25.02.2023 | Asia, Philippines

Soak in the vibes of the surfer island Siargao

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Siargao was the last destination of our Philippine trip. Keep in mind that the best travel time is opposite to the other islands, starting with May as the dry season. There is so much to do on this island! Unfortunately, we also saw a lot of damage due to the typhoon in December 2021. Especially in the North, once a busy touristic area too, most buildings at the beach were totally destroyed and palm trees were broken halfway. It was really sad to see. However, the Filipinos are real fighters, and have already rebuilt a lot of buildings, especially in General Luna. It’s still a very nice place to visit and you support the locals a lot with traveling there right now! You can do different boat tours, but also visit the close Maasin River and Magpupungko Rock Pools. Also Cloud 9 is a famous place for surfers!

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WHAT TO DO ?

1. Jumping from a coconut tree into Maasin River

Well, this one is a must-do on Siargao Island! Come early to have this place for yourself together with the locals. The area at the river is run by a local family, also providing canoe tours. But the main attraction is definitely jumping from the palm tree and the wooden diving boards, as well as floating on the raft. There was once a rope swing attached to the palm tree, but after the typhoon they removed it. Drive with your scooter to Maasin village (only a few minutes from General Luna) and stop at the red bridge, you will find the entrance. The jumping skills of the locals are incredible!

2. Coconut Trees View Deck

When you drive along the road from General Luna to Maasin River you will cross this incredible palm tree spot. Siargao has endless of palm trees, but this spot is overlooking a huge field of coconut trees standing in the foggy morning sun. Unfortunately after the typhoon a lot of palm trees either fell down or lost their palm leaves, before the typhoon this viewpoint had even more palm trees!

3. Ride the Palm Tree Road

Just a few meters further down the road from the viewpoint you will cross this beautiful palm tree road. Isn’t Siargao incredibly beautiful? While riding down the road get you eyes open, to see the locals riding on steers or kids waving their hands to welcome you.

4. Take a dip in Magpupungko Rock Pools

From General Luna it’s only a 45 minute scooter ride to get to these incredible pools located in front of the ocean. But keep in mind, that you can only see these rock pools and be able to swim inside, when it’s low tide. You can either ask some locals or search for the tide in the web. You might want to take some water shoes with you, since there are sharp corals. However, I managed to walk there barefoot.

5. Do a day trip to the North of the island!

Well, there is not only the beautiful General Luna area on this island, but also beautiful beaches further north! It’s pretty easy to discover all the hidden beaches, to get an impression of the island aside touristic cafés and hotspots.

Alegria Beach

Alegria beach is one of the famous beaches in the North, close to the only waterfall on this island, Tak Tak Waterfall. Sadly, we saw so many broken buildings due to the typhoon and so many fallen coconut trees. However, we met a school class at the beach and had a lot of fun together!

Pacifico Beach, Burgos Beach and Santa Monica Pier

After a 10-minute ride from the Magpupungko Rock Pools you will arrive at Pacifico Beach. It was once a touristic area with lots of cafés as well, but the typhoon hit this area extremely hard. Therefore almost everything was shot down when we visited the North. The good thing is, they will rebuild everything, so it might be again a touristic area soon!

6. Do a boat trip to these 4 islands: Naked Island, Corregidor Island, Daku Island, Guyam Island

The 4 islands tour was one of the most incredible things we did at Siargao Island! There is just so much beauty around this island! I still can’t believe what we’ve seen there. We just went down to the harbor and asked a guy about a boatmen who can do this trip the next morning. It was very simple, after 10 seconds we got a boat. It isn’t expensive to get a private boat here!

Naked Island

Well, doesn’t this sandbar look incredible in the turquoise water? There is nothing, just a sand bar in the middle of the ocean, I loved it! When you start your trip early, you will be the only ones here!

Corregidor Island

This island was completely different compared to the other islands. There was a lot of green grass and local families living on this island for years. It was incredible to see their cute little homes and even pigs in their gardens. You will have to walk up a small hill to get this beautiful view!

Daku Island

Oh man, this island wasn’t even less beautiful than the other ones we’ve seen before. White sand, clear blue water, it was a dream! The only downside in this paradise was the dark clouds we saw at the horizon coming closer to us.

Guyam Island

This island is close to the mainland and it’s perfect for the last spot on your boattrip. The water is incredibly clear here! The dark clouds arrived a few minutes after we arrived at the island. We experienced a huge tropical rainstorm with some thunder, and to be honest it was an amazing feeling! Being on this island with all the locals in the middle of a rainstorm, what an experience! I remember that the temperature got colder with the extreme rain and storm, so we all went in the warm water to escape from freezing. Feeling the huge raindrops pattering on my head while swimming in the ocean, was so unique! After 1 hour or so, the rain stopped and we went back to the main land with our boatsman.

7. Do a boat trip to Sugba Lagoon and Kawgahan Sandbar

For this half day boat trip it’s best if you drive to Del Carmen with your scooter, since it’s a lot closer to get to the lagoon from there. At the harbor in Del Carmen they have fixed prices for the private boat trips, it was very uncomplicated.

Sugba Lagoon

First we went to Sugba Lagoon, the boat ride through the different lagoons was incredible as well! The boatman’s little son joined our boat ride and it was really a nice experience we had together! When we arrived at the little wooden house, the sun got out and we had a few really sunny hours jumping from the diving board and paddling along the lakes. We spend most of the time at this lagoon.

Kawgahan Sandbar

On our way back we stopped at a cute little island with a perfect sand beach and clear blue water. Just when we left the island to go back to the mainland, we got into a huuuge rainstorm. Even though we went to Siargao in the dry season it can still rain heavily, however most times it’s over after an hour. I remember that we all got completely wet and that the boatman tried to hide inside the boat.

8. Another boat trip to Sohoton Cove

If you want to do another boat trip, Sohoton Cove might be another great adventure for you! The area looks similar to Sugba Lagoon and a lot of people recommend it! This one will be a full day trip, since it’s further away from the mainland.

9. Go surfing at Cloud 9 and Jacky House

Cloud 9 is a famous spot on Siargao Island for huge waves! But don’t be afraid most of the year the waves are also doable for beginners. There is a long wooden bridge to help the surfers getting faster to the deeper water. However, sadly with the typhoon it got completely damaged. When we’ve been there, they already rebuilt it. So it’s save to say, that there is a nice wooden bridge again, when you visit this place! Also walk along the beaches and visit Shaka café located directly at the beach.

10. Explore the beach at Nay Palad and Malinao Beach

Nay Palad was once THE most beautiful villa on the island, however we saw it completely destroyed after the typhoon. It is rebuild right now, however the beaches in front of the villa are really calm and nice for sunset. If you walk a little further along the beach you will arrive at Malinao Beach with some nice palm trees to sit on!

11. The calm beaches at Santa Fe

Well, Santa Fe isn’t a touristic area at all. Amongst locals it’s called the countryside. You will probably have the beaches for yourself, maybe together with some local kids. We got our snorkel gear with us and the kids observed us deeply. However, we can’t really recommend snorkeling at the beach, because the coral reefs are located further out and better reachable by boat. But take a walk along the beaches! We found this beautiful wooden bridge, the perfect place for sunset.

12. Explore the shops in General Luna

There are so many cute little shops in General Luna, definitely must a visit! Also spend some time strolling through the center and buying some local fruits!

13. Go to the harbor

If you get to the island, go down to the harbor. Here you can either watch the locals coming together or you can ask for a boatman to get you to the islands.

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WHERE TO EAT ?

1. Bowls at Shaka

Shaka cafés are located all over the Philippines, but they all serve different food. Here, at Cloud 9, they only make smoothie bowls. Get a tasty bowl and watch the surfers at Cloud 9.

2. Hakata

This new Japanese restaurant is incredible! They have amazing soups and we visited several times! They also rent rooms!

3. Kermit

This one is a popular place for Pizza. In the evening it can get very crowded. They also have a hotel there.

4. CEV and La Carinderia

These ones were closed during Covid, when we’ve visited. However, we hope they open again, because they had great reviews online.

5. Lunares Café and many more

Lunares Café offers great Italian coffee and is THE hotspot for remote working people. There are so many more little cafés and restaurants in General Luna, just have a look which one is open again.

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WHERE TO STAY ?

We highly recommend to stay in the General Luna area, either in the center of General Luna or in the direction of Cloud 9. The second area Pacifico is really quit and hardly destroyed by the typhoon.

1. Payag Suites in General Luna

We stayed at Payag Suites in General Luna, which is located pretty close to Cloud 9. We only payed 30 Euros per night for a good big room with a private bathroom.

2. Nay Palad Villas

Well, this one is THE luxury villa on this island. But it was completely destroyed after the typhoon, when we visited. Hopefully they can rebuild it soon. Right now it’s under construction.

How to get to Siargao? How to get around?

Since the island Siargao is located far more South-East of the other islands, we highly recommend to take a short inland flight about 1-2 hours from Cebu or Manila. There are several airlines, we flew with Cebu Pacific. The views from these propeller flights are incredible itself. Make sure to get an early flight, since flights in the evening often get cancelled.

We rented a scooter from a guy at the main street to the harbor and it worked out pretty well :D. The best way to explore the whole island is by scooter!

What about the typhoon?

It hit us very hard, when we saw the huge destructions even months after the typhoon. The typhoon hit the island so hard, it’s incredibly sad to see. We saw many destroyed buildings, most of them under construction and so many broken palm trees. We can only imagine what people experienced here during the typhoon. The locals are fighters here, we really hope that they can rebuild the island to the hip and unique place it was before! However, visiting the island helps the people a lot to get new income to rebuild their homes! Also there is still a lot of infrastructure and things to do!

There are different ATMs around General Luna, however sometimes we had to drive a few minutes because the closer ones were empty.

Best time to visit?

March to October is the best time to visit. The other half of the year the island often get hit by typhoons and strong rainstorms. We visited in May and had some small rainstorms for about an hour.