🇵🇭 Siargao: surfing Cloud 9, Sugba Lagoon, Magpupungko and where to stay
Guide to Siargao: how to get there, where to stay in General Luna, surfing Cloud 9 and the beginner spots, the Tri-Island tour, Sugba Lagoon, Sohoton Cove, the Magpupungko rock pools at low tide and the northern beaches. Prices and how many days to stay.
Siargao is the island where surfers, backpackers, digital nomads and travellers after something different all end up together, among endless palm trees, waves for every level, emerald lagoons, empty islands, caves and jungle rivers. The vibe feels like Bali ten years ago, and the comparison isn't accidental: the push to turn it into "the new Bali" is obvious.
Luckily it hasn't been overrun the way the Indonesian island has, the infrastructure is simpler and the sea and the beaches are far better. What it lacks is the cultural and spiritual side Bali has, and the road it's taken is westernisation. But for now Siargao still manages to hold coolness and authenticity together, beach parties and nature, like few other places in the world. Even people who have never touched a board fall for it.
🗺️ How to get to Siargao
Siargao airport (IAO), in Del Carmen, has direct flights from Manila and Cebu with Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. From there it's 45 minutes by van to General Luna, around 300 PHP. Otherwise there's the ferry from Surigao City, about 2 hours, for anyone coming overland through Mindanao.
On the island everyone gets around by scooter, 350-500 PHP a day. Distances are long: General Luna and Pacifico are an hour apart.
📅 How many days to spend in Siargao
3-4 days minimum. One for the Tri-Island tour, one for Sugba Lagoon, one for Magpupungko and the north, one for surfing or doing absolutely nothing. Plenty of people turn up for four days and stay a month.
🛏️ Where to stay in Siargao
- General Luna: the most popular area, where the hotels, restaurants and bars are concentrated and where the tours leave from. Cloud 9 is right there. If it's your first trip, sleep here.
- Catangnan: five minutes from the centre, quieter but still close to the action, with hostels and resorts among the palms.
- Pacifico, in the north of the island: an hour from General Luna, for anyone who wants to disappear into nature or who's an experienced surfer.
🏄 Surfing in Siargao: Cloud 9 and the beginner spots
Siargao is the surf capital of the Philippines. Cloud 9, with its wooden boardwalk running out over the sea, is the most iconic spot: a powerful barrelling wave that pulls in pros from all over the world, especially between September and November, when the international competition is held.
If you're starting out there are gentler spots like Jacking Horse, right next to Cloud 9, and Daku Reef. Surf schools are everywhere in General Luna: a lesson with instructor and board costs 500-800 PHP (8.5-14 €). Wave season runs from August to November; from March to May the sea is calmer, ideal for learning.
🏝️ What to do in Siargao: tours and lagoons
Tri-Island tour: Daku, Guyam and Naked Island
One boat tour gets you three postcard islands: Naked Island, a sandbar without a single tree, Daku, the biggest one, with palms and huts for lunch, and Guyam, tiny and perfect. Blinding white sand and clear water. 1,500 PHP (24 €) with lunch.
Sugba Lagoon
One of the most beautiful settings in Siargao, and probably in the Philippines. An emerald lagoon ringed by forest-covered hills, with platforms to jump off, paddle boards and kayaks. You get there from Del Carmen on a 30-40 minute boat ride through the mangroves, or on a tour from General Luna, 1,500 PHP (24 €). Don't skip it.
Sohoton Cove
On Bucas Grande island, two hours by boat from Siargao. Deep green islets dropping straight into the water, a lagoon where you swim among thousands of harmless jellyfish, sea caves to pass through and natural diving boards. It's far and it's pricey, 3,500 PHP (60 €), but it's worth every peso.
🌊 Natural pools, rivers and beaches in Siargao
- Magpupungko Rock Pools: natural pools among the rocks at Pilar, with crystal-clear water and cliff jumps. They only exist at low tide: check the times before you set off, or all you'll find is waves.
- Maasin River: the river with the leaning palm tree everyone gets their photo on. Jump in and paddle a kayak through the palms.
- Secret Beach: a few minutes from General Luna. The beach itself is nothing special, but at sunset, with palms and mangroves all around, it's lovely. Rent a SUP and paddle into the vegetation.
- Pacifico Beach: in the north, far from everything, with a bar, a restaurant and surf lessons. The right place to spend hours on a near-empty beach.
- Pasikon Beach: a tiny private beach with an entrance fee of a few pesos, for a swim in turquoise water.
- Tayangban Cave Pool: a cave with a natural pool, explored on foot and swimming with the guide you'll find at the entrance.
- Beto Cold Spring: a cold spring with two pools, a shallow one to relax in and a deep one with a bamboo bridge, a jumping platform and a rope, where the local kids do somersaults all day long. You can rent kayaks and paddle down the river to the next village.
💡 Things to know before going to Siargao
- In December 2021 typhoon Odette flattened the island. It's been rebuilt almost everywhere now, but it's a reminder that Siargao sits on the Pacific: from November to February it rains more here than elsewhere in the Philippines. 👉 When to go to the Philippines
- On arrival you pay an environmental fee. Some municipalities charge another one for their own attractions (Del Carmen for Sugba, Pilar for Magpupungko).
- It's one of the pricier destinations in the country, with proper trendy-island prices. 👉 How much it costs to travel in the Philippines
- Few ATMs, and often empty at weekends: bring cash. 👉 Withdrawing money without fees
- On a scooter, always wear a helmet: the roads are good but there are checkpoints, and fines too.