Siargao Island is the Surfing Capital of the Philippines, a tear-drop shaped island situated 800 kilometers southeast of Manila in the province of Surigao del Norte.

The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet- Port Pilar with a coastline marked by a succession of reefs, small points and white sandy beaches. It has a land mass of approximately 437 kilometers. The Island’s Pacific-facing reefs are situated on the edge of the Philippine Trench, and the extremely deep offshore waters assure the ocean swells have undiluted power when they encounter the many coral and rock reefs, giving Siargao excellent surfing conditions, particularly during the southwest “habagat” monsoon from August to November, when the prevailing wind is offshore. There are similar neighboring islands and islets with similar landforms.

The best known surfing wave on Siargao Island with a worldwide reputation for thick, hollow tubes is “Cloud 9″. This right-breaking reef wave is the site of the annual Siargao Island Cup, a domestic and international surfing competition sponsored by the provincial government of Surigao del Norte.

The wave was discovered by travelling surfers in the late 1980s, and named and made famous by American photographer John S Callahan, who published the first major feature on Siargao Island in the US based SURFER Magazine in March 1993, and hundreds of photos in many other books and magazines since. Callahan has returned to the island many times since his first visit in 1992, and his efforts to photograph and publish surfing related and general location material from Siargao in books and magazines around the world. It put the island on the international map and drawn thousands of surfers and tourists to Siargao Island.

Siargao Island contain the biggest mangrove forest reserves in Mindanao on the opposite coastline. Siargao Island is greatly influenced by the winds and currents coming uninterrupted from the Pacific Ocean, intensified by the Mindanao current running westward through the Siargao Strait. Long stretches of wetlands likewise indicate potentials for commercial seaweed propagation. The tide of Siargao Island is diurnal with tidal curves typically present especially on the east coast of the island. Offshore, a classic tropical island lay protected within its surrounding coral reef and the dozen coconut palms dressed in the center circle of the island rustled gently in the morning breeze.

Off to the right, well within the massive coastal reef, lay a shining white sand bar some 200 meters long, claimed by a flock of some forty black-headed terns that stood chattering among themselves at the waters edge.

How to get to Siargao Island

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