Siargao in 4 Days — Cloud 9, Fireflies and a Melted ATM

After Kyoto, a night on Mt. Fuji and two days of Tokyo crowds, we flew to Siargao for 4 days of full chill-out. The Philippines became my 86th country — the last new one on this Asia trip. My fiancée tried surfing for the first time at the famous Cloud 9, and I found out the famous wave isn't for everyone. We also got two cats we didn't plan for, and an ATM with a screen melting in the sun.

The Philippines has about 7,641 islands and 112.7 million people, according to the 2024 census. Siargao is a teardrop-shaped island off the north-eastern coast of Mindanao, 437 km² with about 117,000 people, and most visitors stay in General Luna, the surf town next to Cloud 9. Fun fact: the wave that put the island on the surfing map is named after a chocolate bar. American surf photographer John Callahan and his crew walked into town every day for a warm Coke and a local Cloud 9 bar, so that's what they called the wave.

#How to get to Siargao from Tokyo

There's no direct flight. We flew Cebu Pacific from Tokyo Narita to Cebu, then took a short hop to Sayak Airport in Del Carmen — all in one day. Cebu is the easy connection: several flights a day and about an hour in the air. A pickup service delivered us right to the front door of our villa and took us back at the end, so we didn't think about transport at all.

Entry for Ukrainian citizens: the Philippines requires a visa. We got a single-entry eVisa online through the official eVisa portal — use only that site. Eligibility depends on the country you apply from and your residence there, not just your passport, so check your case on the portal first. We applied from Poland, and of all the visas for this trip, the Philippine one came through the fastest. On top of the visa, every traveler registers in eTravel: free, open within 72 hours before arrival, and the airline checks the QR code before boarding.

#A beachfront villa with two cats

We rented a villa right on the beach near General Luna for about $150 a night — out of the busy center, about 25 minutes away by scooter.

The villa came with a surprise: two cats, a mother and her kitten. The first evening we met them, I walked to a shop and bought eggs to feed them, and we really enjoyed feeding them after that. Food for us was a few meters away, at a hotel next door. The local dogs were just as friendly.

Siargao flipped my sense of prices. A week earlier, Tokyo and Seoul hadn't felt more expensive than Warsaw — Warsaw sometimes beats them. Here it was the opposite: food and services were cheap, housing wasn't.

#The Siargao ATM situation

Siargao still runs mostly on cash. The ATM nearest to us — the only one around — had a screen that looked like it was melting from the sun. It still gave out money, so we didn't complain.

That's not just bad luck. There are only a few ATMs on the island, mostly in General Luna and Dapa, and they often run out of cash on weekends and holidays. Some cafés and shops in General Luna take cards or GCash, but you can't count on it everywhere.

#Renting a scooter in Siargao

Two and a half weeks after Da Nang's scooter traffic, I was back on two wheels: we rented a scooter for 3 of our 4 days, at about $7 a day, and that's how we explored the island. Automatic scooters on Siargao usually rent for around ₱350–500 a day. As for the licence, tourists can drive on a valid foreign driver's licence for up to 90 days after arrival, according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, and for a scooter that licence actually needs to cover motorcycles. Mine doesn't. Nobody asked to see it either way.

#Cloud 9 surfing for beginners

Cloud 9 is the reason most people know Siargao: a hollow right-hander breaking over a shallow reef, with a boardwalk and a viewing tower right above the wave. We surfed there with an instructor, right at the Cloud 9 peak itself — not the gentler break next to it. My fiancée tried surfing for the first time in her life — and loved it.

I didn't. The bottom was rocky and shallow, and the waves were small — an okay-ish session, nothing more. My first surfing, in Bali seven years ago, was much better. So for me, Cloud 9 wasn't the world-class spot it's sold as.

I might be wrong about the wave itself, though. The Cloud 9 from the posters is for experienced surfers, and the best swells usually come in September–October, a month after us. Local guides send beginners to gentler breaks nearby, like Jacking Horse or Quicksilver, and insist on reef booties.

#Siargao fireflies tour

On August 22 we joined a fireflies tour to the Mangrove Forest of Malinao, about $10 per person: a boat into the mangroves in the evening, fireflies blinking in the trees, and a ride back in the dark. Pretty fun, and nothing else on this trip was like it.

Siargao has plenty of mangroves for that. The Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve alone covers about 4,900 hectares, the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Philippines, and in 2024 it became the country's 10th Ramsar wetland of international importance.

#Is it rainy in Siargao in August?

"Although it's a wet season now, Siargao is very sunny," I posted on Threads. It was. Siargao doesn't really have a dry season, but August is one of the drier months: about 140 mm of rain on average, against more than 800 mm in January.

#Leaving Siargao: a night on Mactan

On August 24 we flew back to Cebu and rested a few hours in a $17 guesthouse on Mactan Island, next to Mactan–Cebu International Airport, the second busiest in the country. Our Scoot flight left around 2 am for a daytime layover in Singapore — my second visit after 2022.

#Practical Notes

• Entry (Ukrainian passport): a visa is required — we used a single-entry eVisa from the official portal. Add the free eTravel registration within 72 hours before arrival.
• Getting there: fly to Sayak Airport (IAO) via Cebu, about an hour in the air, and book the transfer with your accommodation.
• Cash: bring pesos from the mainland. ATMs are few, and they run out on weekends.
• Scooter: around ₱350–500 a day for an automatic; a valid foreign licence works for 90 days after arrival.
• Surfing: Cloud 9 breaks over a shallow reef. Beginners should start at Jacking Horse or Quicksilver with an instructor and reef booties. The most consistent swells come in September–October.
• Fireflies: evening boat tours go into the mangroves; Del Carmen has the island's big mangrove reserve.
• Weather: August is one of the drier months; the heaviest rain falls from November to February.
• Budget: a beachfront villa was about $150 a night; food and services were cheap.

Japan was the highlight of the trip, and Siargao was where we finally slowed down. I still wonder who buys eggs for those two cats now :)