DIVE, EAT, SAIL AND EXPLORE THE SURFING CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES, SAYS LILLEDESHAN BOSE

As the country’s top surfing destination, Siargao, a landmass of about 437km on the northeast tip of Mindanao, has become a household name in the last two decades. Every surfer wannabe wants to catch the perfect wave at Cloud 9; its thick hollow tubes remain Siargao’s biggest attraction. So why even bother visiting the surfing capital of the Philippines if you’re not surfing? The question is, why not? Siargao, a tear drop-shaped island 800km southeast of Manila which is about three hours away from Surigao del Norte, is the antithesis of the term "tourist trap".

To get there, one can fly directly from Cebu via Cebu Pacific Airways. If you’re coming from Surigao, take a Ro-Ro or barge to Siargao (about PHP200). From the Dapa pier, hire a habalhabal motorcycle (about PHP200) to reach the Cloud 9 resorts. The island offers forest trails, waterfalls, rice fields and sandy, white beaches made to be explored. It is as unspoilt and beautiful as it is unpretentious and affordable. There are no discos, and you won’t find a sex on the beach cocktail here. While there isn’t an ATM machine in sight, many locations have Wi-Fi, and a few spots even take Visa or MasterCard. Here, the top reasons to visit Siargao beyond the waves.

DIVE

Hardly anybody visits Siargao for the scuba diving, but there’s plenty to see, if you’re not looking for big animals. (On the plus side, if sharks scare you, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be terrified in Siargao’s deep).

Scuba divers will find the usual reef fish and sea snakes in Siargao. Various spots around Tuason Point, Dako and Pansukian also have coral hills, Gorgonian formations, tunnels, towers and bridge coral. A recently discovered underwater cave right by Cloud 9 has made diving more interesting.

Likewise, snorkeling is pretty good around Tuason Point, Guyam and Dako Island because of the coral formations.

Siargao Divers Club Philippines has a monopoly on the island’s scuba diving; it’s the only dive shop in the area, located at General Luna. The cost of renting equipment starts at PHP500 per dive, and guided dives (without gear or boat costs) start at PHP1,800 each. Snorkeling gear can also be rented; prices start at PHP150. Siargao Divers Club Philippines also hosts three-to four-day dive safaris to Dinagat Island, located between Southern Leyte and Surigao del Norte. About two-and-a-half hours west of Siargao, there’s a plethora of unexplored underwater caves and pinnacles in Dinagat. Just log on to www.siargaodivers.com for more information.

EAT

In Siargao, there’s no way you can go wrong with seafood. Many guests on a budget purchase fresh, cheap fish at the General Luna market then ask the cooks in their resort’s kitchen to prepare it.

However, there’s also cosmopolitan fare to be had on the island. Fred Debacker and Pierre Zappavigna are two graphic designers who left the glitz of Paris to set up shop in Siargao. Their resort/ restaurant is called Kalinaw (www.kalinawresort.com), which fuses tropicalia and skater chic effortlessly. Their menu is as sophisticated as their cabins; with their Italian wood-fire oven they are able to bake authentic French bread and pizza like the Royal Kalinaw (PHP320). The medley of ham, mushrooms and mozzarella is topped with an egg the way it is prepared in France. They also serve the best — and possibly the only — espresso in Siargao (PHP50).

Sagana (www.cloud9surf.com), famous for its awesome seafood, serves unusual treats such as homemade fresh pappadelle pasta and Malaysian prawn laksa.

SAIL

If you’ve ever dreamt of being alone on a deserted, white-sand, pristine beach — no buildings, no loud music, no shell necklace vendors, no floating algae, no stepping on cigarette butts or plastic bottles — then Siargao is for you.

When surfers are paddling through wave after wave, this beach bum heaven is free of noise, trash and even other people. Renting an outrigger boat and exploring the islands starts at PHP600, depending on where you want to go — and how good you are at haggling.

Three islands are particularly popular: Guyam, with its palm trees, is a tiny island located across the lagoon. Dako, also popular for its surfing break, is the largest (its name is a Visayan word for large). About 300 residents live there without running water or electricity, but they do have cottages for guests to rent. Naked Island (also known as Pansukian) is actually a misnomer — it’s more of a 40-foot sand bar than an island. In fact, it’s a trip to watch waves from opposite directions meet in the middle of the ocean.

All three islands have beaches with blindingly white sand and clear blue waters, the textbook reference for turquoise. Pack an icebox with drinks and snacks, sunblock and a towel, and you can visit all three islands in a single day.

Beyond Dako, there are the rocky jungles of Janoyoy (rumored to harbor buried treasure!), La Janosa, Mamon and little Antokon, with their requisite crystal clear water and powdery white sand.

Make sure you reserve a whole day for a trip to Bucas Grande to visit Sohoton Cave. You can kayak into this marine reserve through a natural cave tunnel, and cliffs overhang the gorgeous setting.

Around Sohoton Caves, you’ll see bats, stalactites and rock oysters, pitcher plants, cycads and wild orchids, but the must-see is the jellyfish lake and rainforest canopy. To embark on your island-hopping adventure, arrange your boat trips through your resort.

EXPLORE

Siargao’s closest commercial hub is General Luna, but since most resorts cater to surfing folk, many accommodations are located near Cloud 9. It’s not difficult to cover Siargao’s land mass of 30km by 25km by jeep, or motorcycle; it only takes two hours to negotiate the distance from General Luna to Siargao’s northern tip, but it’s a bumpy ride. A full day trip around the island will cost around PHP3,000 for a jeepney rental; motorcycles cost about PHP600 a day. It’s also possible to pack visits to secret surfing spots, Tak Tak falls, the glorious stretches of white sand beaches at Pacifico, Burgos or Alegria north of Cloud 9 in a day. But it’s better still just to take it slow, the way the islanders do. Savor the nature of the island and see monitor lizards longer than people. Spot hornbills, black and yellow lorikeets, and blue kingfishers and just linger and laze.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

1 Tarsiers (small lemurs, virtually extinct in other places) still roam free in the Siargao forest.

2 Saltwater crocodiles exist in Siargao — it’s home to the largest mangrove forest reserves in Mindanao, at Del Carmen.

3 Siargao’s waves are famous for their height, because the island’s reefs face the Pacific, on the edge of the Philippine Trench so extremely deep offshore waters create powerful ocean swells when they hit the breaks.

4 Siargao is composed of 48 islands and islets politically divided into nine municipalities: Burgos, Dapa, Del Carmen, General Luna, Pilar, San Benito, San Isidro, Santa Monica, and Socorro.

5 Cloud 9 was named after the chocolate bar, which surfers kept in their shorts and ate for sustenance when there was no tourism to be found in Siargao.

6 The town General Luna was originally named Cabuntog; the municipality changed its name after the then mayor saw a photo of General Luna in Malacañang.