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Siargo’s pristine turquoise beach, beautiful sunset and mysterious aura cast a magic spell that will keep you coming back.

By on January 21, 2019

Our annual travel itch as a family took us to a beautiful island in the Philippines called Siargao.

 

Siargao is a tear-drop-shaped island in Surigao del Norte region, 800 kms off Manila, the capital city.

Cebu Pacific Airlines or Philippine Airlines fly to the island from Tokyo’s Narita Airport via Cebu island.  We booked our Cebu-Siargao-Cebu tickets online two months in advance at PHP6500 (¥13,836) per person (Price does not include Tokyo-Cebu air tickets).

On arrival at Siargao airport, we took a 40-min car ride (300 PHP or ¥640 per person; kids aged 5 and below are free) to the city centre between General Luna and Cloud 9 beach. General Luna is the town centre surrounded by a number of beach resorts. Cloud 9, known as a surfing area, is located on the other end of a 4-km coastal road. Our airport transfer was arranged by the hotel. For families looking for a ride, vans are available at anytime.

Accommodation
We stayed at Lotus Shores Yoga Retreat and Surf Resort, and this worked well for us. It’s a sprawling resort with lots of greenery and gardening, built Bali-style. It is not located within the beach area but we welcomed the leisure strolls to and from the beach. Lotus Shores hosts small to large yoga groups, and we were welcomed into this loving environment with open arms, even with 8 kids in tow (traveled with friends). The Vegan restaurant is a treat.

Lotus Shores’ accommodations include 2 family villas (about 6500 PHP/each/per night), which were great for accommodating us and our friends. Built in Japanese style house, there’s a king size bed on the bottom floor and two twin beds on the top floor, with an option to add extra beds). Going with the rustic feel of the place, there’s quite a bit of exposure to the elements which may not be comfortable for everyone. Only the top floor has fans (the cool breeze was sufficient though) and mosquito nets are needed up here. With the resort being inland, roosters also crow  loudly throughout the night.

If you aren’t up for this type of accommodation, there are two other resorts that are ideal for a family vacation: Isla Cabana and Kalinaw.  Both are right on the beach and have beautiful outdoor landscaping with family suites. (Kalinaw is pricier than Isla Cabana).

How to get around:
There are no taxis in sight. Instead, the locals offer a tricycle ride in and around General Luna and Cloud 9 (20 PHP or 50 yen a ride per person) At night, it goes up to 30 PHP or approx 65 yen).

If you don’t want to be driven around by someone you can rent one of those tricycles for 1,200 PHP or ¥2,555 a day. https://binggoride.com/.

We rented a self-drive mini van from the same company for almost the same price.

Activities

Dining:
Siargao has a number of decent restaurants offering local as well as Asian and western cuisine. Some restaurants are run by foreigners. Siargao, being in close proximity to Cebu island, has one of the freshest seafoods available. We enjoyed all our meals in Siargao, and the choice of good restaurants made it so we looked forward to every mealtime. Siargao lantern-lit restaurants are relaxing and family-friendly with lots of room for our two families traveling together.

Kermit Surf Resort and Restaurant Siargao. Here’s where pizzas are cooked in real firewood ovens. The pastas as well as their salads, risottos and fish dishes were excellent. The place is popular among travelers so you probably want to make a reservation especially at dinner time when it gets crowded.

Bravo. A Mediterranean/Spanish restaurant. The children loved the chicken skewers and rice.

Isla Cabana Fast food style restaurant serving Filipino and western food i.e. pastas, burgers, and pizzas .Prices are a bit higher. There’s a bonfire by the pool where kids swim in the evening.

Kalinaw An outdoor style eating area right on the beach.

Warung. Indonesian food. Great prices and a lot of choice. Kids loved the chicken satay.

Cafe Loka A cafe by Jacking Horse beach serves lunch. You can enjoy light meals like sandwiches, salads, yogurt and fruit bowls, and smoothies and juices. Inexpensive, good and right there at the beach.

The Peace Kitchen A vegan restaurant located at Lotus Shores. We enjoyed our meals here, particularly breakfast with their hearty serving of yogurt and granola bowls including parfaits. Their breakfast burrito as well as their chana masala Indian chickpea dish are very good.

The Avocado Tree. This is right in General Luna, so it’s convenient if you are in the town centre. It has an inexpensive selection of both meat and veggie Filipino dishes. There’s also a kids’ corner with toys and a small souvenir shop selling baskets, bags, and clothing.

Surfing at Cloud 9  There are several surf shops where you can rent surfboards and hire instructors (500 PHP for a surfboard with instructor/hour). There are beginner waves at Jacking Horse beach (just to the left of the boardwalk/viewing deck facing the ocean). There are more advanced waves at a reef break called “Sementerio” cemetery. You have to trike ride back towards General Luna and take a short bangka ride (150 PHP per person roundtrip) out to the surf break. Here, the waves are frequent and consistent. The instructors will tell you what times are good for surfing ( talk to them the day before you surf). One day, we surfed at Jacking Horse when the tide was low. The waves were fine but falling from our boards hurt. Other than that, learning to surf in Siargao is ideal for kids- the instructors are so kind, fun and good at teaching kids. The kids we had aged 8 to 13-years-old had a great time surfing in Siargao.

Island Hopping

We visited these three islands by boat from the shore of General Luna: Naked island, Daku island and Guyam island. Our hotel arranged the tour for us (lunch included). You can also hire a boat for 1500 PHP to tour the islands.
Naked is a conglomerate of reefs and white sand beach and the perfect place to enjoy all-you-can-eat mangoes (March-June). Guyam has lots of shallow tidal pools that are great for watching wildlife (sea stars, hermit crabs, and fishes). Daku the biggest of the three is a great place for swimming. When you starve from all the sun and fun, rent a kubo (hut) on the beach and get the local fishermen to cook for you the catch of the day.
We visited Magpupungko tidal pools which is an hour ride from General Luna.
Sugba Lagoon

The Sugba lagoon is approximately an hour trip across the island of Magpupungko. A“bangka” (boat) which you can rent from the Mangrove Conservation Office takes you to the mangroves to get to the lagoon. It is a beautiful 40-min boat ride passing through charming fishing villages. At the lagoon, you can swim, jump off the 2-meter diving board, rent kayaks and SUP boards by the hour, and enjoy the catch of the day (fish, crab and lobster) cooked on demand.  We stayed longer after paddle-boarding and kayaking to watch diving board tricks.

The stretch of beach between cloud 9 and General Luna isn’t privately owned by any one resort, so you can walk the whole stretch of the beach and plop down wherever you feel like playing.

Art Activities for kids

Take spot classes at Felice Island Shop that offers adult or children’s art class. The kids did a watercolor class and they LOVED it. It was a relaxing afternoon and a needed break from the sun. We also enjoyed Felice’s Kitchen, where she does the workshops and now serves homemade ice cream and other desserts.

 

Yoga

Yoga Class is offered at the Lotus Shore and Kermit resort (350 PHP/class).

Pampering And while you are taking a break from the kids, get a massage or other spa treatment at Esse near Kermit beach resort. (500 PHP)/one hour massage.

 

Movies

Movies are pre-scheduled but you can also request for a private viewing of any title on their list. The kids enjoyed watching Despicable Me 3. (Just a word of caution: the movie house smells quite musty.)

Accommodation
Lotus Shores Yoga Retreat and Surf Resort    www.lotusshores.com

Isla Cabana Resort    www.islacabanaresort.com/

Kalinaw Resort   www.kalinawresort.com/main.html

Airlines
Cebu Pacific Air    cebupacificair.com
Philippine Airlines     www.philippineairlines.com
Sky Jet Airlines     www.flyskyjetair.com/

About Tammy Lee