Siargao Adventure: Sidetripping in Cloud 9

After two whole days of extreme [mis]adventure in Del Carmen, Siargao (not mention sleeping discomforts and number 2 challenges, read about it here), and a brief meeting with the mayor in the morning of day 3, we finally had an afternoon off! Yay!

I initially just wanted to stay in the hotel and sleep the rest of the day off, having had no decent rest for the past four days. But my officemate, Ivan, had his mind made up on going to General Luna to experience Cloud 9 and was talking me into coming along. Although the thought of a soft bed and air-conditioning was too tempting to resist, the beach bum in me won.

So we hurriedly packed a few beach stuff and set off for General Luna.

From our hotel in Sayak, we drove to Dapa with our ever reliable and fun tour guides from Siargao Adventure. From Dapa, we hired a tricycle to drive us to General Luna. Going rate from Dapa terminal to GL is 300Php (about 7.5USD). From GL going back to Dapa, you can get tricycles for much lower rates but you'd have to be at the terminal before 5pm to get tricycles going to Sayak. Since we didn't want any trouble getting home, we hired the driver for 700Php (17.5USD) to bring us to GL and drive us back to Sayak. :)

Sidetrippers. || At the Dapa Terminal. 

After a 30-minute drive to Dapa and about 20-minute ride to General Luna, we finally kissed the sands of the PH Surfing Capital. :)

Well, hello Cloud 9! <3

Last minute preps with my local instructor, Kuya Balong. 

Board rental/instructor rates are a bit higher than the usual 400Php/hr (10 USD) in other known surf spots like La Union, Bagasbas and Zambales (cheapest I've tried so far is in Baler which is 350Php/hour). It's 500Php/hr- 200Php for the board, 300Php for the instructor. You can also rent the board for the entire day for 500Php.

Surf's up! :)

We surfed on the other side of the beach where the waves were just right for beginners. Okay so I don't have pictures for bragging rights haha (it was low tide so we were pretty far from the shore and I only brought my Samsung phone with me). But I had several looong rides and it was uh-mazing! The waves were challenging but manageable, the water was really cool and the entire beach just spells stoooked.

And it's the only surf spot I've been to that has white sand. White sand! Gah! I was breathless the entire time (aside from being totally out of breath from all the paddling haha).

They sure didn't call this the Surf Capital of the Philippines for nothing.:)

On the famous surf launch cottage. 

Great waves, clear waters, white sand. What more could you ask for?:)

We were starving after hours of riding the waves and checking out the surf scene. So we decided to grab some merienda at the local food spot, The Boulevard.

The Boulevard. Our guide says this turns into a pretty neat party every Friday night. :)

Who wants BURGERS?:) Humongous burgers for 35Php (less than 1USD) a pop! 

Oh yep, I'm hungry!

With our trusty en route back to Sayak. 

We were back at the hotel by dinner, with enough time to take a shower before our nightly huddle. The following day was another exhausting, action-packed series of activities which includes getting stuck on an island and manning a local fishing boat (read more about our [mis]adventures here and more breathtaking sights of Siargao here).

Sure am thankful for an exciting side-trip along the way!:)

Roanni