants, and a healthy marine life underneath the seas.

Boracay would have remained a national secret if not for a few foreign travelers who accidentally stumbled upon the place. Some say it was a movie crew which spread word about Boracay to other sun worshippers. Others swear it was German traveler Jens Peter's book, which included rave reviews about Boracay that sent tourists on their way.

In Boracay anything goes. The hottest white sand beach in the Philippines - - it is home to endless pampering and partying. Chill out on the beach all afternoon then hit the clubs until dawn. Wake up at noon and do it all over again. In between, eat whatever takes your fancy, swim, surf, dive, snorkel or simply unwind at your Boracay resort or spa. Dive into ecstasy!!