According to the Boracay Beach website, several stories surround the original name Boracay. Some believe the name derives from the old Philippine local word borac, meaning cotton, in reference to the white, cottony color and texture of Boracay beach's sand. Other sources say Ati elders--from the original Atis inhabitants of the island-- used the word bora meaning bubbles and bocay meaning white in describing the water rushing up on the beach.
Another Boracay legend says the name dates back to the Spaniards discovering the shore and picking up shells. Meeting with the Atis inhabitants, the Atis told the Spaniards the shells were called "sigay." When the Spaniards asked the Atis what they were planting in the soil they told them boray, a type of vegetable seed. From boray and sigay came the name Boracay.
Boracay was an undiscovered white sand paradise beach until 1970. Legend has it that travelers accidentally discovered the peaceful island when they were shooting a movie in the Philippines. The movie crew shot images of the island and shared them with the world.
Boracay beach was originally home to the Ati tribe. The Atis farmed and fished in Boracay for centuries. Boracay was a secret beach, hidden to the world and inhabited only by the Atis. Settlers on Panay, a nearby Philippine island, called the island the "Land of the Atis."
During the 1940s and 1950s, the Boracaynon--citizens of Boracay--depended largely on fishing and coconut plantation crops. They traded copra, dried meat from coconuts, to businessmen from Aklan--a Philippine province on the Sibuyan Sea-- in exchange for rice and other food items and supplies.
On April 25, 1956, Boracay Beach became an independent province, part of the Aklan Province of the Philippines.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Boracay became a popular vacation destination for families from Panay, a nearby Philippine island. In 1978, German writer Jens Peters wrote a book about Boracay's history and beauty that lured travelers to the "paradise lost" island. Filipinos tend to mark this book as the beginning of the tourist boom in Boracay.
Before 1990, the supply of power to Boracay Island was low and irregular. Visitors held candles and kerosene lamps to light their way around the island at night.
In the 1990s, the Tirols, a Filipino family who owned a lot of land along the beach, developed modern resorts and hotels with amenities for tourists. A Tirol museum on the island showcases antiques from the ancient Boracay inhabitants as well as Philippine and Chinese ceramics discovered in area excavations and digs.
In a Philippino GMA News TV article September of 2008, the Philippino Supreme Court declared Boracay as state-owned land. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reported that it would develop the island as a forest land. The move intends to control commercial tourism developments and prevent further environmental deterioration.
