Siargao

Siargao really is a little slice of paradise! This is the greenest place I have ever been and I have never seen so many palm trees in one go! This was one of the biggest highlights of our trip and I couldn’t recommend this little island enough. 

How did we get there?

Siargao has become pretty easy to get to over the past few years. We flew from Cebu direct to Siargao with Cebu Pacific and the actual flight only took about 45 minutes. Siargao airport is tiny, just one tiny baggage carousel and when you leave the building you will be offered a minibus/taxi immediately so no need to book onwards travel beforehand. You can expect to pay 200 pesos per person if they fill the mini van and the journey is about half an hour to the General Luna / Cloud 9 area.

Where did we stay and for how long?

We were in Siargao for 3 nights and 3 full days. This was a good amount of time but ideally we would have had another day as there were a few things we didn’t have time to do. You could easily spend a week or so here though if you have the time! The most popular tourist areas to stay in on the island are the towns of General Luna and Cloud 9 which is a bit further down the road. We stayed in Cloud 9 at a lovely homestay called Casa Bianca. This location worked perfectly for us as we hired a scooter to get around the island. We could walk to the beach and a couple of restaurants but if you want to be more in the midst of it all I would stay in General Luna as there is a bit more going on.

What did we do whilst we were there?

To see the most of this island, I would recommend hiring a scooter to get around. You can definitely get the whole way around the island in a day but there’s a lot to see so best to target a few things each day. A scooter should cost you about 300P a day plus fuel – bargain!

Sugba Lagoon is definitely worth a visit. To get here you will need to get to the pier in Del Carmen which is a small town on the West coast. At the pier there is a little tourist office where you can buy tickets and it doesn’t seem to matter what time you get there, as soon as they have enough to fill a boat you can leave. It’s only 7 or so in a boat anyway as they are so small. We filled our boat so it only cost around 350P per person which included 100P for tourism tax. A boat costs 1500P in total. After motoring through the maze of mangroves for about 20 minutes you will reach Sugba lagoon where you can jump and swim to your hearts delight. There is a cafe at the lagoon which seems pretty random but it’s useful to have a table to leave all your belongings on.

In the afternoon after visiting Sugba, we drove across the island from Del Carmen in the West to the East coast. The first stop was Pacifico beach. As you wind down the road towards the beach you can catch glimpses of the golden sand and palm trees. This beach is breathtaking, the water is so clear and there are hammocks amongst the palms – just beautiful!

From Pacifico, we drove down the coast to Magpupungko Rock Pools. It is best to check the tide times before your visit as the pools are best when it is low tide. It only cost 10P to get into the place, 20P to park the bike and 50P entrance fee. You can either paddle through the water to reach the rock pools which are just off the beach (I would wear some kind of shoes as the rocks are sharp!) or you can walk up through the woods and down straight into the water. The rock pools were really cool but they would have been better if the tide were out further and there were less people there. The best time to go would be early morning when the tide is out so it is less busy!

On our second day, we did another road trip heading north out of General Luna along the East coast. On this road there is quite a lot to see. First we stopped at the famous coconut viewpoint we you can just pull up at the side of the road and admire the view of palm trees literally as far as you can see. Heaven!

Just on from the viewpoint is the insta-famous bent palm. It is easily missed so look for a red bridge over the Maasin river and that’s where the palm is. You can just park on the side of the road and wonder down the steps to the river. We paid a small donation at the bridge and walked a few minutes along the river to the palm. Locals hang out here and help you to climb the tree which is a lot harder than it looks! They were so friendly so we gave them a good tip! We arrived here at about 10:30am and had the palm to ourselves for about 15 minutes until another couple arrived. It really is beautiful down on the river and the palm is so picturesque. Another jump to tick of the list too!!

Along from here you will drive along a bit of road which is popular for photos as it is straight with perfectly tall palms lining both sides for a couple of hundred metres. You’ll see people stop for pics in the middle of the road here, luckily the roads are so quiet on this island so this is easy to do!

We also visited Tayangban cave pool which is about a 5 minute drive on from the red bridge. It was 350P for 2 people and the trip was about half an hour where you climb down through the jungle to the cave entrance and they take you right the way through which was pretty cool. There’s also a little jungle plunge pool included in the price where there are some make shift rope swings!

Cloud 9 is the best location for surfing on the island and the village hosts major international surfing championships! You can chill on the beach and relax with a beer watching the surfers. There is also the long boardwalk which is popular at sunrise and sunset. The sunrise is better here as the sun actually sets on the other side of the island.

If we had another day on the island we would have gone to explore Secret Beach and some of the other beaches on the island as we heard they are pretty impressive. 

Restaurant recommendations:

In General Luna there’s quite a few good restaurants to choose from. A few that we liked….Harry’s Hostel does a good breakfast and also good burgers in the evening and has a cool beach shack vibe. There is a good Mexican place called Miguel’s Taqueria. We had a great lunch right on the beach at Patrick’s on the Beach, the staff are super friendly here and they do good local food. We had fab pizzas at Altrove restaurant, they have this restaurant in El Nido and Coron too!