There’s a little bit of everything in Siargao
September 2, 2001 | 12:00am
Lesser known but great destinations are blessed upon anyone willing to go the extra mile to look for them.
If you think about it, most of the Philippines is unknown to the traveler. With over 7,000 islands to choose from, we favor the major cities.
Not far from Cebu, we recently discovered a place that offers an alternative to touring the entire archipelago. It has a bit of everything: the immaculate sand of Boracay; the virgin forest, lagoons and caves of Palawan; the hot springs of Laguna; the sand bars of Camiguin; the rock formations of Quezon and the seafood of Bataan. You don’t have to plan separate vacations because Siargao has all of these eco-tourism attractions – and more.
Siargao is one of the islands of Surigao del Norte, located on the rim of the Asian continental shelf. It is one of the four provinces of the newly created Caraga Region 13 – flanked on the north and east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Sur, and on the west by the Surigao Strait. A tranquil and pristine place, Surigao’s rural charm has recently caught the fancy of local and foreign tourists. Its big waves have gained the province the reputation as the "Surfing Capital of the Philippines."
A 50-minute Seair flight took us from Cebu to this sanctuary of nature. I met 39-year-old Nicolas Rambeau, charming owner of the beautiful Pansukian Tropical Resort in Siargao. In 1989, Nicolas, a French lawyer, went to the Philippines in search of his little paradise. From the air, he spotted a strip of white-sand beach, which he later learned was on the island of Siargao. Nicolas was overwhelmed by the magnificence of the place – exotic flora and fauna, marvelous rock formations, unspoiled coral reefs and mangroves. So taken was he that he relocated from Paris to Siargao.
In no time, Nicolas had transformed a 32-acre coconut plantation on the southernmost tip of the island into a fabulous resort that has been featured in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine and Architectural Digest. Pansukian Tropical Resort opened in1997.
If you were to take an imaginary walk westward along the ocean floor of the Pacific, one would end up in the dark abyss of the Philippine deep. If you keep walking, you’d reach Siargao. And did you know that the islands just north of this group were the initial landfall Ferdinand Magellan reached when he first arrived in the Philippines after his voyage over the uncharted Pacific Ocean? No wonder Siargao has been called the "first and last frontier."
Pansukian Tropical Resort is truly an adventurer’s home away from home. A three-tiered pagoda, built on shallow water, welcomes guests. Each of the nine cottages at the resort is truly a paradise of sorts. Unique and romantic, each has its own veranda with a tropical garden of heliconias and hibiscus. The grounds are well-manicured with Bermuda grass and lined with white-sand paths.
Nicolas, in his desire to give the resort its own character, decided to fuse Thai, Indonesian, and Muslim architecture – particularly in the roofing of the cottages. For the structures and furniture, he used only indigenous materials like cogon, ironwood, coconut lumber, and bamboo. He also turned to the Filipino crafts for the interior decoration – using intricately woven mats and baskets, colorful textiles and heavy clay ceramics. But the furnishings are also reminiscent of the Banyan Tree in Bintan, Indonesia.
"I like Philipppine culture. It’s elegant without being pretentious," he mused while adding that the staff of the resort are locals of the island – letting guests experience the legendary hospitality of Filipinos. In fact, Nicholas truly feels at home here as he has learned to speak the dialect of Surigao.
The time we were there, Hannelore and Siegfried Hanneke, a lovely couple from Berlin, renewed their marriage vows. The place lent a romantic ambience as the couple as they celebrated 25 years of wedding bliss. We all took part in the ceremony as sponsors. The guests were treated to a banquet of lechon, ensaladang mangga with aligue, sautéed king crabs, rice with pandan leaves, kilawin tanguigue, butterfly prawns in lemon butter sauce, chicken curry, crispy pata, and other delicacies.
Once in Siargao, island hopping is an inevitable activity. Go to General Luna if you want another beach paradise. In fact, many a traveler likened General Luna to the Boracay of yore. Just across the 27-mile white beach is picture-perfect Guyam, which houses a small community of seaweed farmers. Beyond that is a larger island, Daku, which is equally magnificent. The white sand on this island is so fine you will sink to your ankles as you walk. You can get to Guyam in five minutes on a motorized banca or via a jutesack-covered sailboat. The calm waters of General Luna are fenced in by a natural barrier reef which keeps the giant Pacific waves at bay. These giant waves were discovered by a group of Australian and American surfers in 1993 to be a very perfect place to achieving a hang ten. Rated among Asia’s best, these waves are among the best-kept secrets outside Surigao.
The sister islands of La Janosa and Mam-on, which are right on the edge of the continental shelf and the drop down to the 11-kilometer abyss of the Philippine Deep, are sights to behold. Protected from the surf by a coral barrier, the narrow gulf between the two islands houses a beautiful coral garden perfect for snorkeling. Just off the outlying islands, deep-sea fishing and trolling for game fish are also offered. Motorized fishing boats can take guests out to the open sea for mackerel, tuna, blue marlin and even swordfish. Even whales and dolphins dwell in these rich waters.
Bucas Grande is Siargao’s second-largest island. It offers an amazing scenery – mountain, bay, islet, forest and reef. Its main attraction is Sohoton Cave, which connects the sea with a small open lagoon rich in marine life. This blue lagoon is sprinkled with islets and enclosed by limestone cliffs and virgin forests. The cave is only passable during low tide via a banca or a kayak. As we entered the inner recesses through the stalactite-filled passage, we held our breath as we emerged in a mysterious wonderland of clear, coral-filled waterways twisting around little forested islets surrounded on all sides by high walled cliffs with peach-colored pitcher plants hanging wildly. While navigating around Sohoton Cave, I was reminded of my recent experience at the Phiphi Islands (also known as the James Bond Island) in Phuket, Thailand. After discovering Suhotan Cave, I dare say that our country is really rich in natural resources that are far superior to the island destinations of other countries.
Apart from Siargao, the other major island of the province is Dinagat which has satellite islands that stretch toward Leyte. The place boasts rock islands and islets reminiscent of the limestone rock formations in Palawan and the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan. Here, water is not the only thing that offers a high to visitors but also its mountain. Scale a mountain and be rewarded by a panoramic view of these sea sculptures strewn over the blue and green waters. They come in different shapes and sizes. Natives of the place refer to some of these according to what they resemble: Pato (Duck), Bao (Turtle), and Punta Kabalera (Skull Point). At sunset, the Eagle Point in the unfrequented island of Hagakhak resembles a magnificent golden phoenix rising from the sea spray.
The unspoiled beauty and grandeur of Siargao is no secret anymore. Thank God.
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