You've probably heard about Siargao and surfing only in the last few years but did you know that Siargao's surfing waves were discovered as far back as the late 1980s? And that its most popular surfing spot called Cloud 9 (where the annual Siargao Cup is held) was actually named by an American photographer after Cloud 9, the chocolate bar, around 1993? And lastly, did you know that as far back as 1995, Siargao has been making it to the list of best surf spots in international surfer magazines? 💪
Ok, I didn't know any of those until the last few years when I've started seeing travel posts about Siargao. And maybe my ignorance got prolonged because I'm not a surfer either. 😅
Siargao is not on my travel list because I don't have the guts to try surfing. Why? Because I can't even push myself up to stand on steady ground, what more to push myself up on a surfboard in the middle of unpredictably wild waves? 😬 To begin with, I can't even do simple push-ups. 🙈😂 But I ended up going in February because I have a friend who wanted to spend her birthday in Siargao so I accompanied her.
We took a direct flight going to Sayak Airport (but there are alternative flights going to Surigao airport as well).
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| View of Siargao before landing at Sayak Airport |
We were so hungry by the time we reached our inn so our first agenda was to look for food. 😋
Food prices in Siargao are comparable to Metro Manila prices - they could be anywhere between Php200 per dish (in regular cafes and eateries) to Php500 per dish (in fancier restaurants). We tried several restaurants but the one which we really liked the most was Bravo in General Luna. Everything we ordered was so yummy. 😋 They also had a local band that played beautiful indie music in the evenings.
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| Cafe Loka, good breakfast place in the Cloud 9 area |
Here were our initial sightings of beginner surfers being taught by locals. I enjoyed watching the joy in their faces when they were successful in their surfing attempts. Their joy was my joy. I didn't have to surf to feel the joy of surfing. 😂😂😂
It was a sunny afternoon and everyone was in their beach and surfer outfits except me. I was the lone weirdo wearing a hoodie on the beach! 😂 Unfortunately, I had a light fever on day 1 in Siargao and despite the hot weather, I felt cold. Waaaa.... 😷
While in this surfing area, you might notice a long strap tied between 2 coconut trees. That's not for limbo rock or Chinese garter. 😂 Apparently, it's used by surfer students to practice how to balance. Check out the photo below where one of the local surfers demonstrated it to me. But he said that if you're good in balancing on the strap, it doesn't automatically guarantee that you will be good at surfing. Likewise, not all great surfers could balance well on the strap. But he said that the drill helps beginner surfers to learn how to balance.
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| Local surfer demonstrating how to do the balance drill |
On day 2, we decided to take the land tour since I was afraid that if we do island hopping and go swimming, I'll end up with chills. I had to stay dry as much as possible if I wanted to get well soon.
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| Look at all those coconut trees! This is in a place called Maasin. |
Not sure if this practice is only in the Philippines but in some provinces and islands, I've noticed that included in tour stops are photo opportunities in the middle of roads. 😅 I don't remember doing pic-taking in the middle of the road ever before but since my friend and I were the lone passengers in the tour, and our driver was so excited to show us around, and vehicles rarely passed on the road, we just gamely posed. 😅
On our way to our next destination, we saw locals waving at us by a billboard that says "Welcome to the Grand Opening of Maasin Enchanted River". We asked our driver if that is worth visiting and he said - I've never seen that yet coz it's the first time I've actually heard of it. So we told him that he should go with us to the tour so he could be a tourist right in his home province. 😂
We all went to the Maasin Enchanted River Tour. I forgot how much is the fee but fees are standard and proceeds go to the community protecting the river. I think the fee also allows you to try a Tarzan-like stunt in the coconut tree below. After jumping off the tall coconut tree and swinging, it's time to let go and fall into the water.
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| Swing like Tarzan from a coconut tree |
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| Maasin Enchanted River |
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| Crystal Clear Water |
While there, you can order fresh coconut juice. How fresh? One of the locals will climb a tall coconut tree and pick one for you right before your eyes! It's amazing how they are able to climb the tall coconut trees within a few seconds and be able to go down the tree while carrying the heavy coconut in one of their hands. 💪 Everything is eco-friendly too - they use bamboo straws for the juice and and they will cut a portion of the coconut husk to serve as your scooper for the coconut meat after drinking the juice.
And if you like having your photos taken, the locals have a lot of camera tricks in this spot. They would even climb a tree to take the perfect shot of you floating on your back. I got entertained just by watching the locals direct tourists and with the photographer up on a tree. 😅
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| Magpupungko Beach |
The main attraction here is not actually the beach but the Magpupungko Tidal Pools. What's so amazing about these tidal pools? During low tide, the enclosed underwater crevices on the shore create natural sea water pools that seem like infinity pools. 😍 Check these out -
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| Magpupungko Tidal Pools |
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| Crystal Clear Water |
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| Beautiful panoramic shot of the Magpupungko Tidal Pools |
Below is a closer shot of the rock and notice that it is sitting on top of a flat rock?! 😲 Nature is just amazing!
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| Iconic Magpupungko rock - it sits on a flat surface |
We enjoyed a yummy lunch of grilled seafood in one of the eateries at the Magpupungko Beach. After that, the next destination was Tayangban Cave and Lagoon but when our driver told us we have to walk for about 20 to 30 minutes in an underwater cave where the water was chest-high, I had to pass - not with my fever which unfortunately recurred. My friend decided to pass too coz she's afraid of the cold water. 😅
We just went to another beach (I forgot the name) coz our driver was honest enough to tell us that he was sleepy!😪 Wahaha... But which we appreciated coz if he didn't tell us, we could easily get into an accident. So my friend and I checked out the beach and I spotted this beautiful sea urchin.
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| Sea Urchin |
After a few minutes though, I felt cold (because of my fever) and sleepy too. It was siesta time for me too. 😴
That night, I told my friend that I had to stay put in our resort the next day first so I can rest to get rid of my fever. But I told her she could join the island hopping tour as we originally planned. She couldn't decide if she wanted to join the island hopping tour on her own or to take up surfing lessons. But guess what? My fever became a blessing in disguise coz early the next morning, my friend started having tummy trouble. Imagine, if I didn't have fever, we would have gone island hopping that day. It's such a nightmare to imagine the experience of having an upset stomach with no toilet facilities nearby. 😱
So what did I end up doing on our last full day? I spent most of the day in bed and asleep. 😴😅
But in the afternoon, we went to the Cloud 9 viewing deck to watch advanced surfers in action. Our inn was actually just a few steps away from here. Yes, we were two non-surfers booked in a beachfront inn by a surfing spot. 😂
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| Cloud 9 Viewing deck |
Here's one video I took of Cloud 9 surfers. It's just amazing to watch the surfers emerge from the big waves and gracefully move in their surfboards as if they are one with the water.
We stayed at the viewing deck until sunset and dusk. Check these out -
And I thought, that capped off our memorable visit in Siargao but wait, there's more...
That evening (our last night in Siargao), there was an earthquake with an intensity of 5.9! 😱😱😱 My friend and I were so scared that a tsunami might come soon (remember we were by the beachfront of Cloud 9)! I started googling on how soon a tsunami would arrive after an earthquake and my friend went to check out with the front desk what's the protocol to inform people about a tsunami, etc.😅 The aftershocks occurred so often that my friend and I decided to just pack our bags at around 9pm and flag down a tricycle to help us find another inn that is far away from the shore. 😅
Fortunately, a tricycle with a passenger stopped by for us and we explained the situation. The driver told us - you know, Siargao is so small so everything is near the shore. You cannot escape a tsunami. Wahaha...😂 We just told them to help us look for place that was not at least beachfront. Maybe the intensity of the tsunami will be lesser if you're farther away from the shore, we thought. 😅
Anyway, the passenger said that his aunt manages a place that accepts homestay so they brought us there. But when we reached the place, his aunt said she had to get clearance from the owner first but when she tried calling the owner, the owner wasn't picking up. For the lack of any option and because we were super starving since we haven't eaten dinner yet, we told the passenger's aunt that we'll have dinner first then come back to check if the owner said yes.
We invited the kind driver and passenger to join us for dinner and told them to just recommend the place where we can have dinner. Before we knew it, we were in the town plaza and my friend spotted a signage that says - "tsunami hazard zone". They brought us to a restaurant by the sea which was a tsunami hazard zone! 😂😂😂 It was just so hilarious!
Behind the Siargao signage below is the open sea.
The driver brought the trike nearer to the seafront and told us - It's ok. Do not panic. There is no sign of a tsunami coz look at the water, it's high tide. But if it's low tide when it's supposed to be high tide, then you know that a tsunami is coming. So for now, there is no tsunami coming.
That's tsunami 101 for us. But it was just so funny that we ended up by the seafront when our goal was to escape from it! 😂😂😂 But we didn't eat in that area coz the restaurants ran out of cooked rice, instead, we ordered takeaway from a burger place.
Anyway, by the time we went back to the homestay place, the aunt already secured clearance from the owner to let us stay for the night. Throughout the night, over a hundred aftershocks were recorded, the highest being at intensity 4.7. 😱😱 The aftershocks were so frequent that sometimes, we didn't know if we were just imagining them. 🙈 But after reading the news the following day that over a hundred aftershocks were recorded, we were sure that they were not imaginary. 😅
We slept better in the homestay (which was about 100 to 150 meters away from the shore) than if we would have stayed by our beachfront inn. So even if there was no tsunami (thank God!), transferring in the middle of the night was worth all the trouble and adventure. That was our last Siargao experience before flying out the following morning.
Like my other memorable trips, what made this trip memorable was not because of the place but because of the kind people we met. The trike driver and passenger, though not locals, were both hospitable and kind-hearted. And we know they sincerely wanted to help coz the driver did not even want to accept payment beyond the regular fare of a round-trip (to think he drove and stayed with us for about 1.5 hours).
I may not have been able to fully explore Siargao because I had fever but my experience there is really one for the books. 😅
