Siquijor

We fell in love with Siquijor. It is less touristy than other islands such as Palawan and there is a lot to see. There are untouched beaches and everywhere you go you see locals just going about their business as usual, small pieces of tourism have seemlessly fitted in without taking away from the local pace of life.

How did we get there?

Siquijor is pretty easy to get to by ferry. You can either go from Dumaguete on the island of Negros, from Liloan – the southernmost point of Cebu island, from Taglibaran on Bohol island or from Cebu City itself.

We came from Oslob, so took a tricycle from there down to the port at Liloan which took about twenty minutes (200 pesos) and then caught the ferry across to Larena port on Siquijor island. There is only one ferry a day from Liloan to Larena and it leaves at 10am. You can buy a ticket for the ferry on the day, they advise you to arrive half an hour beforehand. The ferry cost 200 pesos per person and took 2.5 hours and you sit undercover but kind of outside in the breeze.

Once we had arrived in Larena, we took a tricycle to just outside the main tourist town called San Juan. This took about 25 minutes and we paid 300 pesos. You will be quite overwhelmed by tricycle drivers offering you a ride when you step out of the port so just make sure you get a good price!

On our way back, we were going from Siquijor to Cebu City to catch our flight the next day. We went on the ferry which took 4 hours, stopping half way at Bohol. This was a relatively quick ferry and saved us a lot of time rather than going back to Cebu and catching a bus for hours on end. The ferry cost us 1300 pesos per person and you have to arrive at Larena Port an hour before departure which is at 12:30.

Where did we stay and for how long?

We stayed in Siquijor for 3 nights at an amazing treehouse homestay called Mandala Tribe Treehouse. I would 100% recommend this place, the staff are really friendly, you get a little welcome home drink and snack each afternoon and you get your own treehouse, all for around £44 a night for 2 people. Mandala Tribe is situated in Tambisan, the small town just along from San Juan which is the touristy (small) hub of the island. They have bikes to rent which made it an easy 5-10 minute ride into San Juan for dinner etc. and cost us 350 pesos a day.

What did we do whilst we were there?

There are lots of fun activities to get up to whilst staying in Siquijor, many involving swimming/jumping! Paliton beach is a great place to watch the sunset. There are a couple of locals selling beers from cool boxes and lots of photo opportunities under the palm trees. You can walk here from Mandala (20 minutes) otherwise get a taxi here.

On our first full day, we drove for about an hour on the bike along the East coast towards the North of the island to Salagdong Beach Resort. It is a pretty empty beach resort, a little run down but has some cool cliff jumping spots and a nice sheltered beach. We went here for the morning and sunbathed, swam and had some smoothies! Pretty relaxing. After this we got back on the bike and came back down the coastal road towards San Juan stopping at the side of the road when we spotted cool beaches through the trees. It’s a lovely drive with quiet roads and lots of locals to people watch along the way.

Between the towns or Maria and Lazi on this route is a nice beach called Kagasua Beach – it can be hard to find, don’t miss the tiny signs from the main road. We had heard good things in the Lonely Planet book so thought we would try and find it. Turns out it was very hard to find being down a tiny lane with a ‘Private Property – No Entry’ sign at the end. We risked it and drove down and there were a group of locals by a gate who told us the beach is now private but we could go there ‘today only’. Interesting! It seemed like they were building some villas on the cliff above the beach so maybe the beach will become private in the future but I would definitely recommend trying to access it if possible as we had the whole beach to ourselves and it was gorgeous!

The next stop was lunch in the town of Lazi. There didn’t seem to be many restaurants but we found a nice one down by the port called El Monte. After some food we drove up through Lazi into the hills towards Cambugahay Falls! This is a waterfall with 3 levels and is pretty cool. When you arrive, you might get some locals come over and offer to take you down to the waterfalls and they are just after a tip. Our guide was so friendly and looked after our belongings whilst we swam and took plenty of photos for us so we were happy we went with him! There are 3 different swings/jumps in the main pool and you have to pay a small fee for unlimited jumps on each one. We chose the highest one and had quite a laugh daring to go from the top level, the locals are crazy and do some insane jumps and tricks! Go early if you want it to yourself. The top pool is idyllic and you paddle out on a raft to have photos right under the fall. Would recommend this place for sure!

Also on this route between Lazi and San Juan you will pass the Century Old Balete Tree which is a popular tourist spot. We just had a glance from the side of the road but you can pay to go in and sit under the tree with your feet in the spring. It is said to have spiritual healing powers!

We also visited Lugnason Falls during our stay in Siquijor. This is a less well known waterfall and we were the only ones there when we went one afternoon. You have to drive quite far into the hills to find it and you will think you’re going the wrong way as the road is hardly a road and the locals all wave at you excitedly making you think you’re the only person to pass them by all day! But you will find it! A little kid showed us down to the waterfall and you can have a swim here but beware, there are those nibbly little fish in the water! He also took us to the local spring which turns out to be where the local kids hang out so we got a bit of attention down here and had lots of photos!!

If we had another day in Siquijor we would have done the day boat trip to Apo Island. There are a couple of places you can book this from including Coco Grove Beach Resort but the trips can fill up quickly as there aren’t many available. We heard this is an amazing place to dive and you frequently can see turtles there.

Restaurant Recommendations:

We had lots of good meals in San Juan! We went to this blue and white wooden shack/beach bar for a couple of sunsets and we loved it, I think it’s just called ‘Beach Bar’! Monkey Business is a popular evening hangout for drinks/food. They do good burgers and cocktails but it gets busy so maybe go earlier! We also loved Baha Bar, and on Fridays they have live music in the garden and do a BBQ buffet with local fish and meat which was delicious. Marco Polo is a good place for lunch with paninis etc and you can sit at tables by the beach.