What to See and Do When in Siargao (4-Day Itinerary): Day 1 (lunch at Surfing Temple, sunset bridge, dinner at Kermit)

Siargao at last. My friend’s been bugging me to go Siargao for the longest time. Finally after so long, we made it!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Siargao, but I surprisingly enjoyed my time there. It’s different from Boracay (which was more party party party), and more akin to Coron – small town feels. But what I particularly liked about Siargao is the tight knit community feels. My friend joked that the island must be super small, because everywhere we went, it felt like we were seeing the exact same people.

Aside from the people though, I really enjoyed the food here! International cuisine abound, of great quality, and of surprisingly affordable prices – think QC levels. And activities-wise, there’s loads to do throughout the island! There’s the classic island hopping, underground cave trekking, rock pools, surfing (of course!), and many more.

If you’re worried that Siargao’s still in tatters post-Typhoon Odette, well it certainly isn’t back to 100% yet, but its charms remain intact and on the plus-side, there are less tourists to contend with, which I found very enjoyable. In many of our activities, it felt like we were the only ones on the island ❤️

What to bring to Siargao

Clothes for x days (if you’re there for 5 days, bring enough clothes for 10 days because MAN it is HUMID, and you will want to change mid-day)
Swimsuit, sunblock, and goggles
Smart pocket wifi
Cash or Gcash – because most establishments don’t accept credit card crie.

Siargao 4-Day Itinerary

Below I’ll be sharing our vetted itinerary, as well as where we stayed, what we did, how much we spent etc!

Arrive at Siargao

Depending on which flight you take from Manila, most flights will arrive in Siargao around noon or early afternoon. If you have to choose between Cebu Pacific or PAL, I recommend going with PAL. Their flights are more on-time typically compared to Cebu Pacific, plus their flights seem to be faster at 1.5hrs, compared to Cebu Pacific’s 2-2.5hrs.

No requirements now to enter Siargao – simply show your ID and your vaccination card, and that’s it. You’re good to go. Also, if your flight’s at Terminal 4, they don’t bother checking the weight of your bag if you’re checked in online. You simply get a boarding pass from the kiosk, and go straight to the boarding gate.

So super interesting, Siargao’s runway is quite short, at 1.4km, which is why only propeller planes can land. This is first time to try a propeller plane of this make (where you board from the back!!), and my seat was right by the propellers, which was pretty noisy. It does make me wonder how Siargao plans to expand to more foreign tourists if they don’t expand their runway and airport though. The Philippines really needs to invest in infrastructure…

Anyway, as soon as you land in Siargao, people start taking off their masks! Apparently, no one wears masks in Siargao. It’s pretty jarring… It feels like covid never landed on this island. Also, there’s a PHP 50 environmental fee to be paid upon landing

We were greeted at the airport by our hotel van (we booked through Kermit!). And from there, we were whisked to the hotel!

The roads from the airport to the touristy town area is surprisingly good. Very smooth ride! This is apparently because these highways are by the national government. The roads IN the actual town itself were rather bumpy though. Boo local government. I swear. Some LGUs aren’t forward-thinking at all. If they want more tourists, they need to fix the infrastructure!!! Hay.

Check-in at Kermit Hotel

Anyway, Kermit is one of the nicer hotels/resorts in the area. They’ve got a Surf Camp package which you can avail of (but I didn’t because I felt lazy to surf hehe), but I heard their Surf Camp is really good and can be tailored to your experience level (Beginner to Expert!)

Quick run-down of the hotel amenities itself:

Basic but clean rooms. We got the Deluxe Room, which has these beautiful high ceilings. Aircon is SUPER good. Such a savior in this humid place. I swear, every time I enter the room, I never want to leave. But in keeping with the Siargao vibe, expect no frills (aka no TV, no refrigerator, no weighing scales etc)
Bed itself super nice and comfy. Love the pillow too. Very fluffy
Shower pressure strong. Hot water can take awhile, but there is hot water (thank you Lord!)
Unfortunately, internet not great – which is the sad truth across the island. I recommend you bring a Smart pocket wifi with you – well worth the investment because Smart actually has decent signal across the island (for the most part).
But the best part (for me) is their restaurant! Kermit has a great Italian restaurant, which serves yummy pastas and pizzas. They also serve a mean Mango Daiquiri (I have heard)
They’re also constructing a pool, which should be done by Dec 2022. Exciting! For all those who come to the island but don’t want to swim on the beach, but still want to swim (which sounds weird, but actually Siargao beaches aren’t that great for swimming, so makes sense)

From here, we were off! We rented a motorcycle and went our merry way to the Surfing Temple. It’s really so nice to ride a motorcycle – to feel the breeze on your face, and to have a 180 degree view of your surroundings.

Lunch at Surfing Temple

Surfing Temple is rather hidden, and Waze doesn’t seem to be reliable on this island. I recommend you use Google Maps instead. Anyway, Surfing Temple is a chill place – personally would recommend its restaurant because it has a tie-up with Cev and I love Cev’s Santa Monica Ceviche (yellow fin tuna, fried octopus, pumpkin mash, fried onions, roasted red pepper puree, coconut milk leche de tigre). What a combo!

I wasn’t as fond of the General Luna Kinilaw, because there was way too much rice, too little filling, plus I found the filling a tad sour (coz of the spiced vinegar).

Another dish I’d recommend would be the Slow Cooked Pancetta (the pork belly was super tender! And I like their mashed pumpkin hehe).

Anyway, what I like about Surfing Temple is it’s so chill! They have a dipping pool also, which we made use of while we waited for the food to arrive.

Sunset Bridge View

From there, we skedaddled our way to the Sunset Bridge. Alas, the sky was filled with clouds and there was no sunset to be seen. Ohwell. People also dive off the Sunset Bridge into the frigid waters below (mostly foreigners because WHY would you want to do that o.o)

Liquor Purchasing @ Gwapa Mini Store

Afterwards, we popped by Gwapa Mini Store (yes that’s really the name) to buy alcohol and chips. It’s near Cloud 9, like, almost right across. Anyway, wow, this place is super well-stocked. Way way better than Boracay. They even have soju, todquitos, salsa sauce, the works!

Dinner at Kermit

Then finally dinner at Kermit. I recommend the Giannis Pizza (salami, mozzarella, parmesan) – simple but super good, especially the crust since they use a traditional Italian brick oven! I also really liked the Linguine al Antonio (shrimp in chili oil, yummy!). For drinks, the mango daiquiri packs a punch – lots of alcohol hehehe.

Afterwards, retire early because it’s an early day tomorrow!

Goldie Goes Global