Your September 2017 Postcard from Norm: Exploring Siargao, the Philippines' best kept secret

If you’re a tourist thinking visiting the Philippines for the first time, you’ll probably end up in places like Boracay, Cebu, and Palawan. It’s no accident since those places are hot spots thanks to all of the blogs, articles, and word-of-mouth among travelers.
 
But for this month’s postcard, I want to tell you about the island of Siargao, which is one of the nicest places I’ve been anywhere in the world, and the Philippines’ best kept-secret.
 
My Filipino friends will chastise me for calling Siargao a “secret” at all, since it’s well-known here as the surfing capital of the country and an island paradise.
 
But for the rest of you, enjoy this little trip to Siargao!

Unlike many islands in the Philippines that require almost a whole day of travel to access, Siargao is actually easy to get to. I took a prop plane from Cebu to the main city on the island, Del Carmen, which was only 45 minutes and provided some spectacular views. (These photos above are not Siargao, which is a big island with a population of 100,000 residents.)

​From there, it was only an easy 1-hour van ride to General Luna, the coastal area where I stayed.

The food was pretty amazing, too, with plenty of local seafood, brick over pizza in a restaurant, Kermits, in the middle of the jungle, and fresh fruit smoothies just about every moment in between. 

Even with all of the natural beauty on Siargao, I found the people to be the island's greatest treasure. They truly embodied the island vibe, and everyone was friendly, smiling, and pleasant. Playing basketball with these kids on a white sand court was the most fun I've had in years! We all laughed so hard and had such a blast. (And my 3-pointer was FIRE!) 

But that doesn't mean there isn't poverty on the island, and things are hard for people. Too often, when tourist dollars start flowing in, they go to foreign owners or the few rich locals. But still, island poverty is way better than city poverty, and people seemed so content and happy.

It's always best to be polite to a fault to locals, show respect, and make local friends. You don't want to steal a wave from a local surfer or start talking to the wrong girl at a bar or you might end up getting stomped by 10 angry guys. It's the same fiercely protective localism that exists in just about every surfing town, village, island, or beach around the world. 

I loved waking up with the roosters at 4 or 5 AM and taking a walk around the little village center near where I was staying. 

The island hopping was also fantastic, with three really cool little islands (Naked Island, Daku Island, and Guyam Islands) only a short barka (local boat) ride away. Naked Island is completely uninhabited, a white sandbar with a comically small amount of vegetation in the middle. But my favorite was Guyam Island, which was only about the size of two football fields but featured a thick grove of palm trees and jungle on the interior and white sand beach around it. There is only one person living there, a caretaker who stays in a simple hut with no electricity.

Most people come to Siargao for the surfing, and it's famous for being the best surf spot in the Philippines. Just about everyone is carrying a board around and jumping in the ocean to catch some waves, and there are endless small breaks and beaches to surf around the island. But the most famous is Cloud 9 pictured here (also called Crowd 9!). Surfing or not, the walkway out to the the three-story observation building is breathtaking! 

I even rented a board and got out there one morning. Trying to get up on the bigger waves, I wiped out hard seven times in a row and was ready to give up and crawl back to my hotel and sit in a hammock instead. But when I moved over to the smaller waves, I got up seven times in a row! I still suck as a surfer, but it was fun and I'm glad I didn't give up. Now where's that hammock?

Island hopping, surfing, and hanging out on the beach are just a small sample of what you can do and see on the island. Siargao is actually pretty big, and I was fortunate to rent a habal habal (motorcycle taxi) with a cool driver who took me on a half-day tour. We went far into the interior, through rice fields, lush jungle, and cooler green mountains. He brought me to Magpupungko Beach, where at low tide I could swim and play in some INCREDIBLE rock pools. 

In all, it was an amazing visit to Siargao, so much so that on the plane ride home, I was contemplating moving there (won't work because their wi-fi sucks and I need it for work). But I'll definitely be back a couple times a year at least, and next April I'm planning on renting a nice house right on the beach there and letting any friends or visitors come hang out. 

Thank you, Siargao! You are truly the Philippines' best kept secret and one of the best places I've been in the world. 

-Norm  :-)