Siargao Getaway

I have always wanted to go to Siargao.  Back then, the only way you can go to Siargao was to take a land trip for around 8 hours and then ride a barge for 2 hours.  So my husband, despite me insisting, would not budge.

And then Philippine Airlines started offering Davao-Siargao flights. Yahoo!  Time to look for those promo fares.  I am glad PAL offered one for a July flight.  I booked our tickets. His friends joined in and so we were finally going to Siargao.

Here goes!

Day 1: Magpupungko and Sugba Lagoon

These pics were taken at Magpupungko Rock Pools. During low tide, these rock pools are visible and you can enjoy swimming in them.  They're calm as compared to the tides on the beach. Go early!  We arrived at around 8am, there were only a few people and we managed to enjoy a lot if their pools.  Walk a bit farther and you'll see more pools.

We had our late breakfast at Magpupungko.  There are a lot of stores near the entrance, so don't fret. You can have rice meals and some food stalls are selling kakanin.  They also sell bottled waters.  However, best to bring your own water bottles.  As we learned later in the day, Siargao doesn't have a proper waste disposal system yet.

One tip though, don't forget to wear a hat.  There's not much shade at the pools. And of course, sunscreen!

This picture was taken at Sugba Lagoon.  Yes I jumped, we all jumped.  I just don't have a picture of it.  We had to take a 30 minute ride from the docking station to reach this lagoon.  It was so worth it! Again, don't forget to apply and re-apply sunscreen.

Day 2: Island Hopping

We went to 3 islands- Naked Island, Daku Island and the Secret Spot.

Naked Island, well, is really naked.  There is no shade at all.  And the heat is a bit intense.  You can take a swim here but the current is a bit strong.  Take lots of pictures here.

We had lunch at Daku Island.  There are cottages there and stores selling food.  All you have to do is choose what you want to be cooked or grilled.  We had pork, fish and Saang (very big shells!) which were priced reasonably.  They even have softdrinks or beer.  Cottages have rental fees and different restaurants have different cottages.  There's also a docking fee of Php100.

You can also swim here.  There are a lot fishes near the shores.  But since we were there during lunch, no one wanted to swim as it was very hot.

Last stop is the Secret Spot.  We were supposed to go to Guyam Island but the bankero said that Guyam is very rocky.  So he took us to a secret spot (which was not actually secret as there were a lot of boats).  It was a bit shallow and there were no rocks but the current was very strong.  And of course, there's no shade as you're in the middle of the sea.  What I did was to stay under the shadow of our boat.  It was so difficult as you had to keep on moving because of the strong current.

Day 3:  Sohoton

These next few pics were taken at Sohoton.  This was our 3rd day in Siargao.  Since we didn't have anything to do that day, we decided the day before to just book a tour for Sohoton.  It was a long ride.  From Siargao, it took more than 2 hours to reach Sohoton.  We left early, around 5:30 am, so we arrived at 8 am.  We were the 2nd set of visitors to arrive.  I suggest you also do the same.  By the time we left at around 9:30am, the place was already so full of visitors.

Another tip is just to bring along food in case anybody gets hungry for breakfast.  We all survived on boiled eggs and bread.  Since we were done by 9:30am, we travelled back to Siargao for lunch.  There's no restaurant at Sohoton although they said you can bring food and have it cooked at the area.

Day 4: Leisure Day

The 4th day, we had our own time.  No tours, just all of us exploring Siargao.  Rent a motorcycle.  We paid Php350/day.  That's cheap considering that we were able to go around Siargao and explore the island.  The day before, we hired a Tricycle driver who picked us and dropped us off at 4 areas, we paid Php950.  So renting a motorcycle is actually cheaper.  They also have a self-drive tricycle called Bingo.  I think it's priced at Php1,500 per day.  It can fit up to 6-7 people.

We were able to check out some secret surfing spots.  And we were to eat and explore the different restaurants.

Breakfast at Shaka! 

This was taken at Bravo Resort.  We had dinner there.  The food is super delicious! Don't forget to try the cheesecake which had coconut on it.

So where did we stay?  We stayed at Surfing Carabao.  It was located at the Malinao area, around 10 minutes from General Luna.  The beach was calm, it was away from the noise of Siargao.  No kids allowed here, though, as their dogs are a bit aggressive.  The rooms were wonderful and the place was peaceful.

This is our bed.  It has a mosquito net.  There are a lot of mosquitoes in the area so best to bring an insect repellant.  

The cottages at Surfing Carabao.

Some places leave a mark in you heart but Siargao left a mark in my soul.  The 4 nights allowed me to rest and recover from the hustle of life.  The days were laid back, there was no need to rush.  Plus add the fact that there's intermittent signal in Siargao.  It was so hard calling the kids but hey, it's good not to be online all the time right?  I cannot wait to bring the kids here.  And on our trip, I won't forget to bring our own water bottles and insect repellant.