Siargao, The Philippines’ Surfing Capital « Everything Under The Tropical Sun

Siargao, The Philippines’ Surfing Capital

Bike + Surfboard Surfboards. Walking the path...

I was rummaging through some of my photos in my hard drive when I came across some old photos of Siargao. I miss Siargao!!! It’s been 5 years since we last visited that beautiful island. Last time we went, it was for business (with A LOT of pleasure) because I had to write an article about the place for our local newspaper… Surfing Siargao. I’ve never been back since.

Believe it or not, the first time we went (which was three months before my “business” trip), we ended up spending P5,000/each (about $120) for the entire week. This includes our boat fare, accommodation, food, boat rental (for island hopping), surfboard rental (with guides), etc. We didn’t have first class accommodations but that’s part of the experience. I realized that it was cheaper to go with a group (we were seven on the first trip) because when we went back, we ended up spending a bit more. It didn’t help that we missed our boat and had to fly back home, either.

I wasn’t aspiring to become a surfer or anything but finding surf spots around the Philippines was a fairly new thing and at the time, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I was hungry to try something new. It wasn’t so difficult to enlist friends to take the journey with us even if none of us knew anything about Siargao. We were really going on an adventure which really paid off. We had the time of our lives and we still talk about it to this day.

My husband commented that it was so out of character for me to suggest, better yet, PLAN an adventure to the unknown. I hated surprises and have an obsession in making sure everything goes off without a hitch. I guess, that’s why I love Siargao so much. It was a place that rewarded me for taking chances, for being spontaneous and for treating the unknown with excitement instead of fear.

Since then, we’ve made trips to different parts of our country. I wasn’t scared to try new things and visit new places anymore. In fact, I welcome it. 7,100 islands… there’s still so much to see. Now, our “Places to visit” list no longer consists of mostly foreign countries but local destinations instead. How can we appreciate what is out there if we don’t know what we have here? Discovering the beauty of my country one place at a time is such a pleasant challenge.

So far away... Cloud 9 Going island hopping!