Field note · Philippines · Surigao del Norte

Siargao

Two doors into the island: Sayak airport at Del Carmen in the north, where fixed-price shared vans run the 45 minutes down to General Luna, and Dapa port in the south, where fast craft and RORO ferries come in from Surigao City and shared tricycles, multicabs and a small bus company meet the boats. There is no Grab. On the island itself it is rented scooters, tricycles at flat local fares, habal-habal for longer hops, and the DATSCO buses and multicabs that connect Dapa, General Luna, Del Carmen and the northern towns a handful of times a day. The boats out of General Luna pier and Del Carmen port work to published rates set by the municipalities.

Researched: 21 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 10, 33 sources
Not confirmed: 9
Fares seen: 2026

How transport works here

10 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed nine ways of moving to, from or around Siargao: four by water, two by road, two hired or on demand and one under your own steam, from 33 sources. One entry is not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be.

The fares were seen in 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. We rate 7 of the 10 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with nine things we could not confirm.

4 ways

By water

speedboat

Surigao – Dapa fast craft

Surigao City Ferry Terminal to Dapa Port, Siargao; SJ&G also runs Surigao to Dapa with a Del Carmen call

Fast craft leave from the passenger terminal in Surigao City itself, not from Lipata, which is the RORO port for the Leyte crossings. Buy at the counters in the terminal or online. Evaristo & Sons is the main operator; Atlantis Yohan Express and SJ&G Shipping also run the crossing, and vessel names change often. Check in at least an hour before and bring a government ID – vouchers must be exchanged for a boarding pass. At Dapa, tricycles, vans and habal-habal meet the boat on the pier.

When: Roughly four to five sailings a day each way. Evaristo & Sons publishes Surigao–Dapa at 06:00, 10:00 and 15:30, and Dapa–Surigao at 06:00, 11:30 and 13:00. Other 2025–2026 listings add a 10:00 Atlantis Yohan Express and a 13:00 sailing from Surigao, and a 06:00 Atlantis from Dapa. SJ&G runs 05:30 from Surigao and 09:00 back
Takes: 1h 30m on Evaristo & Sons; Atlantis Yohan Express is listed at 2h 15m; SJ&G's Del Carmen leg is 45 minutes
Fare 2026: Evaristo & Sons 2026 rate card: Economy ₱560, Tourist ₱610, Business ₱680. Other 2025 listings give Evaristo Tourist ₱420–470 and Business ₱520, Atlantis Yohan ₱280, MV 777-2 ₱300, and a general fast-craft band of ₱350–400. SJ&G ₱440. Students, seniors and PWDs get 20 percent off with ID. Fuel surcharges are being added on top

SeasonYear-round, but the Coast Guard suspends small craft in rough weather. In July 2026 Coast Guard Station Surigao del Norte suspended all vessels of 35 gross tons and below with 3.5 m waves forecast off Bucas Grande and Siargao, and SJ&G cancelled its sailings. June to October is the least reliable stretch. BookingBuy at the Surigao terminal or Dapa port, or online through Barkota, Ferryscanner, 12Go or Triphappy. Book ahead in the March to November peak. Run byEvaristo & Sons Sea Transport, Atlantis Yohan Express, SJ&G Shipping Lines, JP Shipping Lines, Roman's Road Shipping Lines.

boat

Surigao – Dapa RORO ferries, and the 2GO ship from Manila

Surigao City Ferry Terminal to Dapa Port; separately Manila to Siargao once a week

The RORO is the slow boat and the only way to bring a motorbike or car onto the island. Montenegro Shipping Lines runs it, alongside Evaristo & Sons ferries such as MV Precious Ferry and MV Sabina Ferry 6. Buy at the terminal; vehicles must be there an hour before a short crossing with the registration and the driver's licence. Since November 2025 2GO has also run a weekly passenger ship direct from Manila, which is a two-night voyage rather than a ferry hop.

When: Roughly two RORO sailings a day each way. 2025–2026 listings give 04:00 or 04:30 from Surigao and 09:30, 12:30 or 15:30 back from Dapa; Montenegro's own filed schedule shows an 11:00 departure arriving 13:00. 2GO runs Manila to Siargao on Mondays and Siargao to Manila on Wednesdays
Takes: 2 hours on Montenegro's filing; 3.5 to 5 hours on the older and slower hulls. Manila to Siargao is about 29 hours
Fare 2026: Montenegro 2026: passenger ₱566, bicycle ₱540, motorcycle ₱2,160, larger vehicles priced by length. Other 2025 listings put RORO economy at ₱180–200 and Montenegro standard at ₱400 and up. Wikivoyage's ₱220 non-aircon and ₱270 aircon figures date from 2016 and are long out of date

SeasonYear-round. RORO sailings hold up in weather that stops the fast craft, but they are cancelled too in typhoons and in the June to October low-pressure season. BookingBuy at the terminal on the day; vehicles should be booked ahead through the shipping line. 2GO sells the Manila run online. Run byMontenegro Shipping Lines, Evaristo & Sons Sea Transport, 2GO Travel on the Manila run.

boat

Tri-island bangkas from General Luna pier: Naked, Daku and Guyam

General Luna pier, beside the market, out to Guyam, Daku and Naked islands, with Corregidor and Mam'on as add-ons

Unlike El Nido, the boats here are booked at a tourism desk at published municipal rates, so you do not need an agency. Walk to the General Luna Tourism Office at the pier, pay the rate for your group size, pay the per-person fee, and you are assigned a boat from a waitlist. Buy your food at the General Luna market first – on Daku they will cook it for a small fee. Naked Island is a bare sandbar with no shade, so tides and time of day matter; most people do Guyam first and Naked last. Boats must be back at the pier by 17:00.

When: Daily, no fixed departures – boats leave as travellers arrive, generally from 08:00. Weekends and Philippine holidays are when boats can run out late in the day
Takes: About 5 hours for the three islands; add an hour or two for Mam'on or Corregidor
Fare 2026: Official 2026 boat rates from General Luna pier: ₱3,000 for up to 5 passengers, ₱4,000 for 7–9, ₱4,500 for 11–14, ₱6,500 for 16–19, ₱9,000 for 21–24. On top, ₱100 per person in general fees plus docking of ₱50 at Guyam and ₱100 at Daku per boat. A hut on Daku is ₱250 and a table ₱150. Adding Corregidor makes it ₱5,000 for up to 5 and ₱5,500 for up to 9. A single island round trip negotiated on its own is ₱800–1,000. Through an agency, with transfers, boodle-fight lunch and fees, ₱1,500–1,600 per person

SeasonYear-round, cancelled in rough seas. The sea usually gets choppier after midday, which matters most on the longer run out to Mam'on. BookingWalk up to the tourism desk at the pier; no advance booking needed except at Christmas, Holy Week and Philippine long weekends. Bring cash for the island fees. Run byGeneral Luna Tourism Office and the local bangka owners; also resold by Klook, GetYourGuide and General Luna agencies.

boat

Day boats from Del Carmen and Dapa: Sugba Lagoon and Sohoton Cove

Del Carmen tourism port to Sugba Lagoon, Kawhagan and Pamomoan through the mangroves; Dapa or General Luna across to Sohoton Cove on Bucas Grande

Sugba is arranged at the Del Carmen Tourism Center beside the port, again at posted municipal rates, boats holding up to six. Get to Del Carmen by scooter in about 45 minutes from General Luna, by hired tricycle for around ₱700, or in two hops on the DATSCO buses. Sohoton is on Bucas Grande, a different island entirely and a couple of hours away by boat, so it is a full day out or an overnight. The cheapest way is the public boat from Dapa port to Socorro, which leaves before 07:00 – be there at 06:00 – and then arranging a park boat on the far side, but the return timings mean most people stay the night in Socorro.

When: Del Carmen boats from 08:00, leaving as people arrive. The Dapa to Socorro public boat leaves before 07:00. Chartered Sohoton day boats leave early from General Luna or Dapa
Takes: Del Carmen to Sugba 30–50 minutes each way; a Sugba plus Kawhagan plus Pamomoan day is 4–5 hours. Sohoton is 1.5 to 2 hours each way from Siargao
Fare 2026: Del Carmen official 2026 rates per boat of up to 6: Sugba only ₱2,150, Sugba plus one island ₱2,700, Sugba plus two ₱3,050, all four stops ₱3,650, mangrove view deck alone ₱600, plus ₱100 per person in fees and ₱150 mooring at Kawhagan and at Pamomoan. Kayak or paddleboard at Sugba ₱250 an hour. Sohoton: public boat Dapa to Socorro ₱100; a whole boat chartered from General Luna ₱7,500 for up to 9 including the tri-island stops, or about ₱6,000 from Dapa without them; then park fees about ₱250 per person and ₱150 per boat, ₱830 for the small boat into the cove for 6, ₱100 per person for guides and about ₱50 per cave

SeasonYear-round. The non-stinging jellyfish in Tojoman Lagoon are usually there March to June and numbers have fallen. Rough water on the Bucas Grande crossing stops the Sohoton day boats first. BookingWalk up at the Del Carmen Tourism Center or the Dapa Boulevard tourism booth; no advance booking. Ask at Dapa the day before about Socorro boat times, which change. Run byDel Carmen Tourism Center and local bangka owners; Socorro municipality and the Sohoton Cove National Park boatmen.

2 ways

By road

minibus

Sayak airport shared vans to General Luna

Sayak Airport, IAO, at Del Carmen, to General Luna, Catangnan and Cloud 9

Van drivers are waiting the moment you walk out of the arrivals shed and will call out hotel names. The fare is effectively standardised, so there is little to haggle over on the shared van – the older advice to bargain no longer matches what drivers charge. Vans wait until they fill, then drop passengers at their accommodation one by one, so the last person off can be on board well over an hour. Lovely Century Transport runs a scheduled hourly service. There is also a ₱100 tourism fee collected at the airport or port, plus a small environmental fee.

When: Lovely Century runs hourly from the airport 05:00 to 17:00 and back from General Luna 08:00 to 14:00. Informal local vans go whenever a flight lands
Takes: 45 minutes to 1 hour for 25–30 km; a tricycle takes 45–70 minutes
Fare 2026: Local shared vans ₱300 per person in 2026, sometimes ₱250 negotiated in a group. Lovely Century's filed tourist-class fare is ₱391, sold online from about ₱375. Whole tricycle to General Luna ₱500–800, or around ₱250 per person if you share. Habal-habal from about ₱350. Private van ₱2,000–2,750

SeasonYear-round, tied to flight arrivals. Flights are cancelled in typhoons. BookingWalk up outside arrivals, or pre-book through Bookaway, Klook, KKday or your accommodation. Run byLovely Century Transport plus independent local van drivers; resorts run their own transfers.

jeepney

DATSCO buses and multicabs to Del Carmen, Santa Monica, Burgos and Pacifico

Dapa terminal and General Luna to Del Carmen, Santa Monica, Burgos, Pacifico and Alegria

This is the island's only scheduled public transport and almost no visitor uses it. DATSCO runs small buses between General Luna and Dapa many times a day, and a handful of runs a day on to Del Carmen and Santa Monica; they stop on General Luna's main street. Multicabs, which are smaller and newer jeepneys, leave the same Dapa terminal for the northern towns. Services are infrequent and you may wait, so this only makes sense if time matters less than money. From Sayak airport you can walk to the main road and flag a northbound multicab, but there is no timetable.

When: DATSCO General Luna to Dapa, Monday to Saturday, about every 30 minutes from 04:15 to 17:15. DATSCO Dapa or General Luna to Del Carmen and Santa Monica at 07:00, 11:00, 14:30 and 15:30 or 17:30 depending on direction. Multicabs from Dapa north at about 07:30, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:30. Nothing on Sundays for the buses
Takes: Dapa to General Luna about 30 minutes; Dapa or General Luna to Del Carmen about 1 hour; the full circumferential loop is over 5 hours of driving
Fare 2026: DATSCO Dapa to General Luna ₱33 per person, on to Del Carmen ₱50. Multicab Dapa to Burgos ₱100, a little more to Pacifico or Alegria. A private tricycle to Alegria, the furthest, is ₱800–900

SeasonYear-round, weekdays and Saturdays. Services thin out or stop when a storm is forecast. BookingNone. Turn up at the Dapa terminal or wait on the main street in General Luna. Run byDATSCO, plus multicab owner-operators.

2 ways

Hired, booked and on demand

tuk tuk

Tricycles and shared motorelas

Within General Luna, Dapa and Del Carmen, and the shared runs Dapa – General Luna and Dapa – Del Carmen

Two different things share the name. A motorela at the Dapa terminal is a shared tricycle that seats up to six, leaves when full and charges a flat per-person fare – this is what locals coming off the boat take. A tricycle hired outright is a negotiated price for the vehicle. Ask 'Pila?' in Bisaya or 'Magkano?' in Tagalog and agree the price before getting in, and say whether you want shared or the whole vehicle. Tricycles gather at the markets, the Dapa pier and the town centres; in General Luna they thin out when it rains, which is why residents keep a driver's number and book by Messenger.

When: On demand in daylight; shared motorelas at Dapa terminal leave as they fill, roughly every 20–30 minutes
Takes: Dapa to General Luna 20–30 minutes, Dapa to Del Carmen 30–45 minutes, General Luna to Cloud 9 about 10 minutes
Fare 2026: 2026 rates: shared motorela Dapa to General Luna ₱30–35 per person, Dapa to Del Carmen ₱40–50. Whole tricycle Dapa to General Luna ₱250–300, Dapa to Del Carmen up to ₱300, Del Carmen to General Luna ₱400–600. Within General Luna ₱20–30 per person by day, about ₱50 per person at night for Cloud 9. General Luna to Cloud 9 ₱30–50. The official fare quoted for tricycle and habal-habal hops between General Luna, Cloud 9 and Malinao is ₱20 per person. A tricycle hired for a day north from General Luna is ₱1,200–1,300; Del Carmen port for the Sugba boats is about ₱700 one way

SeasonYear-round. Harder to find in heavy rain and after dark. BookingNone for shared runs. For a private ride, message a driver ahead – Messenger is how the island books. Run bylocal tricycle and motorela drivers, no single company.

moto taxi

Habal-habal motorcycle taxis

Anywhere on the island; the workhorse runs are Dapa or the airport to General Luna, and General Luna out to Malinao, Pilar and the east coast

Habal-habal are local men carrying passengers on their own motorbikes. They wait at the Dapa pier, outside the airport and at town junctions, and can be flagged on the main roads. One bike takes two passengers, or one with luggage. They are faster than a tricycle over distance and better on the rougher side roads, and they are the fallback if you do not want to ride yourself. Agree the price before setting off.

When: On demand, daylight mainly; scarce late at night
Takes: Airport to General Luna 45 minutes to 1 hour; Del Carmen to Pilar about 30 minutes
Fare 2026: 2026 bands: short hops of 5–10 km ₱50–100, medium 10–30 km ₱100–200, long runs over 30 km ₱200–400. Del Carmen to General Luna ₱300–400; from the airport fares start around ₱350. Airport to Del Carmen town ₱50–80. The official short-hop fare between General Luna, Cloud 9 and Malinao is ₱20 per person

SeasonYear-round. Avoided at night – the roads have no lighting. BookingNone, though drivers hand out numbers and take bookings by text or Messenger. Run byindependent riders.

One way

On foot, by bike, or otherwise

scooter hire

Scooter hire and the circumferential road

The sealed ring road linking Dapa, General Luna, Pilar, Burgos, Santa Monica and Del Carmen, plus the Cloud 9 and Magpupungko side roads

Rental shops are all over General Luna and Del Carmen, and there are vendors outside the airport and at Dapa port, which is convenient if you are travelling light – but check the tyres and brakes before you take one, because the airport machines are hard to get fixed once you are down south. Shops rarely ask for a licence, but police checkpoints in Dapa and General Luna do, and they check helmets. Fuel comes from a handful of stations plus roadside stalls selling it in bottles. The ring road is paved with shoulders and light traffic; the hazards are stray dogs, loose gravel after rain, and the complete absence of street lighting after dark.

When: Daily hire, walk in
Takes: The full island loop is a little over 5 hours of driving without stops. General Luna to Cloud 9 is 5 km, Del Carmen to General Luna 38 km in 45–60 minutes
Fare 2026: ₱300–600 a day in 2025–2026, cheapest at the airport and for multi-day hire; about ₱3,000–3,500 a week. Petrol around ₱52–72 a litre, about ₱100–150 to fill a scooter. Car hire about ₱2,500 a day; a self-drive tuk-tuk from ₱1,200 a day, or ₱1,500 with a driver; a van with driver ₱2,500–4,000 a day. Riding without a valid licence can cost a ₱3,000 fine and the bike can be impounded

SeasonYear-round. Roads are slippery after rain and the rainy season runs roughly May to November. Motorbike crashes are common and the island's clinics cannot handle serious injuries. BookingWalk up, or have your accommodation deliver a bike. Return it where you collected it. Run byindependent rental shops, hotels and airport vendors; Binggo Siargao for tuk-tuks.

One way

Rules, permits and closures

service status

Typhoon season, and what Odette changed

All arrivals and departures

Siargao sits on the Pacific side of Mindanao and takes storms head on. Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, made landfall directly on the island on 16 December 2021 with winds of 195 km/h. It destroyed the terminal at Sayak Airport, cut the island off from everything but air access for a period, and caused damage put at around ₱20 billion across the affected area. The island rebuilt and tourism came back, but the practical lesson holds: from roughly May to November, and again in December, a storm or even a low-pressure system can suspend the ferries, cancel flights, knock out power and with it the ATMs, and block roads. Watch PAGASA bulletins and the Coast Guard's sea travel advisories rather than the operators' own pages, which update late.

When: Typhoon season runs roughly May to November, with December landfalls on record. Sea travel suspensions happen several times a year
Takes: Suspensions typically last one to three days per system
Fare 2026: No cost as such. Budget a buffer day before an onward international flight, and carry cash – power cuts disable ATMs and card terminals

SeasonMay to November is the rainy and typhoon season; March to October is the driest stretch; August to November is the surf season. BookingNot applicable. Refunds on cancelled sailings follow MARINA rules and are only granted when the carrier is at fault. Run byPAGASA for forecasts, Philippine Coast Guard Station Surigao del Norte for sea travel advisories, MDRRMO locally.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

9 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
Vessel names and departure times on the Surigao – Dapa route differ between every source checked for the same period, and the operator line-up shifts. Two 2025–2026 schedule pages name different boats for the same time slots. Treat the times as indicative and confirm at the terminal or on the operator's Facebook page the day before.
02
Fast craft fares are also inconsistent: Evaristo & Sons' own filed rate card says ₱560 to ₱680 while the same page's summary and other 2025 listings say ₱420 to ₱520. Fuel surcharges are being applied on top of published fares, which probably explains the gap.
03
No evidence was found that the Surigao fast craft pier has moved. The fast craft and RORO both use the Surigao City Ferry Terminal; Lipata, a few kilometres north, is the separate RORO port for the Leyte and Dinagat crossings. If a pier change is being reported locally it is not documented online.
04
Dapa Port itself was not confirmed to have been rebuilt or relocated after Odette. Sayak Airport's terminal was destroyed in 2021 and the airport operates again, but no source consulted gives the reopening date or describes the replacement terminal.
05
The ₱100 tourism fee collected at the airport and port appears in one resort's guide and is not confirmed on a Surigao del Norte or municipal government page.
06
Official tricycle fare matrices for General Luna and Dapa were not found in published form. The ₱20 figure quoted as the official fare for General Luna, Cloud 9 and Malinao comes from a travel guide, not from an ordinance.
07
Del Carmen and Pacifico do not have jeepney services in the usual sense. What runs is DATSCO's small buses between General Luna, Dapa, Del Carmen and Santa Monica, and multicabs from the Dapa terminal to the northern towns. Neither publishes a timetable; the times recorded here come from one guide and should be checked at the Dapa terminal.
08
Timings for the Dapa to Socorro public boat, and the return, are said by travellers not to line up for a day trip, and change. Ask at Dapa the day before rather than planning around them.
09
Klook, GetYourGuide and similar resellers quote per-person prices that bundle the municipal boat rate, transfers and lunch. When comparing, remember the pier rates are per boat, not per person.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Siargao is this.

N: Scheduled flightsnearest airport CGY is 224 km away
N: Trains and coachesno timetable feed known for this country
Y: Ferriesferry terminal, 9 km; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Surigao, 61 km.