Category: travel tips

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Siargao Tour: 4 Days 3 Nights Sample Itinerary

Since the pandemic hit the country, we stopped offering one of the most requested packages on Siargao Island Hopping: the 4 days 3 nights (4D 3N) package. The reason is that a lot of changes in Siargao’s local tourism policies affected the group of destinations we used to package together.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Siargao by creating your own itinerary. Here’s a sample itinerary you can follow. Feel free to mix and match, or customize to your liking. On a ‘chill scale’ of 1-5, 5 being the most chill – we’d rate this as 4.

Day 1:

  • Arrival at Siargao Island. Most guests stay in General Luna, the center of activities like island hopping and where most restaurants and bars are.
  • Hotel check-in
  • Soak in the island vibe. No rush in doing any major activity. Just explore the area, try a couple of restaurants or have snacks and drinks while watching the sunset.

Day 2:

  • Try surfing in Cloud 9, especially early in the morning
  • Island hopping tour. You can book our “tri-island tour” where you can explore the surrounding islands and beaches namely, Naked Island, Daku Island, and Guyam Island.

Day 3:

Day 4:

  • Free time for shopping or any other activities of your choice. You can bike around and stop by the stores to buy some souvenirs. There are also activites like yoga, shooting range, boxing. And of course, who says you can’t surf one more time before leaving Siargao, right?
  • Departure from Siargao Island.

Got questions about the tour packages we offer? Feel free to chat with us on Messenger or call us on mobile.

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Siargao Island Hopping Tour Advisory in Light of COVID-19 Situation

Siargao-Island-Tour-Advisory-COVID19

It’s business as usual at SiargaoIslandHopping.com and we’re still accepting bookings for our Siargao Tour Packages especially for areas not affected by the travel ban in Metro Manila. There are, however, some measures we will be proactively taking to contribute to the national efforts to avoid the spread of the virus.

  • We highly discourage boodle fight lunch setup for our joiners guests. We will ask for everyone’s consent, and if a single guest does not approve, then we will have the plated setup instead.
  • For those who are showing symptoms of corona virus, we encourage you to just cancel your tour and Siargao Island Hopping will provide full refund. Please see your doctor and cooperate in their contact-tracing efforts.
  • Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. We can’t stress this enough in these trying times. Always have your little bottle of alcohol and also wash your hands upon entering your hotel / hostel room after your tour.
  • We encourage online transactions to reduce social contact. Siargao Island Hopping provides a 100% online tour booking system including payment methods. For inquiries, we also encourage you to use our FB Messenger which is found at the bottom right section of our website.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone!

SiargaoIslandHopping.com

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Enjoy the Sunset at Naked Island in Siargao

Naked Island Sunset

Looking for the best view of the sunset in Siargao? By default, most would recommend Guyam Island — the last stop on our Tri-Island Tour.

But did you know that Naked Island also has beautiful, unobstructed view of it? As sunset chasers, we’d guess you’d really want to check it out for yourselves. For starters, you might want to see the photos below, taken around 5 pm in Naked Island.

Friends enjoying the view of the sunset at Naked Island, Siargao
Friends enjoying the view of the sunset at Naked Island, Siargao

Just a tip: because the island doesn’t have any shade –that’s why it’s called “naked” in the first place — we suggest you go there when the sun’s heat begins to mellow. That’s about quarter to 5 pm including the travel time it takes from Daku Island.

Pink skies after sunset at Naked Island in Siargao
Pink skies after sunset at Naked Island in Siargao

What do you think?

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Please Enjoy This Siargao Tour Video from Our Guest

This time, we let the video speak for the beauty and vibe of Siargao. Enjoy!

Need a quick look of what Siargao is like? Watch this 3-minute video created by our guest, @mikapaddy, during her stay in Siargao. đŸ™‚

You can follow her on Instagram, too.

And of course, should you need a Siargao Tour Package, feel free to reach us on e-mail, FB messenger, or SMS.

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A Couple of Things You Can Learn While in Siargao

things you can learn in Siargao

People come to Siargao not just for vacation but also to experience what the island has to offer: beautiful islets, wonderful waters, and adventure among others. Others simply to tick it off from their bucket list.

Those are the primary motivations but for some people, Siargao made them realize more than just that. Proof? A lot of city dwellers have moved to the island for good.

We think Siargao is more than just a vacation place. Below are some things vacationers might have realized on their sojourn.

You Can Slow Things Down

When asked how they would describe Siargao, most would normally say “surfing”. That’s what the island became known for in the first place. Others, however, primarily feel its chill vibe is its defining characteristic.

They come to Siargao to chill out and forget about life in the busy city. Here, you can can sit and watch the sunset or people surfing with the sunrise in the background, without any expectation on how the day would end.

Here you can find some restaurants with signs that say “If you’re in a hurry, please eat somewhere else” or something to that effect. More or less, it just means “don’t rush things.” Chill. 

That may sound a bit off or rude to a city dweller who is often in a rush — to catch the train or bus, or be on time in the office — but it just make sense if you try to adapt to the life on the island.

You can’t force locals your ways, and if you can’t, you are forced to let go of control. You learn to throw worries and anxieties out of the window, and begin to learn to savor and appreciate every moment you are on the island.

Letting Go of Expectations

Expectations are happiness killers. When you expect things and they don’t go your way, you get frustrated.

Siargao promises nothing, except its beautiful waters and warm people.

Prevalently, it’s a backpackers’ place where you can’t always expect 5-star hotel accommodations or high-end resorts. If you can find them and you’re willing to pay, then good for you.

A lot of the accommodations you’ll find, however, are hostels and nipa-styled shared spaces without air-conditioning units but visitors find them good enough. They don’t pay the cost of a 5-star accommodation, in any case.

You Can Live in the Moment

Just like any other vacation place, you cannot enjoy Siargao if you are always looking forward to the next thing that you are going to do. If you are always attending to whatever is preoccupying your mind.

When you are in a place but are just busy looking at your phone, you are not really there. If you seem to be watching the ocean but is actually thinking of something else, you are not really there.

You are virtually somewhere. You are physically present but mentally absent. You are not in the moment.

Those fleeting yet beautiful moments just passed by without you noticing them.

Tip: During tours, have your camera or phone with you but put it away after, and enjoy the rest of the moment.

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Be a Responsible Siargao Tourist

Help keep Siargao island clean. Be a responsible tourist.

Traveling is all fun and games until we realize that we have already destroyed the place we once used to enjoy.

That’s exactly what happened to a popular Philippine destination that was recently shut down by the government due to environmental concerns.

And who knows what’s next if we don’t take care of our own natural resources.

We don’t want the same fate to happen to Siargao.

garbage problem in siargao
Photo from naturekidsofsiargao.com

As much as we want to bring tourists to this lovely place, we also want to care for this paradise so that our future generation can also enjoy it.

So that the people in Siargao, many of whom depend on the place we call home, will also have a sustainable livelihood and a place that will stay clean and healthy for as long as everyone — Siargao natives and tourists alike — will care for it.

That’s why we encourage our guests visiting Siargao embrace the place like their own, and not just be a tourist who comes and goes — and leaves trash behind.

The Basics

Please don’t throw your trash anywhere

Trash is now becoming a problem in Siargao. Truth be told, behind the pristine beauty we see in Instagram posts, there is a whole field of garbage coming from establishments and individual tourists alike. Nobody would post that, of course.

The problem is that Siargao government doesn’t have a proper waste management program yet.

We are entering a phase of development brought by the influx of tourists, and we have yet to cope with this surge of growth.

We hope it is not too much to ask.

Pick up trash when you see it

Genuinely embracing Siargao like your own might need you to take it up a notch above simply properly disposing your trash.

If they see pieces of trash on the beach, the people of Siargao, especially bangkeros and surfers, would pick them up and won’t let them float around just like that. After all, they spend a lot of time in the water…the last thing they want is to swim or surf in trash.

There is also a local initiative for beach clean up led by Grom Nation. You may contact them on their website for the next schedule of their beach clean up.

At SiargaoIslandHopping.com, we make it a part of our mission to instill in our guests that kind of care for the place they enjoy.

Best Practices

Bring your own tumblers

Let’s not add to the growing field of plastic garbage in Siargao.

As tourists, you can help a lot by simply bringing your own tumbler rather than buying bottled water each time you run out of water.

Besides, it’s not just environment-friendly…it’s also more economical.

Have a tote bag for island hopping

Most people use plastic bags to carry food such as chips, which are also stored in plastic.

Problem is plastic bags often get left behind when there’s no more food to bring back to where they stay.

Instead of plastic bags, get a tote bag for all that stuff you need to carry to your island tour.

Straw is unnecessary

Straw is great when you need to drink during a bumpy ride.

But that’s hardly the case when you’re dining in a restaurant, or carinderia.

You can drink it from a glass. The waiter doesn’t need to put straw in your drink.