The Best Things To Do In Siargao For The Perfect 2 Weeks
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THE PERFECT 2 WEEK ITINERARY IN SIARGAO
We visited this beautiful island in the Philippines last year and immediately fell head over heals in love with it. Seriously, this magical place is one of our favourite places in the whole entire world right now (along with Bali, duh). It’s so full to the brim of stunning, untouched nature and the people are so incredibly friendly and happy (like children running after us on our scooter to say hello friendly). The food is DELICIOUS and we loved the simple island vibes that were breathed into everything there. We split our time between General Luna and Cloud 9 (and seriously, even those names!) but they’re so closely linked you could easily just settle in one and explore the island daily that way. We liked both places for different reasons and will detail the other beaches and parts of the island we discovered for you, along with the best places to eat, below.
We went in March and the weather was great (even though it’s supposed to be rainy season)! Read on to find out our travel guide for the perfect 2 week Siargao itinerary:
Contents in the blog post
The Best Places To Stay In Siargao
the best place TO STAY in siargao
You’ll arrive in Siargao at the smallest airport we’ve ever seen in the south of the island, most likely with the super cute Cebu Pacific- they gave us umbrellas to walk to the plane when we were leaving because it was raining and then waved the plane off until we were out of sight like your favourite grandparents :) Then it’s about 45 minute’s bumby drive in one of the many vans waiting outside for about £3 to one of the main towns, General Luna.
General Luna
We loved General Luna for it’s boho hubbub and concentration of beach shacks and uber cool shops. We personally found the shops a bit overpriced at times but absolutely LOVED browsing through them for inspiration (and still picked up a few key pieces here and there of course!). We also really liked how eco-conscious they were, and the whole of Siargao in general is. We recommend you hire a scooter as soon as you arrive (roughly £4 a day, your accommodation will most likely have some).
Also bear in mind that there is ONLY ONE ATM and it is frequently out of cash. If this happens to you, like it did to us many times, you can take out some cash at Ronaldos Restaurant on the main road for a small fee at certain times of the day. We recommend you withdrawal all of the money you’ll need for your trip before arriving to Siargao as it will save you a lot of time and energy in the long run. There’s also an ATM at the airport so get as much as you can from this one before leaving in the van.
Our favourite beach here was the spot just in front of Bravo’s beach bar. It’s also really cool to explore the tiny local town and wander around the pier for an afternoon.
We stayed at the super simple but cute homestay, Lukay Resort. The owner is so friendly and we spent a lot of time enjoying our chats with everyone at the outdoor kitchen table. It was also really handy for us to be opposite Kermit’s Surf Resort. We took lessons with them which was AWESOME. Their instructors are so helpful and friendly. They took us to a secret beach which was so beautiful and great for beginner-intermediate waves (and really picturesque to get to). We recommend going to Kermit’s anyway even if you don’t want surf lessons because the food is really delicious and the restaurant itself is super cool (eating with my feet in the sand wins me over every time!)- do yourself a favour and try the pancakes, you can thank us later ;)
Cloud 9
About half an hour’s scooter ride from General Luna is Cloud 9. We considered this General Luna’s smaller, younger sister. It’s the place to be for surfing, make sure you go to the left (Jacking Horse) if you’re a beginner. This is where you might have seen the famous pier shot (which you have to pay a small fee to get on to). This is a really cool beach to people watch on because it’s vibier than the ones in General Luna.
Again, we stayed at a simple, local homestay, and actually really loved being here because it was so out in nature and REALLY local but it was a bit of a walk to get into Cloud 9 (we used our scooter) so you have to weigh up your options as to what’s important to you if you decide to stay here. Use this link to get £23 off your next Airbnb stay!
WHAT TO DO + The most beautiful beaches to visit
Our favourite beach was the low-key, quiet Pacifico. Slightly further south than the more famous Alegria, it’s got a couple of cute places to eat (read: literally 2) and a tiny but awesome surf shop. The beach itself has beautiful white sand with stunning baby blue, clean, crystal clear water that’s also DEEP so perfect for swimming and not just paddling (a big plus for us because a lot of the sea around General Luna and Cloud 9, and indeed South East Asia, whilst beautiful in the morning, is really low because of the tide in the afternoon).
Also worth bearing in mind, most of the beaches in Siargao are east-facing and so are best visited in the morning/early-afternoon if you want to catch up on your tan. By mid afternoon you’ll be in the shade from the palm trees. There’s one main road that goes all the way around Siargao island so it’s really easy to explore and find your way around to other places. We absolutely LOVED scootering around the island as the main road is really well kept and very empty so we always felt very safe.
Alegria is one of the most popular beaches outside of General Luna and Cloud 9. This is the furthest beach north of Siargao and there’s not really anywhere to eat around it so make sure to bring a packed lunch! As is common on our travels, we were caught out in the food department again haha but Sam managed to find a hotel that had an open restaurant about a 10 minute’s scooter ride away a little further north on the right (called Da Rosa Del Mar). The sand is also nice and white with beautiful blue water here too. The ride is quite long (1.5 hours one way) so be prepared with water and layers if you come back in the evening.
The coconut palm tree forest is, of course, a must-see. This is one of the largest coconut palm tree forests and Siargao has the second highest concentration of coconut palm trees in the world! They are seriously everywhere and it adds to the natural beauty and island-vibes. It’s about half an hour’s scooter ride from Cloud 9, you’ll know when you pass it on your right (also potentially because of people stopping on the platform to take pictures). There’s also a cafe on top of the hill here for some great views! We recommend going early in the morning or at golden hour to see it in it’s full glory.
Magpupungko rock pools was closed for eco-restoration when we were there but it looks super cool so definitely give it a visit!
Island hopping tour: Naked Island, Guyam and Daku Island. Normally, we don’t really like doing tours because we prefer to do things at our own pace. But we do recommend this tour simply because the traditional, local food you’ll be served is so goddamn delicious, it will be one of your highlights for that alone! We went with Bravo’s tours and they were really friendly. Also, it’s a really nice, easy way to see all 3 beautiful islands from Siargao without too much planning.
Guyam is a super cute tiny island (Guyam means “ant”), Naked Island is, of course, a naked sandbar as the name suggests, and Daku is similarly cute albeit quite touristy, you’ll finish your boat ride here and have your delicious, freshly cooked meal. This is where my OBSESSION for kinilaw (Filipino ceviche) stems from haha and I long for the days I can eat some again!
Again on the touristy front is the infamous palm tree river swing, which we do still recommend because it’s super fun and a good way to test your strength skills haha. It’s also a really beautiful setting. You’ll pay a small fee per person to get down there and then can stay as long as you like. This is on the left on the way to Pacifico, just off of Maasin bridge, about 30 minutes from General Luna.
Get a tattoo! Seriously, gone are the days of cheap tattoos in South East Asia (except maybe in Cambodia), but Siargao is a place where you can still get high quality, good tattoos for cheaper prices than you would find in Europe. We went with Chest Tattoo on the main road and are very pleased with the results!
The final thing we recommend to visit in Siargao is Sugba Lagoon. We actually ran out of time having too much fun so unfortunately missed this place but it looks absolutely stunning so definitely add it to your list to check out! You can book a tour via Kermit’s who offer transport, food, drinks and stand up paddle boards within the price.
THE most delicious PLACES TO EAT
Now we get to the crux of the matter, where are the best places to eat? Full disclosure, we absolutely LOVED the food in Siargao, we thought it was so yummy but a lot of people do struggle in the Philippines because it’s not historically known to be massively vegetarian/vegan friendly or have lots of variety. This IS changing however and the Philippines is slowly catching up with the likes of Bali say, but we think Siargao in particular is absolutely GREAT for food.
There’s loads of variety and veggie options but we also love local Filipino food, in fact, it’s our favourite cuisine in the whole of South East Asia! It’s super simple with a strong focus on delicious, fresh ingredients that speak for themselves without masking flavours with overbearing sauces.
Again, this is also part of why we so strongly suggest doing the island hopping tour even though it’s not something we normally advocate because the food they serve you is simply SO DELICIOUS! And one of the reasons we loved our friendly homestay in General Luna was because she hosted a homemade dinner for everyone one night too :)
Here’s a list of our top favourite places to eat in Siargao:
Miguel’s Taqueria, General Luna - we ate here more times than we care to admit haha it’s SO delicious and cheap! We loved it’s simple no frills vibe and focus on quick, great meals.
Ono Poke Shack, Cloud 9 - this is, to date, the BEST poke bowl we’ve ever had in our lives and still talk about it to this day.
Shaka Cafe, Cloud 9 - you may have heard about this place because it’s popping up all over the Philippines now, and with good reason! Again, their chocolate-peanut butter smoothie bowl is something we also still talk about to this day (haha can you tell we loved the food in Siargao yet?) It’s also the perfect setting to sit and eat your breakfast while looking out at the sea.
Boyum’s, General Luna - their grilled fish is SO good. It’s also in a nice, laid-back outdoor setting.
Corner Cafe, General Luna - I may have said this about a lot of food, but the waffles here are SO GOOD haha, again, we came here multiple times.
Lotus Shores Yoga Retreat (Kalima Cafe), General Luna - we recommend this place because it’s in the middle of nature and so really beautiful to get away a bit even though we thought the portions were a bit small. It’s also fully plant-based!
And, as mentioned above, Kermit’s has really great food too. Also, if you do happen to stay a bit further out in Cloud 9, we found a super local surf spot called CFC Restobar that serves basically just fried chicken, fish, chips and beer and it’s really good.
So there’s the roundup of our best things to do in Siargao for a perfect 2 week itinerary! We truly hope you manage to fit this tiny island into your Philippines travels because we really think the vibes there are so special, especially as it’s still relatively untouched compared to other parts of the Philippines, and South East Asia (even that too is quickly changing)!
If you’ve already been to Siargao, what else would you add? We can’t wait to go back one day, so make sure to let us know in the comments section below and we’ll add them to our list!
If you want to see more photos of Siargao then you’re in luck! We’ve created a gallery of beautiful photos full of highlights from our trip to this tropical Filipino island.
