Backpacking Siquijor
Siquijor has a reputation in the Philippines that has nothing to do with beaches. It is the island of the healers: a place with a centuries old association with folk medicine, herbal cures and, depending on who you ask, magic. Plenty of Filipinos would rather not visit.
Which is precisely why it is so good. Siquijor is quiet in a way the rest of the country is not, and it is built for exactly one thing: renting a scooter and riding the 102 kilometre ring road that goes all the way round it, stopping at whatever you feel like.
What is on that road: Cambugahay Falls, three tiers of blue water with rope swings over them; a four hundred year old balete tree with a spring under it full of fish that clean your feet; Paliton Beach for the sunset; and a cliff at Salagdoong with a diving platform on it. Two to three days, €18 a day, and a scooter for €6.
Why Siquijor is popular with backpackers
- A 102 kilometre ring road with everything on it, and a scooter for €6
- Cambugahay Falls: three tiers of blue water and a rope swing
- A four hundred year old balete tree with fish that clean your feet
- Paliton Beach at sunset, and Tubod for snorkelling straight off the sand
- Salagdoong, where the cliff has a diving platform bolted onto it
- The cheapest island on this route at €18 a day
- Quiet, because a lot of Filipinos are wary of the place
Best time to visit Siquijor
In the Visayas but just off the busiest typhoon track. Warm all year, with a clearly drier first half.
Worth knowing: the waterfalls run on the rain. In April and May Cambugahay is a lot smaller than the photographs, and in the wet season it is at full force. The sea is calmest in the dry season, so pick which one you care about.
Backpacker budget: around €18 a day
- €6hostel bed
- €2local meal
- €1.20beer
- €6scooter for the day
Guide prices from our own days in Siquijor. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best area for backpackers
San Juan
San Juan on the west coast is where nearly everything is: the hostels, the restaurants, the beach bars and the scooter hire. It also faces west, which is why Paliton and the sunsets are here.
From San Juan the ring road goes both ways, so nothing on the island is more than about an hour away.
Good to know about this area
- Nearly every hostel and scooter rental on the island is here
- Faces west, so the sunsets happen in front of you
- Paliton Beach and Tubod Marine Sanctuary are both just along the coast
- Scooters from about €6 a day, and that is how you do this island
- Cash machines only in San Juan and Larena, so take money out here
- Quiet after about ten, because the island is quiet
Best hostels in Siquijor
All in or near San Juan, and all small: this is not an island with big places on it.
Fable Hostel
The most popular hostel on Siquijor, and rated 9.8 across six hundred stays, which is about as good as these numbers get. Social, modern and close to the San Juan beaches.
If you want to meet people and find someone to ride the ring road with, this is where.
Monkey Business Bungalows
Bungalows rather than dorms, tucked between the trees and the coast. Relaxed, small and a good deal quieter than a hostel common room.
Wonderland
A tropical garden setting, centrally placed, and well liked by the people who stay in it. Easy base for the whole island.
Best things to do in Siquijor
One ring road, and everything on it. Rent a scooter on your first morning and the island sorts itself out.
The island in one day
If you would rather not ride, the whole island fits into a guided day: the waterfall, the balete tree, the beaches and the viewpoints, with somebody who knows which order avoids the crowds.
A good option on your first day, and then you can go back to the two places you liked.
Cambugahay Falls
Three tiers of blue green water down a limestone staircase, with rope swings and a bamboo raft on the middle pool. Getting there is 135 steps down, which also means 135 steps back up.
Be there before nine. From about half past the tour vans arrive and the queue for the swing starts.
The Old Enchanted Balete Tree
A balete around four hundred years old, with a spring running out from under its roots into a stone pool. The pool is full of small fish that will clean your feet if you sit on the edge and let them, which tickles considerably more than you expect.
Twenty cents, and the most photographed spot on the island after the waterfall.
Riding the ring road
The point of Siquijor. One surfaced road, 102 kilometres, all the way round, with the sea on one side for most of it and everything worth stopping at signposted off it.
A scooter is about €6 a day, and a full lap with stops takes a day. Helmet on, and check what your travel insurance actually says about riding before you take the key.
Salagdoong Beach
The east coast, about an hour round the ring road, and the one people go to jump. Two platforms bolted to the cliff at roughly five and ten metres, over clear water in a small cove.
Look over the edge and watch somebody else go first. Depth changes with the tide and nobody is checking it for you.
Paliton Beach
Usually called the best beach on Siquijor: white sand, palms leaning over the water, and a west facing bay a few minutes from San Juan.
Come at sunset. That is the whole reason, and it is free.
Tubod Marine Sanctuary
Next door to Paliton, and a protected reef that starts close enough to shore that you can swim to it. Good coral, plenty of fish, and about fifty cents to get in.
The easiest snorkelling on the island, with no boat involved.
Lugnason Falls
The quiet waterfall. Ten minutes on foot from the road, a proper pool at the bottom, and a fraction of the people who are at Cambugahay.
Forty cents, and often you have it to yourself.
How to plan your days in Siquijor
The ring road is 102 kilometres and everything is on it. Pick how long you have.
Round the ring road. Cambugahay Falls with the rope swings, the four hundred year old balete tree with the fish that clean your feet, and Salagdoong Beach with its diving platform.
Tonight: sunset at Paliton Beach, the best known beach on the island.
Beaches and snorkelling. Tubod Marine Sanctuary has good coral close to shore. Further round are Kagusuan Beach and Lugnason Falls, where almost nobody goes.
Tonight: dinner in San Juan, where the hostels are.
Bandilaan, or the healers. Climb Mount Bandilaan, the highest point on the island, or visit one of the traditional healers in the hills around San Antonio.
Tonight: ferry to Dumaguete or Bohol.
Food and drink in Siquijor
Small and rural. You eat at your hostel, at a karinderia in a village, or at one of the places along the coast road, and most of the choice is in San Juan.
Outside San Juan a full plate costs about a euro: you point at what is in the pots and it comes with rice. It is not a food destination and it is very cheap, which on an island where you are riding all day is the right trade.
Getting there and onward
Siquijor is ferry only, usually from Dumaguete on Negros. There is also a boat from Bohol, less often.
Getting there. The fast boat from Dumaguete takes an hour and runs several times a day. From Bohol it is about two hours with fewer departures.
On the island. The ring road is 102 kilometres and well surfaced. A scooter is about €6 a day and it is genuinely the way to do this place.
Onward. Back through Dumaguete for Cebu and Moalboal, or straight across to Bohol. Dumaguete also has an airport with flights to Manila.
- Fast boatDumaguete 1 hr · Bohol 2 hrs
- ScooterFrom about €6 a day, and a 102 km loop
- TricycleFor short hops, from about €0.50
- PlaneVia Dumaguete to Manila and Cebu
- OnwardVia Dumaguete to Cebu and Moalboal
Staying safe in Siquijor
One of the quietest and safest islands in the Philippines. The only real risks are the scooter and the jumps.
- Photograph your scooter before you set off round the ring road
- Check how deep it is at Cambugahay before you use the swing
- Take water and sunscreen. There is not much shade on the loop
- Take cash out in Larena or San Juan. There are no machines elsewhere
- Jump off the platform at Salagdoong without checking the depth first
- Ride the ring road fast after dark. There are dogs and goats on it
- Go down the waterfall steps in flip flops. They are wet and slick
- Laugh about the healers and the magic. It is taken seriously here
Rebels on the Road tip
Nearly everybody rides out to Cambugahay Falls and then turns round and comes back to San Juan, which is half an island. Do the whole lap instead, anticlockwise, and go slowly on the east side between Maria and Enrique Villanueva. There is almost nothing there: a few villages, empty coves you can stop at without paying anyone, and viewpoints over the water with no sign on them. That stretch has no attractions at all, and it is the part of Siquijor people describe afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Siquijor?
Two to three. One for the ring road and the waterfall, one for the beaches and snorkelling, and a third if you want the highest point or a slower version of the same. Plenty of people end up staying longer.
Why is Siquijor called the island of healers?
It has a long standing reputation across the Philippines for traditional healers, herbal medicine and folk magic, and some Filipinos avoid it for exactly that reason. Today it is mostly culture and folklore, the healers are real people who still practise, and it is treated respectfully here.
Where should I stay?
San Juan on the west coast. That is where the hostels, restaurants and scooter hire are, and where the sunsets happen.
Do I need a scooter?
Effectively yes. The island is a 102 kilometre loop with everything along it, and a scooter is about €6 a day. Without one you are relying on tricycles and a guided tour, which works but costs more and sees less.
Is Siquijor expensive?
No, it is the cheapest stop on our Philippines route. About €18 a day covers a bed, three meals and the scooter. The entry fees to the waterfalls and beaches are all under a euro.
How do I get to Siquijor?
Fast boat from Dumaguete on Negros, one hour, several departures a day. There is also a boat from Bohol, about two hours, with fewer sailings.
Is there a cash machine on Siquijor?
In San Juan and Larena, and nowhere else. Take out what you need before you ride off round the island, because the villages are cash only and there is nothing to draw from.
When is the best time to visit Siquijor?
January to May for the calmest sea and the best riding weather. If the waterfalls are what you came for, the wet season has them at full strength and April and May have them at their smallest.
