Finding a Perfect Beach in Siargao

Surprisingly, for a very well-known place for surfing, finding a perfectly clean beach with fine sand is not always the case for Siargao.

Batangas and Zambales might even have better beaches.

We've rented out a tuktuk to check out different beach areas and I've put them on the map.

Legend:

• Green - always good (fine sand, no lumot)
• Yellow - inconsistent (sometimes with lumot, sometimes very clean)
• Red - not good at all

As you can see, coming from General Luna, all the beaches nearby are inconsistent (yellow). You have to drive all the way to Santa Fe (15 minutes) for a good swim in the ocean.

I took a quick photo of each of them, let's check them out one-by-one from best to worst.

Santa Fe 👍

Upon hearing about this location, we considered living there. However, the place is still not yet as developed as General Luna - not much food options nor lodging options. We went there in the afternoon and it felt like a ghost town.

Magpupungko Rock Pools 👍

This one's a 40-minute drive from General Luna, quite far and not much good lodging options also, so you'll just be there to swim.

It's one of the stops in the land tour, it features an actual rock pool on the farther left. I've taken a drone shot of it since I didn't plan on getting wet that day.

Malinao Paradise 👍

It's only 20 minutes from General Luna, right beside the inconsistent Secret Beach (yellow).

It's not really an ocean beach, it's the meeting point of the ocean and the mangroves so the feeling is a bit different. Brackish waters.

To find this place, find "Maison Bukana" in the google maps and walk until the edge of the road. There will be a kuya waiting there then just ask him for directions.

It feels like a very secretive place because of the path going there. But when I got there, there were already a lot of people playing soccer on the sand, and some were just chilling and enjoying the view under the shade of the trees. Yes, there's shade so it's not as hot as the other beaches.

Secret Beach 😑

Before you get to Malinao Paradise is the secret beach. In Google Maps, the photos were pretty, and it was ranked pretty high in Trip Advisor.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always look that way. It looked like this in the morning when we got there:

Lagkaw Resort 😑

This one's a hit or miss as well. We went to this location 3x and got to swim 2x, it's a bit nearer than Secret Beach, 15 minutes away from General Luna.

Sometimes it's free from lumot and seagrass, sometimes it's not.

Bravo Resort 😑

This was right at the center in General Luna so it should be the most convenient beach ever!

However, we only went once and was disappointed. The coast line is very narrow too.

I wasn't able to take a photo because I thought I'd be back since it's just right across the street, but didn't go back anymore. It was too hot.

Reef Beach / Happiness Hostel 👎

This one's the worst, the hotels would show very nice pictures of the ocean as if you can swim in it. But they're really just propped up by the stone staircases.

In reality they look like this:

There's also island hopping, where you'll find the popular picturesque beaches (especially Naked Island).

Anyways, swimming in the beach is just one of the things to do in Siargao. There's a lot more Siargao can offer, check out my list of things to do in Siargao for non-surfers (although surfing is #1 in my list).