Backpacking Siargao
Siargao is the surf island, and for a long time that was all it was: a reef break called Cloud 9 off the east coast, a boardwalk out to it, and a few hundred people who cared. Now it is one of the most popular stops in the Philippines and it has still not turned into a resort strip.
It is also the island that breaks the calendar. While the rest of the country is wet from June onwards, Siargao is driest from May to July and stays fairly dry into October, just as its best waves arrive, August to November. That means it works exactly when everywhere else on this route does not.
What you actually do here: rent a scooter on day one, take a surf lesson at a beginner break rather than Cloud 9, and spend the rest of it riding to lagoons, rock pools and beaches on a 437 square kilometre island with palm trees over every road. Four to five days, €22 a day.
Why Siargao is popular with backpackers
- Cloud 9, the best known surf break in the Philippines, with a boardwalk out to it
- Beginner breaks nearby, with a lesson for about €12 an hour
- An opposite season: driest May to July, still fairly dry through October, biggest waves August to November
- Sugba Lagoon, green water between limestone with a paddleboard on it
- Magpupungko rock pools, which only exist at low tide
- Palm lined roads that make the scooter the best part of the day
- A real island rather than a strip: 437 square kilometres of it
Best time to visit Siargao
Siargao runs on a different calendar from the rest of the country: dry here when it is wet elsewhere. It also sits squarely in the typhoon belt.
Siargao was flattened by typhoon Odette in December 2021 and has been rebuilt since. In typhoon season flights here are cancelled regularly, so always leave a spare day before anything you cannot miss.
Backpacker budget: around €22 a day
- €8hostel bed
- €3local meal
- €1.20beer
- €7scooter for the day
Guide prices from our own days in Siargao. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
General Luna
General Luna on the south east coast is where everybody stays. Hostels, cafes, surf shops, restaurants and beach bars, all within a few streets, and every island tour leaves from here.
Cloud 9 is a few minutes north with its boardwalk and tower, and the roads out to the rest of the island start from the same junction.
Good to know about this area
- Nearly every hostel, surf school and tour desk on the island is here
- Cloud 9 and its boardwalk are a few minutes up the coast
- Scooter hire from about €7 a day, and you will want one
- Good cafes and wifi, because a lot of people work from here
- Busy in the evening around the main strip, and quiet a street back
- Cash machines exist and run dry in high season
Best hostels in Siargao
All in or around General Luna, walking distance from the strip and a short ride from Cloud 9.
Mad Monkey Hostel Siargao
The big social one: organised activities, a busy bar and a constant flow of people. Nearly fifteen hundred reviews and a 9.7, which for a party hostel is unusual.
Easiest place on the island to find people to ride north with tomorrow.
Sunlit Hostel
Modern, calm and comfortable, and popular with the mix of surfers and people working from their laptops that Siargao attracts.
Hiraya Surf Hostel
The surf hostel, and the one that feels most like the island’s own scene. Relaxed, sociable, and full of people who are here for the waves.
Best things to do in Siargao
Surf, ride, and get on a boat once. In that order.
The three island tour
The standard day out: Naked Island, which is a bare sandbar with nothing on it at all, Daku Island for lunch under the palms, and Guyam, a tiny circle of sand and trees.
A full day on the water, and the easiest way to see why this island sits where it does.
Surfing at Cloud 9
The break that made Siargao famous: a hollow right hander over shallow reef, with a wooden boardwalk running out to a viewing tower above it. In September there is an international competition here.
It is not a beginner wave, and the reef underneath is the reason. Learn at one of the sandy bottomed breaks nearby for about €12 an hour, then come and watch Cloud 9 from the tower, which is free and worth doing anyway.
Sugba Lagoon
An hour and a half north and then half an hour by boat through mangroves into a lagoon of flat green water held between limestone, with a diving platform at one end and paddleboards and kayaks on the water.
A full day out, and the best single thing on the island that does not involve a surfboard.
Magpupungko rock pools
An hour up the east coast, and only there some of the time. At low tide the sea pulls back off a shelf of rock and leaves a set of deep natural pools behind, clear enough to see the bottom of, with a rock you can jump off into the biggest one.
Check the tide table before you ride out. At high water there is nothing to see at all.
A scooter day up the island
The thing people remember about Siargao. Roads with palms leaning over both sides, coconut plantations all the way to the horizon, and a coast road north with almost no traffic on it.
The main roads are good and the side roads are not, so take it gently and give yourself a full day.
Pacifico Beach
An hour and a half north, on the other side of the island, and a completely different pace: a long beach with a break on it, a few places to stay, and none of the General Luna crowd.
Surf without the queue, and the ride there is half the reason to go.
Secret Beach
A small cove reached by a short path off the road, easy to ride straight past, and still not busy. Best at low tide, when there is actually some sand.
How to plan your days in Siargao
Four to five days, and Siargao is the island people extend on more than any other. Pick how long you have.
General Luna and Cloud 9. Settle in, rent a scooter, and take the boardwalk out over Cloud 9 to watch the break from the tower. Book a beginner lesson for tomorrow.
Tonight: the strip in General Luna, which is where the island eats.
Learn to surf. A lesson at one of the sandy beginner breaks near town, about €12 an hour. Cloud 9 itself breaks over shallow reef and is not where you start.
Tonight: sunset with a beer, and an early one if you are surfing again.
Three islands, or Sugba Lagoon. Naked, Daku and Guyam in one boat day, or ride ninety minutes north and take the boat into Sugba Lagoon with a paddleboard.
Tonight: back in General Luna, tired and salty.
North on the scooter. Magpupungko rock pools at low tide, then carry on up to Pacifico Beach on the far coast. Palms over the road the entire way.
Tonight: flight out via Sayak, or one more night because you extended.
Food and drink in Siargao
Siargao eats better than an island this remote should. General Luna has a genuine cafe scene, built by the surfers and the people who came to work from here, plus Filipino places, grills and a night market.
Ten minutes out of town a karinderia does the same plate for a third of the price, and on the way north you will pass roadside stalls selling grilled fish and coconuts for almost nothing.
Getting there and onward
Siargao has its own airport at Sayak, about forty minutes from General Luna, and that is how nearly everybody arrives.
Getting there. Direct flights from Manila take about two hours, and there are connections from Cebu. A shared van from the airport to General Luna is a few euros.
On the island. A scooter, from about €7 a day. The island is 437 square kilometres and the good stuff is spread across all of it, so this is not optional in practice.
Onward. Flights back to Manila or Cebu. There is also a ferry to Surigao on Mindanao, which is slow and rarely the right answer.
- PlaneSayak airport, 2 hrs from Manila
- ScooterFrom about €7 a day, and you will want one
- Island tripNaked, Daku and Guyam, a full day
- Sugba Lagoon1.5 hrs north plus 30 minutes by boat
- TricycleAround General Luna, from about €1
Staying safe in Siargao
Safe and easy going. The two things that hurt people here are the reef and the roads, and both are avoidable.
- Learn at a sandy bottomed break. Cloud 9 is shallow reef and it cuts
- Check the tide table before riding out to Magpupungko
- Wear a helmet and shoes on the scooter. The side roads are rough
- Leave a spare day before a flight in typhoon season
- Paddle out at Cloud 9 on your first lesson, however tempting it looks
- Ride the coast road at night. There is no lighting and there are dogs
- Stand on coral at the reef breaks or in the lagoons
- Assume the cash machines have money in high season
Rebels on the Road tip
Everybody rides north to Magpupungko and everybody arrives at midday, which is often exactly when the tide is wrong and the pools are gone. Look the tide up the night before, aim to be there within an hour of low water, and leave General Luna at six. You get the pools at their deepest and clearest, the road north to yourself in the early light with the palms still wet, and you are back in town before lunch with the whole afternoon left. Nobody plans it that way, and it is the difference between a good day and a photo of some rocks.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Siargao?
Four to five. One to settle in, one to learn to surf, one on a boat and one or two on the scooter. This is the island people most often extend on, so leave room.
Can I learn to surf here?
Yes, and not at Cloud 9. There are sandy bottomed beginner breaks near General Luna where a lesson costs about €12 an hour. Cloud 9 breaks over shallow reef and is for people who can already surf.
When is the surf season?
August to November brings the biggest swell, which is also typhoon season. May to July is dry, calmer and better for learning and for island hopping.
Do I need a scooter?
In practice yes. Siargao is 437 square kilometres and the lagoon, the rock pools and the far coast are an hour or more apart. A scooter is about €7 a day and riding here is one of the best parts of it.
Is Siargao expensive?
About €22 a day, so slightly above the Visayas and below El Nido. The cafes in General Luna are where the budget goes, and ten minutes out of town the same food is a third of the price.
How do I get to Siargao?
Fly into Sayak, about two hours from Manila or a shorter hop from Cebu, then a shared van for forty minutes to General Luna. The ferry from Surigao exists and is slow.
Is Siargao still quiet?
Quieter than El Nido or Boracay, and no longer undiscovered. General Luna is busy and the rest of the island is not, which is exactly what the scooter is for.
When is the best time to visit Siargao?
May to July if you want dry weather, calm seas and gentle waves. August to November if you came to surf, with the understanding that it is also typhoon season, flights get cancelled and by November the rain is back.
