Siargao is 437 square kilometres of flat island with coconut palms all the way to the horizon, and you can easily plan more into four days than will ever fit. You do not need to do all of it. This is the place where backpackers throw their schedule away, and that gets a lot easier when you know beforehand what you really want to see.
A few things simply belong on the list: a morning in the water, a day on a boat and at least one day where all you do is ride. Others look great in photos and take half a day and around €15, so you add those when you have time left over next to a ride along the empty coast road. Choosing ahead gets you more here than booking an extra night.
So where do your Siargao days go, and what do you save for next time?
Still planning? How many days you need, where to sleep and how to get there is all on our Siargao page.
The scooter ride north
This is our favourite thing on Siargao, and it is also the part most visitors never get to. Most people stay between General Luna, Cloud 9 and the island tours, while the road north towards Pacifico and Alegria shows you the island as it was before the hostels arrived: roads lined with coconut palms, empty beaches and small fishing villages that barely see a tourist.
A scooter costs about €7 a day and you need the whole day, because the ride to Pacifico alone is about an hour and a half. The main roads are fine and the side roads a lot less so, so helmet on and take it slowly. At Pacifico Beach you can swim for free and surf without the Cloud 9 crowds, and beyond that there is not much more than beach.
Take photos of your scooter before you ride off, and make sure you are back before dark. There is no lighting on that road north, and you notice it straight away.
Our verdict: this is what we come back for
The Tri-Island Tour
Naked Island, Daku Island and Guyam Island in one day, and there is a reason it is the best known activity on the island. Naked is a sandbar without a single tree, Daku is a palm island with a real village on it, and Guyam is a little green dot in the sea. The contrast between those three in one day is exactly why it works.
It takes a full day and the boats leave from General Luna, where almost every tour starts. For a lot of travellers this is the highlight of their time on Siargao.
Bring plenty of water and sunscreen. There is no shade at all on Naked Island, and that is exactly where the boat stays longest.
Our verdict: absolutely, even if island hopping is not usually your thing
Sugba Lagoon
A lagoon among the mangroves with clear green water, jumping platforms and paddleboards. It is the most beautiful natural spot on the island and it feels completely different from the rest of Siargao: no waves, no wind, just still water between the trees.
Count on a full day. From General Luna it is about an hour and a half by road plus half an hour by boat, and entry and boat together come to about €15. A paddleboard or kayak is usually included, so there is nothing extra to hire once you are there.
Leave early. Set off after ten and you spend most of the day on the scooter and hardly any of it in the water.
Our verdict: a must, but give it a full day
Surfing at Cloud 9
Cloud 9 is the best known surf break in the Philippines and the reason the world knows Siargao. The wave breaks over shallow reef, which makes it spectacular to watch and pretty unforgiving to learn on. Even if you do not surf yourself, this is one of the best places on the island.
A surf lesson costs about €12 an hour including the board, and hiring just a board is cheaper. The biggest waves come between August and November, right in typhoon season. If you are a beginner, take your lesson a little further along at Jacking Horse or Quicksilver.
Wear reef shoes if you have to walk over the reef, because it cuts. And never stand on coral, not even for a moment to rest.
Our verdict: go for it, but start on the right wave
Magpupungko Rock Pools
At low tide the water drains away here and natural swimming pools appear between the rocks, turquoise and deep enough to jump into. It is the most photogenic spot on Siargao, and unlike most places like that, it lives up to the photos.
Entry is about €1.50 and it is an hour’s ride from General Luna. Combine it with your day up north, because you are already on the scooter and in the same corner of the island.
It all depends on the tide table. Check it before you set off, because at high tide the pools are just sea and you have ridden an hour for nothing.
Our verdict: absolutely, but only at low tide
Sunset from the Cloud 9 boardwalk
From about an hour before sunset the wooden boardwalk at Cloud 9 fills up, and it stays that way until the light is gone. Below you the waves roll in with the last surfers on them, in front of you the open sea. It is one of the best sunsets in the Philippines and it costs you nothing.
There is nothing to organise: ride over, find a spot on the planks and stay put. It is a short hop from General Luna, because Cloud 9 is just up the road from town.
Do not do this once, do it every evening you can. Every sky is different, and it quietly becomes the rhythm of your days here.
Our verdict: free, and good all over again every evening
Secret Beach
A hidden little beach that still pulls relatively few visitors, and you notice that as soon as you get there: quiet, green and usually almost empty. Had enough of boats and tours? This is the antidote.
It costs nothing and you reach it by a short path off the road that is easy to miss, so keep an eye on where you are. Come at low tide, when there is a lot more beach.
Bring your own water and something to eat. There is nothing here, and that is exactly the point.
Our verdict: a lovely extra if you have more than three days
Got time to spare on Siargao?
The Tri-Island Tour in its basic version
The Tri-Island Tour past Naked, Daku and Guyam is well worth it, and you can also book it with drone footage and a mermaid tail thrown in. That extended version reviews a bit lower than most of what you can book on Siargao, and you visit the same three islands either way. The regular tour does the job just as well, because Naked Island looks stunning without a costume.
Your first surf lesson on the right wave
Cloud 9 is the island’s best known wave and breaks over shallow reef, so it is one for experienced surfers. Take your lesson at Jacking Horse or Quicksilver, where the wave is gentle and the bottom is sand, and come and watch Cloud 9 from the boardwalk. That is the best hour of your day anyway.
Magpupungko at low water
The Magpupungko rock pools are spectacular, but only at low tide: at high tide they are underwater. Check the tide table before you leave, which takes two minutes and decides your whole day. Get it right and you are swimming in a natural pool of turquoise water between the rocks.
Siargao from November to February
These are the wettest months, with wind and regular showers. Prices are at their lowest and the island is lovely and quiet, so if these are the only months you can do, it works fine. Surfers still get the big swell of the surf season in November. If you can choose, go between May and October, and in typhoon season remember that flights get cancelled.
Our top five on Siargao
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- The scooter ride north, towards Pacifico and Alegria
- The Tri-Island Tour: Naked, Daku and Guyam in one day
- Sugba Lagoon, with a full day set aside for it
- Surfing, at Jacking Horse as a beginner and at Cloud 9 once you can
- The Magpupungko Rock Pools at low tide
Still got time after that? Find Secret Beach for an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing. And however many days you have, end every one of them on the boardwalk at Cloud 9, because it costs nothing and it is different every evening.
So what do you really have to do on Siargao?
Honestly? Nothing on this list is compulsory. Siargao is an island where the rhythm of the waves matters more than your plans: if Cloud 9 is flat, you just ride on north. So keep at least one day completely empty, because that is the day you will get the most out of this place.
If we had to pick just one thing, it is the scooter. Ride out on a random morning with nowhere in mind, turn off where the road gets narrower and stop at the first beach with nobody on it. That costs you €7 for the whole day, and it is the bit of Siargao you will still be telling people about a year from now.
And keep your last evening free. Make sure you are on the Cloud 9 boardwalk in time, watch the last surfers and stay until it is dark. Then eat for a few euros in General Luna, and you will understand why so many backpackers change their flights here.
