Siargao is a tear-drop shaped

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. I ...

situated 196 kilometers southeast of

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, a ...

. It has a land area of approximately . The east

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

is relatively straight with one deep

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine ...

, Port Pilar. The coastline is marked by a succession of

reefs A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

, small

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Points ...

and white, sandy

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...

es. The neighboring islands and islets have similar landforms. Siargao is known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, and was voted the Best Island in Asia in the 2021 Conde Nast Travelers Readers awards. The island is within the jurisdiction of the province of

Surigao del Norte Surigao del Norte ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Norte''; ceb, Amihanang Surigao; Tagalog: ''Hilagang Surigao''), officially the Province of Surigao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region of Mindanao. ...

and is composed of the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...

, Dapa, Del Carmen, General Luna, San Benito, Pilar, San Isidro, and

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

Etymology

The name originates from Visayan ''siargaw'' or '' saliargaw'' ('' Premna odorata''), a

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

species that grows on the islands.

History

The first recorded sighting by Europeans of Siargao Island was by Spanish navigator

Bernardo de la Torre Bernardo de la Torre was a Spanish sailor, primarily noted for having explored parts of the Western Pacific Ocean south of Japan in the 16th century. Bernardo de la Torre sailed under the instructions of Ruy López de Villalobos, who sent him in ...

on board of the

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade ...

''San Juan de Letrán'' in 1543 when attempting to return from

Sarangani Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a province in the Philip ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

. It was charted as ''Isla de las Palmas'' (Palm Island in Spanish). On December 16, 2021, Typhoon Rai struck the area as a Category 5 super typhoon. It left the island devastated, with many buildings damaged or demolished. It caused ₱20 billion ($400 million) in damages.

Geography

Siargao Island contains one of the largest

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

reserves in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

, covering an area of 4,871 hectares in Del Carmen. Long stretches of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

indicate a potential for commercial

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and '' Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

propagation. The extensive mangrove forests of the western coast in the Del Carmen area are home to the Indo-Pacific crocodile Crocodylus porosus. A large specimen measuring was found dead in 2016 Siargao Fishing

Siargao Island is greatly influenced by the winds and currents coming uninterrupted from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, intensified by the Mindanao current running westward through the Siargao Strait. The

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

of Siargao is diurnal with tidal curves typically present, especially on the east coast of the island. The island's Pacific-facing reefs are situated on the edge of the

Philippine Trench The Philippine Trench (also Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has ...

, and the extremely deep offshore waters assure the ocean swells have undiluted power when they encounter the many coral and rock reefs. Siargao has excellent

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

conditions, particularly during the southwest "habagat"

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

from August to December when the

prevailing wind In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular direction. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point o ...

is offshore. Siargao 54

There are several islands located off Siargao. The islands in Del Carmen include Guyam Island, Pansukian or Naked Island (a sandbar), and Daku Island. These are typically included in island-hopping tours that are popular activities being offered to tourists visiting the island. In the western coast in the municipalities of Del Carmen and San Benito are numerous islands, most of which are covered in

forests. These islands include Caob, Pagbasayan, Poneas, Tona, Laonan, and Kawhagan. The tourist attractions of Sugba Lagoon and Pamomoan Beach is located in Kawhagan. The westernmost island of Siargao is Halian (under the jurisdiction of Del Carmen), located in between Siargao and the Dinagat Islands. Off the southern end of the island are the three Bucas Grande island groups. Two of which, East Bucas Grande and Middle Bucas Grande, are part of the municipality of Dapa, while the largest island, Bucas Grande, is contiguous to the municipality of Socorro. Bucas Grande is known for the tourist attractions of Sohoton Cove, Tiktikan Lake, and the Jellyfish Sanctuary, among others. In the past, the island could be reached via a direct domestic flight from Manila to Surigao City and then by a ferry to the coastal towns of Dapa or Del Carmen. Now, Cebu Pacific has flights from Cebu-Siargao, vice versa as well as a Manila-Siargao route (it stops briefly in Cebu and passengers then switch to a smaller aircraft). In March 2017, both Cebu Pacific and SkyJet Airlines commenced direct flights to Sayak Airport (IAO) (aka "Siargao Airport") Siargao island from Manila Airport (MNL), the first direct flights to the island from the capital. Additionally, Philippine Airlines has been offering direct flights from Clark International Airport to Sayak Airport since July 1, 2018. There are plans to extend the runway of Sayak Airport in Siargao, to cater to the demands of growing tourists who will be visiting this island paradise.

Cloud 9

One of the well-known surfing spots in Siargao and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, with a reputation for thick, hollow tubes is "Cloud 9". This right-breaking reef wave is the site of the annual Siargao Cup, a domestic and international surfing competition sponsored by the provincial government of

The wave was discovered by travelling surfers in the late 1980s. It was named by American photographer John Seaton Callahan after a chocolate bar of the same name and was featured in the United States-based '' Surfer'' magazine in March 1993. This surf trip to Siargao Island was named by Surfer as one of the "Ten Best Surf Trips of All Time" in 1995. Cloud 9 also has a reputation for being a relatively cheap destination for surfers with many accommodations, restaurants, and bars to choose from. There are several other quality waves on Siargao and nearby islands such as Tombstones, but Cloud 9 has received more publicity than any other surf spot in the Philippines. While it is not the only wave in the Tuason Point and General Luna areas easily accessible via the long pier from the shoreline and without the need for a boat, it is easily the most popular, leading to overcrowding and the nickname of "Crowd 9" among surfers. Siargao, particularly the municipality of General Luna and the Tuason Point area, is well known as "The Surfing Capital of the Philippines" with a reputation among surfers within the

and the International scene.

Awards and recognition

Out of the 85 destinations listed, Siargao, the surfing capital of the Philippines, is named as the best island in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

in the annual

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club mem ...

(CNT) readers' choice awards for top islands to visit this 2021.

Gallery

File:Siargao 18.jpg, The beach at Daku Island off General Luna File:Cloud 9 Boardwalk, Siargao.jpg, Cloud 9 Boardwalk in General Luna File:Siargao 79.jpg, Doot Beach (also known as "Secret Beach") in Dapa File:SUGBA LAGOON (MAY 2019).jpg, Sugba Lagoon in Kawhagan Island, Del Carmen File:Siargao, Philippines.jpg, Old lighthouse at Pacifico Beach in San Isidro File:Special Awards Magpupungko Category.jpg, Magpupungko Rock Pools in Pilar

References

External links

Municipality of Del Carmen, Siargao, PhilippinesSiargao Islands, Philippines
* {{Authority control Islands of Surigao del Norte Beaches of the Philippines Surfing locations in the Philippines Protected landscapes and seascapes of the Philippines Tourist attractions in Surigao del Norte