Siargao
Siargao is the surf island in the Pacific off north-east Mindanao, a flight from a flight, with coconut roads that beat the waves and a rainy season that runs backwards from the rest of the country. Four nights or a week, General Luna as the base, a scooter with a helmet hired separately, and Cloud 9 checked before you plan around it.
Siargao in a nutshell
Siargao: what to expect
Before writing this we counted 336,000+ planned stops in the Philippines on Stippl.
Four nights or a week in Siargao, and the coconut roads beat the surf. The palm road and the Coconut Plantation Viewpoint are rated above the waves by nearly everyone who has ridden them, the three-islands boat runs Naked, Daku and Guyam in a morning, Sugba Lagoon is turquoise water between forested karst reached by boat from Del Carmen, Magpupungko's tidal rock pools appear only at low tide, a first lesson happens at Jacking Horse rather than Cloud 9, and Cloud 9 itself is closed for reconstruction ahead of the world-tour event this autumn. Most travellers give Siargao 4 nights on Stippl.
Siargao is the exit island, and the one where people stay a week. 12.9% of the trips it appears on end here, of everyone who plans it on Stippl, six times the rate at which it opens them, 18.8% of stops run seven nights or more, the highest share of any Philippine destination, and the flight in costs €100 typically, the most expensive domestic leg in the country, which is why the island is placed last and given time.
Sleep in General Luna for a first stay, take the morning flight into Sayak, rent the scooter and a helmet separately, check the tide before Magpupungko, and learn to surf at Jacking Horse. Skip planning around Cloud 9 without checking the reconstruction, and skip assuming December to February is dry, because the rain here is inverted and those are the wettest months of the year.
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Learner surfers
A first lesson at Jacking Horse, a board for the week and the island's reason for existing, on 5.4% of the 337,493 Philippine stops of Philippine stops on Stippl.
Scooter riders
The coconut roads are the best thing on the island, ahead of the surf, and they need a bike and an early start.
Long-stay travellers
18.8% of Stippl stops here run a week or more, the highest share in the country, and General Luna is a town built for staying.
Night-out travellers
General Luna runs a different party every night of the week, which no other island in the country does.
Nature travellers
The largest protected area in the Philippines and its largest mangrove forest, with the lagoon on the west side reached by boat.
End-of-trip travellers
The island that closes the trip: 12.9% of the Stippl trips it appears on end here, and the flight home leaves from Sayak.
Maybe not for you: anyone on a short Philippine trip, because it is a flight from a flight and the dearest one; beginners expecting to surf Cloud 9 itself, which breaks over shallow reef and is closed anyway; and anyone who wants the quiet island, which is Siquijor.
The best time to visit Siargao
The wet peak
November to February
Up to six hundred millimetres a month and the typhoon window, the months the guides say plainly not to come, and the months our travellers come anyway.
The dry season
March to September
Rain falling month by month to a third of the winter figure, with May, June and August the driest and calmest, and May the strongest month on Stippl against the national curve.
The surf season
August to November
Pacific typhoon swell, the big consistent waves, and the window the world tour picked for Cloud 9.
The beginner season
March to May
Small waves, flat water and the best conditions for the island-hopping boats, with the surf schools at Jacking Horse full.
- Most travellers give Siargao 4 nights on Stippl, and 18.8% stay a week or more. Four covers the roads, the boat and the lagoon, and the week is what the surf and the town reward.
- January (17.6%, n = 2,423), index 1.00 is the busiest month on Stippl, and it is the wettest month of the year here. The booking curve follows the Philippine dry season, not Siargao's, and the island reads flat against the national average in that month.
- June (3.1%, n = 430), index 0.89 is the quietest month on Stippl, and it is among the driest. The gap between when people come and when the weather is best is wider here than anywhere else in the country.
- Cloud 9 is closed for reconstruction. The boardwalk and the tower are being rebuilt for the world-tour event this autumn, and the beginner breaks at Jacking Horse and Tuason are open throughout.
- Most travellers plan Siargao about 78 days ahead on Stippl, and 12.3% inside a fortnight. The flight into Sayak is the one thing that rewards booking early, at €100 typically.
- The airport is an hour from the beach. Sayak sits at Del Carmen on the west side, and the van to General Luna takes fifty minutes to an hour, which surprises people who booked a beach hotel and expected to walk.
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Things to do in Siargao
The coconut roads
The palm-tree road and the Coconut Plantation Viewpoint, better than the surf by most accounts, on a scooter in the early morning before the heat.
The three-islands tour
Naked, a bare sandbar, Daku, a fishing village and lunch, and Guyam, a palm islet you walk round in a minute, in one morning by boat.
Sugba Lagoon
Turquoise water between forested karst on the west side, reached by boat from Del Carmen through the mangroves, with a jump platform and kayaks.
Magpupungko Rock Pools
Tidal pools on the east coast that appear only at low tide and disappear entirely at high, so the tide table is the plan.
A lesson at Jacking Horse
The beginner break beside Cloud 9 where the surf schools take first-timers, with small waves and sand rather than reef.
Cloud 9 at sunset
The hollow right-hand reef break that made the island, watched from the boardwalk without surfing it, once the reconstruction reopens the pier.
The areas of Siargao
General Luna
The tourist town
Tourism Road with the restaurants, the boutiques, the hostels, the nightly party rota and the boat pier, within walking distance of each other. For a first stay.
Every restaurant, bar and boat on foot, but the busiest and priciest stretch.
Cloud 9
The surf strip
A few minutes north of General Luna with the break, the boardwalk, the surf schools and the beach bars, and the reconstruction site for now. For surfers.
The wave and the sunset from the pier, though the tower is closed while it is rebuilt.
Dapa
The port town
The ferry port and the island's practical town on the south-west with the banks, the market and the cheapest beds. For arrival and budgets.
The pier, the cash machines and the cheapest rooms, and no beach.
Pacifico
The quiet surf coast
The north-east coast with a white beach, a handful of cafes, real surf and almost no nightlife, an hour from town. For quiet and waves.
The island's best beach and the fewest people, but an hour from everything.
Del Carmen
The mangrove side
The west-coast town with the airport, the country's largest mangrove forest and the boats to Sugba Lagoon. For the lagoon day.
The mangroves and the lagoon boat, and the airport, though nothing to stay for.
Alegria and the north
The far tip
Two hours from General Luna with empty white sand, a fishing village and nothing else, ridden in a long day rather than stayed. For escaping.
The beach where you meet nobody, but three hours each way on the bike.
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Where to stay in Siargao
General Luna is the base for a first stay, with hostels, guesthouses and resorts within walking distance of the restaurants, the bars and the boat pier, and Cloud 9 a few minutes north for anyone here to surf. Most travellers give Siargao 4 nights on Stippl, and the week-long stays that make this island are what its guesthouses price for.
General Luna
€12–120
Hostels, guesthouses and beachfront resorts along Tourism Road, €9 to €120 a night.
Cloud 9
€20–150
Surf camps, guesthouses and a few resorts by the break, €15 to €90 a night.
Dapa
€10–40
Pensions and the cheapest rooms by the port, €10 to €30 a night.
Pacifico
€15–70
A handful of surf lodges and guesthouses on the north-east beach, €20 to €70 a night.
Del Carmen
A couple of guesthouses near the airport, €15 to €40 a night.
Alegria and the north
Almost nothing, a homestay or two, €15 to €35 a night.
What to eat in Siargao
raw fish cured in vinegar and kalamansi, the Visayan ceviche
whole fish over charcoal
grilled meat or fish, Cebuano-style
fruit, granola and yoghurt, the surf-town breakfast
meat braised in soy, vinegar and garlic
young coconut, drunk from the shell
spit-roasted chicken sold from roadside stalls
shaved ice with beans, jellies and ube
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Siargao customs and what not to do
The island polices itself
The General Luna government issues formal reminders to visitors about behaviour, and the island's reputation is something it defends in public.
The plastic ban is real
Bamboo straws, bottle-collection bins used by locals and visitors alike, and a set of environmental programmes the tourist areas enforce.
Smoking is zoned
Restricted to designated areas in the tourist zones, and the fines are posted rather than theoretical.
Tip the children at the swings
The rope swings run on local children and tips, and the etiquette is to pay them a few coins before you leave.
Surigaonon and Cebuano first
English works throughout the island, and the local languages come before Tagalog in the villages.
The typhoon is recent
The island was flattened in a December storm a few years ago and rebuilt itself; Cloud 9's tower is the visible exception.
Do
- Take the morning flight into Sayak
- Rent a helmet separately from the scooter; they are not included
- Check the tide before riding to Magpupungko
- Carry small notes; every stop charges a small fee
- Give the island four nights minimum, and more if you can
Don't
- Plan a trip around surfing Cloud 9 without checking the reconstruction
- Surf Cloud 9 as a beginner; it breaks over shallow reef
- Assume December to February is dry; it is the wettest time of the year
- Count on wifi or a cash machine outside General Luna and Dapa
- Ride the north in a day; it is three hours each way
What a Siargao trip costs
Budget
€28–40
A General Luna hostel, local food, a shared scooter and the island-hopping tour.
Mid-range
€50–60
A beachfront double, a scooter to yourself and restaurant dinners.
High-end
€60–75
A resort, a private boat, surf lessons and the good restaurants.
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Fun facts about Siargao
The Siargao protected area covers 278,914 hectares across 48 islands. The largest protected landscape and seascape in the Philippines, and about three-quarters of it is sea.
Del Carmen on Siargao holds the largest continuous mangrove forest in the country. Roughly 4,871 hectares of it, and the boats to Sugba Lagoon thread through it on the way.
Cloud 9 on Siargao hosts the WSL Championship Tour from 31 October 2026. The first Championship Tour event ever held in the Philippines, and the reason the tower is being rebuilt.
Cloud 9 can produce barrels of up to six metres. One of the heaviest waves in Southeast Asia, which is why beginners are sent to Jacking Horse next door.
There are no traffic lights anywhere on Siargao, not one. The habal-habal motorbike taxi is how the villages connect, and the coconut roads are the main road.
18.8% of stops in Siargao on Stippl run seven nights or more. The highest share of any Philippine destination, on an island most people reach last.
Local tips for Siargao
Almost everyone flies
Direct flights from Cebu in an hour and Manila in two into Sayak, and the ferry from Cebu takes about twelve hours and is indirect.
The airport is an hour away
Sayak is at Del Carmen on the west side, and the van to General Luna takes most of an hour, which surprises people who booked a beach hotel.
Helmets are hired separately
Every rental is a scooter, helmets are not in the price and are in short supply, so the helmet is asked for before the bike is chosen.
The reef is the hazard
Cloud 9 breaks over shallow coral and is not a beginner wave; the record and the sources both send first-timers to Jacking Horse or Tuason.
The scooter is the other one
Long distances, mixed surfaces, few helmets and a licence requirement that is checked, on an island with no traffic lights.
Placed last, for a reason
12.9% of the Stippl trips Siargao appears on end here and only 2.2% start here, because the flight home leaves from Sayak.
Siargao questions, answered
No, and four is the floor: most travellers give Siargao 4 nights on Stippl and 18.8% of stops run seven or more, the highest share in the country, because the roads, the boat, the lagoon and the surf each want a day and the north alone is a three-hour ride.
Not as this is written. The boardwalk and the tower are being rebuilt for the world-tour event this autumn, the first Championship Tour stop ever held in the Philippines, and the beginner breaks at Jacking Horse and Tuason are open throughout. Check before planning a trip around the wave itself.
No. It breaks over shallow coral and can produce barrels of up to six metres, one of the heaviest waves in Southeast Asia, so the schools take first lessons at Jacking Horse beside it, on small waves over sand, and Tuason is the next step up.
Because the Philippine dry season says so, and Siargao's rain runs backwards: January (17.6%, n = 2,423), index 1.00 is the busiest month on Stippl and the wettest month of the year here, while June (3.1%, n = 430), index 0.89 is the quietest and among the driest. April to September is the weather, August to November the surf.
Last. 12.9% of the trips it appears on close here, of everyone who plans Siargao on Stippl, because the flight home leaves from Sayak via Cebu or Manila. Put it into Stippl as the last four nights, then ask people who did the same in subreddits like r/Philippines whether they wished they had stayed longer.
Effectively yes, unless the plan is to stay inside General Luna. The coconut roads, the rock pools and Pacifico all need one, helmets are hired separately and are scarce, the licence is checked, and the boats for the islands and the lagoon leave from the General Luna pier and Del Carmen.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Siargao in Stippl
Day-by-day planning, stays and budget in one app, with every place from this guide already on the map.
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