If you’re thinking about visiting Boracay in the Philippines or Bali in Indonesia, it can be hard to choose between the two islands.
So, we’ve put together this handy guide where we examine the two places in a variety of categories that are relevant to tourists.
Bali In Brief: What’s It Like?
Bali is much more than beautiful beaches. It’s a place of culture, temples, fun, nightlife and endless tourist attractions.
The island is famous throughout the world for its unique Hindu culture set apart from Indonesia’s Muslim-majority culture.
It’s been one of the top destinations for tourists in Southeast Asia for years and the post-pandemic boom has seen the island’s resorts and hotels as busy as they’ve ever been.
It’s not quite in the same league for visitor numbers as Thailand but it’s certainly beating out Phuket for now.
Boracay In Brief: What’s It Like On The Tiny Island?
Boracay is a much smaller island than Bali and it’s really about beaches and the ocean. You can spend your time doing water sports and enjoy a great sunset or two.
It’s not far from other popular destinations in the Philippines but it means a trip by plane to get to places like Palawan.
The island has improved since it was closed down by the government in 2019 for overcrowding and poor environmental standards and has, correctly, become a selling point for the Philippines.
Bali Or Boracay: A Head-To-Head Comparison
We feel that the best way to compare the two islands is to put them head-to-head in a variety of categories and this allows you to decide which is the better holiday destination.
We do want to stress before we begin our breakdown that we think they’re both great places to visit and that you’re not going to be sorry if you book a holiday on either island.
Which Has The Best Beaches? Bali Or Boracay?
Boracay is all about white sand beaches with soft powdery sand that feels great under your feet and stunning turquoise waters that run by them.
As the island is much smaller than Bali it doesn’t have the diversity of beach experiences that Bali does and while Bali does have white sands, it also has many black sand beaches.
Not everyone enjoys these beaches but the sunset over a black sand beach is incredible and almost everyone is within a short trip of Nusa Dua and Bali’s prettiest beaches.
Overall, we’re going to give this category to Boracay but there’s not much in it and we feel that if you want a great beach in Bali, you can easily find one on your visit.
Water Sports In Bali Vs Water Sports In Boracay
Both Bali and Boracay are great places for water sports and you can find almost every water sport on both islands.
Unusually, there’s also not much cost differential between the two places and Boracay may even be a little cheaper if you want to book a very long series of lessons.
However, that advantage is likely to be offset by accommodation costs.
Overall, this is a draw and there’s no good reason not to visit either island when it comes to water sports. Tanjung Benoa is the most popular part of Bali
Safety In Bali Vs Safety In Boracay
Boracay is one of the safest destinations in the Philippines. While you may get caught up in a scam or petty theft, violent crime is very rare.
That’s because the Filipino government sees the area as a big tourist draw and has ensured that police and security personnel are easily accessible all over the island.
Bali is also a very safe place to take a holiday and again, acts of violence are extremely rare against tourists and the main risk of a visit to Bali is petty theft.
So, we’re going to call this category a draw with very little in it. We would note that other parts of the Philippines may not be as safe as Boracay though.
Nightlife In Bali Vs Nightlife In Boracay
Boracay has excellent nightlife though if you stay at one of the hotels impacted by noise pollution you might not be as happy with the sounds of the party if you want a good night’s sleep.
Alcohol is very cheap on the island and partying is very much a part of the culture there. If you want to dance until dawn on your trip you can do it in Boracay.
We’d also note that, as with most of the Philippines, there’s an excellent live music culture too.
Bali, however, has some of the world’s best nightlife and people book holidays to Bali because of its reputation as a party destination.
FINNS Beach Club, the world’s best beach club, rubs shoulders with nightclubs, bars, beach parties, and much more.
This is close but Bali is simply a gold standard destination for nightlife.
Which Is The Better Cultural Experience? Bali Or Boracay?
People don’t come to Boracay for culture. While the usual friendly demeanour of the Philippines is present, this is a resort town and it’s all about hotels and restaurants.
There’s not much more to it than that and certainly Boracay has no real cultural highlights to offer.
In stark contrast, Bali is famous worldwide for its Hindu culture and the temples, museums, dance performances, friendly locals, are one of the main reasons for visiting the island.
This is a very easy win for Bali but only because Boracay simply isn’t focused on Filipino culture.
Food In Bali Vs Food In Boracay
Food in the Philippines is not as bad as its reputation suggests, though the street food is definitely not great.
There are decent restaurants all over Boracay to support the island’s resorts, but none of them are considered to be truly world-class.
If you want beachfront bars and cafes at the resorts, you can’t go wrong though and the food is decent.
Indonesia may not be famous for its cuisine like Malaysia, but Bali is home to some of the world’s best restaurants.
Its street food is considered to be excellent and the island’s warungs and mid-range restaurants are excellent options for budget travelers.
There’s no doubt in our minds that Bali wins in this category but Boracay isn’t as far behind as it might once have been. We agree with Gordon Ramsay that Philippine food is underrated.
Aesthetics Matter: Bali Or Boracay?
Boracay is a very pretty island and the beaches are among the most photogenic on Earth. However, there’s not much more to Boracay than beach hotels and blue seas.
Bali is a much bigger place and while it’s fair to say that Denpasar, the capital, won’t be winning any prizes for beauty and that some of the resort towns (particularly Kuta) could use a facelift, that it’s a dramatically beautiful place in general.
Beyond it’s beautiful beaches, there are jungles, volcanoes, temples, inland lakes, dramatic sunsets and so much more.
While this category is close, Bali is simply a better place to experience a wide-range of aesthetically pleasing places.
Bang For Buck: Is Boracay Or Bali Better Value For Money?
The Philippines is quite expensive for Southeast Asia and will cost more to fly there in the first place from most countries than it does to get to Bali.
Accommodation in the Philippines is considerably more expensive on a like-for-like basis and often, high-quality accommodation is very thin on the ground even though Boracay has plenty of luxury hotels and resorts.
However, alcohol is cheaper in the Philippines than it is in Bali. However, you may find that your hotel in Boracay isn’t passing on the full savings.
Bali is a budget travel destination and the islands of Indonesia offer great value for money for most visitors. Sure, you can spend a lot of money here, but you really don’t have to.
Overall, this is an easy win for Bali and if you’re trying to keep your spending under control, Bali is the destination for you.
Shopping In Boracay Vs Shopping In Bali
Boracay is a small place and like much of the Philippines, it’s shopping experiences tend to be concentrated into shopping malls.
These places are decent enough for souvenir shopping or grabbing some fast food, but nobody travels to Boracay to shop. Prices aren’t even particularly low for most things in Boracay.
Bali is a shopping magnet with a huge range of designer boutiques that bring people from other countries specifically to shop.
Not everything in Bali is cheap, but it’s usually cheaper than it will be in Boracay. This is an easy win for Bali.
Which Is Best For Digital Nomads Bali Or Boracay?
Boracay has been part of the digital nomad circuit in Southeast Asia and some folk say that they enjoy the balance of quiet life and partying near the beach that they find there.
There are some coworking spaces and some coliving spaces and while they’re not the best we’ve ever tested, they will do just fine.
One area that makes the Philippines great for nomads, though, is its tourist visa regime which allows you to stay in the country for up to 3 years at a time!
Bali can’t compete on visas, but it has, in the form of Ubud and Canggu, two of the best destinations on Earth for nomads and this corner of Southeast Asia has tons of coworking and coliving spaces that rank among the very best.
Overall, Bali wins this but Boracay isn’t that far behind and it’s fair to say that the visa deal may sway some nomads to the Philippines.
What’s Best For Expats?
Boracay has a few expats but it’s not so much a part of the ordinary Philippines as it is a huge tourist resort and as most people don’t live in a hotel – the only real expats there are those working at the resorts.
Bali is, however, very popular as an expat destination with many foreigners living and working on the island and even more opting to retire there.
It’s a very welcoming place for expats and the weather combined with the availability of decent villas and apartments mean that there will always be a queue of people looking to move to Bali.
This is a fairly easy win for Bali, it’s much better set-up for expat life than Boracay is. The rest of the Philippines is more competitive but there are still a lot of drawbacks to living in the Philippines that don’t apply in Bali.
Overall: Bali Or Boracay? The Numbers Don’t Lie
So, in summary:
Boracay has the best beaches.
Bali and Boracay are tied for safety and water sports.
Bali is the winner for nightlife, culture, food, aesthetics, shopping, and value for money. It’s also the preferred destination for digital nomads and expats.
That means in our head-to-head Bali, Indonesia is the better destination for most visitors to the region.
FAQs
Which Has More Tourist Traps Bali Or Boracay?
Up until 2019, many people considered the small island of Boracay to be a complete tourist trap. In fact, as tourist traps go it didn’t get much worse.
The island was filthy and the resorts and hotels were famous for asking for more money for less value than other great places in the Philippines.
However, they closed the destination down for 6 months and then cleaned the island up, a lot.
For a long period of time most people visiting felt that this had made a huge difference and the beautiful beaches were clean again and the hotels and resorts that didn’t comply with standards were closed down.
Sadly, this doesn’t seem to have entirely lasted and while the beaches and the water are still clean, the hawkers are back, overcharging has returned in many places and the massage scams are back with a vengeance.
Bali does have its problems but there’s no doubt that the problems on the island are small scale rather than on an industrial scale when compared to Boracay.
Which Is Better Caticlan Airport or Ngurah Rai International Airport?
It’s not really fair to compare these two airports. Ngurah Rai is a proper international airport and while there’s no doubt that it is often very busy – the two terminals are clean, well-maintained and backed with facilities.
The airport is right next to the city of Denpasar and it’s a short trip from the airport to the beach towns on the coast where most tourists stay.
Caticlan Airport, on the other hand, is a small regional airport that you reach by flying to the island of Boracay from other parts of the Philippines.
It’s serviceable enough but an airport that one serves local carriers is always a bit limited.
Which Is Better Bali Or The Philippines?
It’s not really fair to compare Philippines to Bali as one is a whole country consisting of thousands of islands and the other is a region of four islands.
However, we did take a close look at this comparison in our article on Bali Vs Philippines where we examined the same factors people prefer to weigh up to make a good choice of their holiday destination.
Is It Worth Going To Boracay?
Yes! Boracay is a very pleasant destination and while it’s not located in the most convenient place and the Philippines is hard to get to, most visitors find this touristy spot to be very pleasant.
While it’s not particularly close to Bali and Indonesia, it is also close to Palawan and El Nido which many travelers to the Philippines enjoy.
Final Thoughts On Bali or Boracay
Both Bali and Boracay are beautiful islands in the tropics, but as our head-to-head analysis shows, most tourists are going to prefer Bali for a number of reasons over Boracay.
Related topics:
Bali Or Thailand: How To Choose Between The Two Most Popular Spots In South East Asia
