Siargao Island – Hooked – WANDERING FEET PH

Siargao island is part of Surigao del Norte province located in North Eastern part of Mindanao. It is facing the pacific Ocean thus having one of the best waves for surfing. The island somehow reminds me of Siquijor for its rural feel, but unlike Siquijor, resorts are already popping like mushrooms on the island. One of the reasons is the increasing volume of tourists especially the surfing enthusiast foreigners.

Getting on the island is easy. There are direct flights from Cebu to Siargao. Though in our case, our flight was bound for Surigao for we initially planned to go to Bucas Grande then we eventually crashed it out. Then from Surigao, we headed to the port to catch our boat trip to Siargao.

There are motorcycles and tricycles waiting at the port. They usually charge 20php for a ride to nearby places. There are no jeepneys on the island as I observed. We got ourselves a tricycle and headed straight to General Luna where there are inns and the best surfing spot is located. After we settled our things, we then went straight to Magpupungko Tidal flats.

Magpupungko Tidal Flats

Magpupungko is located in Pilar, Siargao. It is a 45 minutes drive away from General Luna. An entrance fee and a parking fee will be collected by the beach resort where the flat is located. This place should definitely be an itinerary entry when visiting Siargao. Magpupungko boasts deep and clear natural pool. On the far end side you’ll see the huge waves as they crash onto the rocks. It is best to go there on low tides, especially during afternoon since their sunset is also great.

Surfing

Of course when you visit Siargao you surely wouldn’t want to miss surfing. That is what we did early morning the following day. Most of the surfing activities are held in Cloud 9 resort. There you’ll find plenty of surfing enthusiasts, professionals or beginners, gather and riding the waves. On the resort, there are plenty of surfing instructors and boards for rent. For beginners, they usually rate 500php for a 1 hour beginner lessons, this already includes the board rent.Stoked, we are ready to hit our first wave. Falling from the board is expected for beginners. As you progress and get the feel of the flow of the waves, you’ll finally hit your biggest fall, fall in love with surfing that is.

Island Hopping

After our surfing session, we went straight for our island hopping activity. Island hopping includes the three nearby islands namely, Naked, Daco, and Guyam.

Luckily our tricycle driver already have contacts with local boatmen that take tourists on the islands. He himself arranged the trip for us. We just went straight to General Luna’s public market where we will be picked-up by our rented boat and where we bought our lunch foods to be cooked on one of the islands.

First stop: Naked Island

Some might get hesitant upon hearing the island’s name thinking that they’ll just see naked people on the island. No, the island was named so because of it’s pure white sand nature. The island is naked. No trees, no plants, none at all. Just pure white sand in the middle of the ocean.

Second stop: Daco Island

Unlike naked island, this island has abundant vegetation. This island is also the largest of the three. The island also has long stretch of white sand beach with crystal clear waters. Here we rented a cottage and where we stayed the longest and had our lunch. There are residents here that offer to cook your brought raw food while you enjoy the waters. They also offer to get coconuts straight from the trees for you.

Last stop: Guyam island

The island is like a small version of Daco island.

We went back to the main island late afternoon. We went straight to our place and rested for a while. We talked, enjoyed each other’s company, drink and laughed.

This weekend was totally awesome! I can’t wait to surf again.

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