100 days in Southeast Asia | Part 5 | Philippines: Siquijor Island

From Dumaguete Island to Siquijor Island, we took the Ocean Jet ferry which is good and faster than other ferries apparently. 

A tip: DO NOT talk to anyone on the streets near Dumaguete port! There was this old man (quite scary too) that kept following us and asking if we had tickets, so we were a bit stupid and said we were going to buy at Ocean Jet.

Everyone we had met in the Philippines so far was so lovely that we didn’t even think I guess...

But basically he walked in front of us as if we were following him to the ticket office, so then at the end he basically begged SO MUCH, for money for taking us there (WTF). Nearly demanded money actually and we ended up giving him some change because you never know what people are capable of. So to avoid it just don’t talk to strangers.

The Ferry trip was fine, really chilled and we had finally arrived at Siquijor Island, at Larena Port which wasn’t bad at all actually. 

Right after you exit the port you can find this motorbike rental, which by the way, was the cheapest we found out of all the islands we visited in the Philippines, $250pp per day and we had no issues at all. 

We also extended without letting them know and it was fine at the end we just paid the extra 2 days the normal price. And this is a tourist information place too so you can chat to them and get some tips.

If we had taken the ferry from the other Liloan port we would have arrived at Siquijor Port instead, which would be a bit closer to San Juan where we stayed but we enjoyed the ride.

And it actually worked out quite well for us at the end of our stay in Siquijor, since we decided to go to Bohol and the ferry to Tagbilaran Port in Bohol leaves from Larena Port. yayaa

  

Unfortunately, on our second day there, we both got sick, our sinuses where all blocked up and I felt terrible for a few days. For some reason I was worse than Viv, but we still managed to do a few things around the island.

We went for a 1h ride around the island all the way up to Salagdoong (photo below) which is a man made forest with a beautiful (paid) beach. I reckon it’s only worth going there if you plan to spend the day, especially if you’re traveling on a budget like us. 

We ended up paying because we rode all the way up there, without researching beforehand of course, duh. With a simple research we would’ve known that it’s not a free beach. So we decided to pay and fk it… 

Oh, and also if you want to use a table or something, you also need to pay for it. I found quite ridiculous to be honest, it’s not even a nice table or anything, better to stay on a shade of a tree on the sand.

It was a weekend when we were there tho, so it was quite packed with locals. 

  

We visited the Century Old Tree with fish spa which is very easy to access as it is located just by the road. Also to the old Convent near some waterfalls.

We ended up not going to the waterfalls because of Viv’s knee that he hurt while canyoneering and because I was feeling like sh*t too. 

Oh, we went to a nice massage place located in front of Tropical Fun-Ta-Sea rentals, I cannot remember the name but they were very professional, affordable, clean and knew what they were doing. Remember we are still travelling on a budget. That was quite cheap massage too, definitely recommended. 

You can find lots of cheap and good food, they also have some nightlife with great live music and atmosphere (Dagsa Restaurant, not the cheapest tho (photo below)) and others with Karaoke. 

One thing I wanted to do and ended up not finding where to go was to see a healing doctor. I actually found out about Siquijor island being called the land of magic and witchcraft only 1 night before leaving. And I really wanted to find one to cure whatever disease I had then which wasn’t pleasant at all.

We spent 4 nights in total and this was overall the cheapest island! ( food, accommodation, transportation). We got perfect weather, except for 1 day which rained quite a lot.

Siquijor is beautiful, and the guesthouse we stayed probably made our time there even better, it is called Good Vibes Inn, in San Juan, about 30 min ride from Larena. 

The rooms are very affordable, simple but they have hot shower and good wifi, but the best of all was the view from our balcony!

It cannot get more oceanfront than this no joke, we simply loved it! And during peak season they also have breakfast available. The owner is this nice Swedish(if i remember well) guy with his Filipina wife and baby. At the time we paid only $14 AUD per night there! It was also the cheapest place we stayed in these 4 weeks trip!

Then we moved on to Bohol, where Viv’s brother was going to be with a few friends, so we decided to join them for a couple of days.