Tag Archive: Siargao


Dining Options In Siargao

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Exotic Cuisine, Food Trip, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
January 12, 2026

This January 2026, we spent 5 days in Siargao and for 2 whole days joined tours which included lunch. Had a long list of dining options sourced from kin and their young friends. Honestly? I was surprised there’s a long list. Knowing the surfing capital of the country didn’t welcome food/restaurant chains, I assumed most of my meals will either be in hotels or in family-run mom & pop eateries. Of course, I heard of a few which became popular and set up branches in Makati like “Shaka” and “La Carinderia”. But we’ve tried quite a few and really enjoyed our dining experience. I hope this list helps some of you who are planning to visit Siargao. I have my own for my next visit — to cover more ground!

La Carinderia
CEV Ceviche & Kinilaw Shack
Kermit’s Pizza
Shaka + X Bar in Cloud 9 Boardwalk
El Chapo: Tacos, Birria & Tostadas
Bravo Beach Resort
Kanin Baboy for Lechon
Halika Artisanal Gelato
Jorene’s Halo Halo & Maiz Con Hielo
Island Hop Tours include boodle fight lunch consisting of generous servings of grilled meat, seafood, noodles and seaweeds.

Many I’ve missed out of those listed by others: Bebie’s Barbecue, Naga, Las Palmas, Warung, Roots, Lamari, Bar Ciao, Harana, St Thomas Coffee, Manu, Whitebeard, Harana. Let me know your experience with these dining spots! Bon appetit 🏝️

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

It’s Very Green in Siargao

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Food Trip, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — Leave a comment

Sure, I was so looking forward to the beach life — sun, sand, beach chairs, swim in clear waters, ice cream melting as the sea breeze sticks more sand on your shoulders and back, sea salt on your hair, all that seafood plus some beach cocktails. Piña Colada, anyone? Enjoying every bit even if I passed up all chances for surf lessons (how the hell do I even get up on the surfboard?), diving off and into lagoon waters (can’t even balance walking towards the end of the diving board!), snorkeling in open sea (so hard to even walk to shore against the current), diving off the boat to swim or just treading water. And please, let’s forget paragliding. Too extreme for me.

Secret Beach
Coconut View Deck

We joined a land tour but found out the tour included beach spots and visits to lagoons and tidal pools. Was happy to experience Siargao sans commercial food chains like those burger and pizza joints, and to find the island teeming with lush forests and vegetation. When I was 15, I drove my father’s motorbike and had a nasty accident. Half my face bandaged, only liquid nutrition for some weeks. Luck was on my side — no broken bones, no permanent facial scars, just a bent coccyx bone and a bad memory. With that, any scooter rental is out of the question. We joined the tours in a van filled with 10 pax. Lunch included and this was in a local carinderia where locals ordered pork sinigang and longganiza while the foreigners figured out how to eat the crablets and spider conch shells.

Boarded a small boat to reach Sugba Lagoon before it closes for renovation/maintenance.
Scenes from the Diving Platform

The highlights of this land tour is the Sugba Lagoon where one can dive into cool waters, paddle board, kayak, snorkel, or just simply swim. We visited the last day before the lagoon area closes for a month of upkeep. The boat ride to this spot took more than a half hour, passing waterways hemmed in by tiny verdant islands . My eyes feasted on all this greenery. From here, we hopped back to our van for the ride towards the Magpupungko Rock Pools. I stopped midway and just contented myself with a view of the natural tidal pools among limestone formations. It was a steep rocky descent towards the tidal pools and I wasn’t willing to risk a slip. But my niece went on and happily took a dip and swam in the pools while I watched seated on a rock.

Magpupungko Tidal Pools

Magpupungko Rock Pools

The tour took nearly a day. The van fetched us from our hotel at 7:30am and brought us back by 4pm or so. But not before bringing us to Maasin River. Here you can go kayaking but after all the activities, not everyone has enough strength beyond posing for photos at the diving board. 🤣

This land tour is so worth it, even if it’s more expensive than the island-hopping tour and more so than doing it on your own with rented scooters. We enjoyed all the stops especially the Sugba Lagoon boat ride and visit. Lunch could have been served better in the area of the Magpupungko Rock Pools where there are beachfront eateries, and errrr more interesting desserts like the buko halo halo. But we’re good. We got good value for the P2,100 we paid for each person. By the time we were driven back to our hotel, we just dropped our bags and went in search of desserts. These deprived ladies found one near the church. Homemade ice cream, halo halo and maiz con hielo. But nearer our hotel, another shop prides itself for its artisanal gelato. So there. 😋😘🥰

Jorene’s Homemade Ice Cream
Halika Siargao
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Of Island Hops & Boodle Fight

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Food Trip, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 2 Comments
January 11, 2026

Booked this 3 island hopping tour visiting Naked Island, Dako and Guyam Islands. Joined a group of 24 pax, half of which are foreigners and the rest locals. First off was Naked Island, which is actually a sandbar. Welcome, sunshine! No trees, no shelter. Just a sizeable oval shaped sandbar off the southern shore of Siargao, with just the sand and the sea to enjoy. A slather of sunscreen here and there but I get a sense no amount of skin protection would work. Naked Island is NOT a nudist island. The sandbar itself is “naked” as no single tree stands here. One hour here is all you need. Its proximity to Siargao Island makes it a top island hopping destination especially when you have limited time.

Naked Island. A treeless sandbar off the
southern shore of Siargao.

In between the island hops, there was also a chance to jump off the boat, swim and go snorkeling. The current was quite strong though so only those confident with their swimming skills did. I stayed on the boat with the young Filipinos who are here on holiday break from their Qatar jobs. These guys made me laugh so much as they readily entertained us with their funny song and dance numbers that provided comic relief. Whoever you are, thank you guys. The “skit” where one acted like a flight attendant had me in stitches! And all that laughing made us grow really hungry and ready for the boodle fight. This is lunch, Filipino style. The spread was quite abundant — very generous servings of fried tuna, grilled pork belly, noodles, shrimps, spider conch, sea grapes or seaweeds, sautéed vegetables, mangoes and watermelons.

Noodle lunch in Dako Island

The boodle lunch was served in Dako Island where there was also enough time to swim, play volleyball or even to spread a beach towel for a quick nap on the sand. In Guyam Island, there are beach bars and some music and fruit stalls. More swimming or more naps or more volleyball games. By this time, the boat passengers have grown relaxed, friendlier and chattier. We were lucky to join a fun group. (Trivia: I was the OLDEST in the group. That means the boat crew paid more attention to my safety and welfare 🤣 )

Dako Island
Guyam Island
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Sunsets in Siargao

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Food Trip, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
January 9, 2026

We tried our luck in Cloud 9. But no surfers. No fiery orange nor pink hues across the sky from the Cloud 9 boardwalk. We waited until twilight and that’s when we decided to enjoy our piña colada, pizza and mango smoothie. The sky was woefully unstained by vibrant colors but that’s ok. It’s only our first whole day. The stray dogs and pearl vendors kept us company, relentlessly trying to make us succumb. I’m pretty good resisting this retail therapy but my niece is another matter. She’s a magnet for vendors of any kind!

Cloud Nine Boardwalk
Two lone surfers just before sunset

January must be off season. I was told it rains a lot the first month of the year. It rained when we arrived but soon enough, the sun was out. Late in the afternoon, the surfers must have gone to bars or for some nutrition as we only found a couple with their boards. The boardwalk wasn’t crowded at all. And there were empty chairs facing the waters from Shaka and X Bars where we picked up our aperitif.

Mango Smoothie Cereal Bowl from Shaka
X Bar’s Piña Colada+ Pizza

The following day, we set out for AFAM Bridge. Yes, AFAM as in “A Foreigner Assigned In Manila”. The sunset warriors are all here! Some AFAMs bearing beer bottles which they uncork while watching the sun set. Local vendors plying their wares — pearls, shirts and some handcrafted souvenir items. The local boys offer their services to take photos, amusing foreigners with their “human drone” tactics. We tried looking for dining places nearby but found none interesting. Then we remembered our hotel driver mentioning “Jorene’s Homemade Ice Cream & Halo Halo” so we promptly hailed a tuktuk to get there. Thought we’d end the day on that sweet note but there’s this Italian-Filipino restaurant called “La Carinderia” right across our hotel. Actually, I first tried La Carinderia when they opened a Makati branch. Good food, good service, and the most charming couple owners. So yeah, we ended the day with that famous Mama’s Lasagna plus Siargao Salad which I swear is really good. Chef Stefano and Miss Po also trained their staff very well. Good simple Italian – Pinoy dinner.

Sunset. AFAM Bridge
Jorene’s Maiz con Hielo and Halo Halo topped with homemade ice cream.
Mama’s Lasagna & Siargao Salad from La Carinderia
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

One Sour Lunch in Siargao

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Food Trip, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Phlog, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
January 8, 2026

I know. There were other options but we didn’t want to miss out on this spot’s ceviche and Kinilaw offerings. What’s the difference, you ask? Both are raw seafood dishes cured or cooked in acid. They only differ in the souring agents used. The Filipino or Pinoy version uses coconut or sugarcane vinegar mixed in either onions, ginger and chilis. Some versions use coconut milk but that’s optional. Ceviche is a Latin American dish that uses citrus as souring agent – – like lime or lemon. In CEV, they do both equally good! Stars of the show are the Santa Fe Kinilaw, Pacifico Ceviche and Santa Monica Ceviche. Please don’t ask why they were named as such. We had 2 appetizers — the classic Kinilaw (with cucumber, coconut milk, lime, ginger, onions and salted black beans — and the fish spring rolls.

Mango Smoothie + Santa Fe kinilaw with shrimps, pomelo and pickled green mango

Although every item we ordered was cooked in some souring agent — except only for our drinks and fried spring rolls — we are glad we ordered what we did. Enjoyed every single dish. Without bias, I’d still go for the Filipino version though as Santa Fe kinilaw (with shrimps, pomelo and raw mango) is the bomb. So xxxx@@!! good! You can almost touch the freshness (the catch of the day they used in the ceviche and classic kinilaw was tuna). And we likewise enjoyed our mango smoothie and ginger calamansi ale.

Santa Monica Ceviche with tuna, pumpkin mash and fried octopus.
Classic kinilaw

If you are headed towards Siargao, don’t miss this place. And be sure to make reservations at least a week before. We did. Yet the only available date was the day after our arrival, so moved back our island tours. Totally worth it! We would have gone a 2nd time but the next available slot was already past our departure day. There were not too many locals dining while we were there. Must be because it isn’t really cheap, but I’d still say the dishes are quite reasonably priced. So with the cocktails. So yes, I’d bet on this 👍

Enjoyed my Calamansi Ginger Ale with the fried fish rolls and kinilaw appetizers
Only 1 dessert: Twix Bar

Not to forget ….. there’s only one dessert: Twix Bar. Don’t skip this. It allows a good finish after all those vinegary, sour dishes.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

It’s A Good Start. No Rush.

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Musings & Ramblings, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 6 Comments
January 7, 2026

It’s been 25 years since I retired at 47. Technically, I continued to work though not on a regular 9-5 desk job. Rather,I had 2 meetings a month. Anything more and I’m “overworked”. In between the meetings, I traveled, spent time with my friends, went to church and simply had a wonderful time celebrating life. Through it all, I ticked off destinations from a long list, searched for exotic dishes and adventures and promptly prepped for the 2 monthly meetings that sustained my lifestyle. I’m putting all that behind me now. Absolutely no more work. Nailed the last chapter of my career. No more graphs and financial reports to review. No more special zoom meetings that consumed more thinking hours. No more document deliveries for signature. The simple act of stepping down and out was liberating. Trips now need not go around the scheduled meetings and more importantly, there was no compelling rush to cover as much ground as possible. When I quit my full-time job back in 2001, I appreciated the relaxed pace already. But it is an even more elevated sense of freedom now. As in, no more worries. No more anxieties. No midnight or early morn zoom meetings while I’m abroad on a different time zone. Absolutely no stress now. No rush. Let everything take its natural course.

No rush. Love that. The luxury of time. Hours in a bookstore just browsing around, coffee breaks that are truly “breaks” and not just caffeine nutrition, sweetly poring over restaurant menus without being fussy if the dishes took awhile before being served. Traveling without an agenda, or leaving the task of crafting the itinerary to a younger set who has a long list to tick off. No rush. Every minute celebrated. Off with the travel lists and must-do’s. Just go. Explore or linger. Savour every second. I learned there is actually an art to waiting. It is when one pays more attention to details that a more authentic sense of appreciation blooms. A deeper sense of gratitude. Would you rush through a scrumptious meal, or even a good cup of brew or an excellent book? It parallels being mindful. When every single detail matters. A rushed, busy life takes that away. Where I sit now, I refuse to multi-task. Done that when I was way younger. I’d rather focus on a single item now and preserve the thoughtfulness attached to it.

Bravo Beach Resort in Siargao.

So time rolls by. Whether in the city or in the beach, it is living without the rush. It is life. 🥰

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment