Things to do in Siargao for non surfers

I'm really not a good tourist. Sightseeing and taking photos bore me, so if the point of going somewhere is to just take photos, I would skip it.

I'm all for learning new skills and fun activities, and I was pleasantly surprised with Siargao's activities.. thus, this list!

1. Surfing at Cloud 9

Since Siargao is known for surfing, I will still make notes about it.

• Cloud 9, the surfing area is 6-minute ride / 44-minute walk from the lively General Luna strip where most of the restaurants are. But if you get surfing lessons from your hotel, it includes the pick up / drop off.
• You can only surf during high-tide, so be sure to watch the tides.
• If you walk into Cloud 9, lessons are P500 / hour, minimum of 2 hours. P600 / hour if you get it from your hotel.
• There's an environmental fee at the entrance, P100 / pax. Good thing I brought some cash!
• There's a locker for a fee also. Kuya said P100+.. but I didn't bring anything even my phone, just cash!
• For beginners, you start your ride at the end of the boardwalk. Your instructor will paddle from the shore with the board and meet you there.

• There's a kuya taking videos of everyone with his drone, you can buy your surfing footages from him.
• If you already know how to surf, renting a board would cost P500 / day or P200 / hour.

2. Crossfit Siargao

Right at the center of General Luna, behind some of the good boutique hotels, is a hidden gem with a bustling community. Attending classes at Crossfit Siargao is one of the highlights of my short stay in Siargao.

I mentioned about the 70-30 foreigner to local ratio before, and it's pretty evident here. I usually attend Coach Niko's class who's from France and does impressive gymnastics moves.

I would meet people from France, Switzerland, Spain in this big space and only a few locals, which is quite interesting.

These people are hardcore. Everyone has that perfect beach bod body and feels like they're doing this all day. In contrast to when I'm taking classes in Manila, where 70% are usually beginners.

Taking classes in Crossfit Siargao would definitely make you feel unfit, even if you've been exercising for quite some time already, which is quite humbling and I like it.

They have olympic bar weight lifting classes, 2 x crossfit and 2 x sweat classes everyday except weekends. And even if you attend the classes daily, they target different parts of the body (legs, arms, full body) ~ Tuesday is my favorite, it's gymnastics day. Last time we focused on doing pull ups!

Don't worry about not being able to keep up, the coach always gives me beginner alternatives.

And I didn't anticipate going here so I didn't bring shoes. Which is fine, some workout barefoot. But it would have definitely helped if I had brought my training gloves and shoes.

Prices are (as of August 2024):

• P500 - walk in
• P1850 - 1 week unlimited
• P3750 - 1 month unlimited
• P9900 - 3 months unlimited

3. Yoga, Ice Bath and other Mindfulness activities

There are multiple lodgings that offer consistent yoga classes:

• Buddha Resort, Siargao offers Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa, Prana and Movement, etc
• Kermit Siargao offers Vinyasa flow as well, Breathwork, Deep Stretch, etc

OM Home Siargao offers mindfulness activities. I wasn't able to try but their posters are everywhere in General Luna.

I was pleasantly surprised with how advanced their offerings were - they have full moon kundalini active meditation, hypotherapy workshops, cacao rituals, acroyoga, ecstatic dance, fire dance, etc.

4. Swim in the Ocean

One of the shocking things we discovered is that there's not a single perfect beach in Siargao. Sometimes the beach would look like this:

And the next day it would look like this:

So we rented a Tuktuk to drive across the edges to find a good beach to swim in. You can check out the Siargao beaches we discovered here!

5. Swim at the Malinao Paradise near the Mangroves

This one's more consistent than the beach, but it's the middle between the ocean and the Mangroves area so it's not 100% ocean.

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.

There's a small fee for the parking lot.

6. Firefly watching

At the same location (see #5) near Maison Bukana, Kuya Johnny will be there to offer you to watch some fireflies. Price as of August 2024 was P300 / pax.

There are several boats available, but it's a very small boat that could fit us 2. Maybe if there are more people, more boats will be used.

Kuya will navigate the mangroves in the dark to find the fireflies. It's hard to capture on camera but it's very nice in actual.

In the morning I took a drone shot of the mangroves because I was curious what it looked like and it's amazing!

You can contact Kuya Johnny to inquire - 0977 135 4189.

7. Fishing

For a country that has 7,107 islands, I find it surprising that I cannot find any company that offers fishing as an activity (so please contact me if you're one of them).

During our walk in GL, we found a poster that offers fishing called Sharpe, Tackle and Charters. It's owned by a Canadian family that lives in Cebu, and joins fishing competitions for fun. Apparently, there are competitions held in Siargao.

There are multiple packages being offered, pick up and drop offs are not included so you have to figure out a way to go all the way to Lindum Lodge, where the boat is docked.

We took the day first because we felt like it was a beginner thing to do.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch any fish. Kuya said August is not in season, for day fishing it's best to do it during summer time like April to June.

There were two people with us in the boat - one boatman and one captain. They can take up to 8 people but I feel like it would be crowded.

The boat was moving the whole time, so I felt a bit sea sick after an hour. I had to lie down to feel better.

When we weren't able to catch any fish using this strategy, we stopped in shallow waters (around 200 meters) and tried to fish with our rods, the manual way.

It was very hot, and fishing with the rod takes a lot of patience and strength. You are basically simulating the movements of a fish to catch the fish.

Next time, we will try night fishing. Kuya said it has a higher chance (> 50% probability) of getting a fish... or shrimps or squid. And we won't be travelling far, so hopefully I won't get sea sick.

As for the tuna fishing package, it's an overnight fishing that starts in the afternoon and ends in the morning. I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

8. Surfskating and Skateboarding

If you drive through the streets of the island, sometimes you'd see people skating in the streets. What's cool is a lot of ate's do it too, and kids. It seems like it's like a less extreme version of skateboarding.

The skateboard looks different from the one I have in the city. These are called Surfskates. I found a company called Siargao Skate that teaches this.

They have big wheels, and you move your feet side to side to make it run. The skateboarders also don't need to wear proper skateboarding shoes (maybe because you don't do tricks on them?).

There's even a mini skate bowl at Bravo Resort, in the middle of General Luna.

Things I have yet to do in my next trip:

• Learn how to drop into a skate bowl
• Try surfskating
• Try e-skateboarding

9. Wakeboarding

15 minutes from GL is Siargao Wakepark. I didn't have enough time to do this as well but it's definitely on my list! Apart from Wakeboarding, they also offer zipline, hydrofoiling.. and you can also rent the whole place for P4,800 an hour.

10. Exploring the Island

There's still a lot of places to explore in the island, the most popular would be General Luna and Cloud 9.

But beyond that, there's still Dapa port, Santa Fe, Magpopongko Rock Pools, all the way to the north where Alegria Beach and the Secret Paradise Beach are.

Renting a tuktuk (Php 1,200 self-drive) is fine until Magpopongko Rock Pools area but they say the trail is steep so it's better to rent a car for Php 2,500 / day.

If you're interested to learn how to drive a tuktuk within the city, check out my notes on how to drive a tuktuk.

Where are the tours?

As I said in my intro, I'm not so much of a tourist. But there are 2 most popular tours you can check out too, each one will take up the whole day:

• Land tour - Sugba Lagoon, Magpupungko Rock Pools, Maasin Enchanted River, Coconut View Deck
• Island tour - Guyam, Naked Island, Daku Island, Secret Island

Enjoy Siargao!