Siquijor Island, Philippines: Is It Good For Older Travellers?
Siquijor Island in the southern Visayas region of the Philippines is a well-known and popular destination for divers of all levels from around the world. It has more than 20 dive sites around the island with some of the healthiest coral in the archipelago, and underwater walls that drop 30-50 metres that are teeming with marine life.
Filipinos consider Siquijor to be a mystical island. That’s nothing to do with its marine life, but because its folk healers were once considered to be witches and sorcerers. Today the island is still home to many mananambals (the local term for folk healers) who produce herbal medicines using ingredients from plants and trees growing in the hills. An annual Healing Festival held at Easter attracts many overseas tourists to the island.
It’s also popular with backpackers looking for cheap accommodation, cheap food, cheap drinks and beach parties. But does it offer much for older travellers who may not be into diving, folk healing or partying? The short answer is not much. But if you are a budget traveller, and looking for a holiday on a tropical island that’s very laid back and not crowded, and good food that won’t break the bank, then Siquijor might be just the place for you.
Describing Siquijor as laid back is almost an understatement. It’s very rural and it’s a place where you’ll feel you are living with the locals, not with hordes of tourists. Most of the resorts on the island are small mid-range or budget places. There are only a handful of resorts charging more than $100 per night.
Siquijor (pronounced see-kee-hor) is not a small island – it’s about 350 sq km in area with a coastline that’s over 100 km long. It’s not a particularly attractive looking island – it doesn’t have the lush green tropical mountain scenery of similar sized islands like Camiguin or Sibuyan. In fact some of its lowland scrub areas are decidedly unattractive.
Most of the vegetation on its rugged inland hills (the locals call them mountains but the highest peak is only 632 metres high) is secondary growth forest. The most photogenic spots are the waterfalls and the small beaches dotted around the island lined with tall coconut palms. Some of the beaches are good for swimming, but others are muddy or rocky.
There are six small towns located around the coast – San Juan, Lazi, Maria, Enrique Villanueva, Larena, and the town of Siquijor itself. They are roughly 12-15 km apart. Siquijor and Larena on the northwestern coast of the island are where the two ports for the ferries to Dumaguete are located. Most of the resorts are located on the southwestern coast around San Juan.
Many backpackers visiting Siquijor hire motorcycles (or scooters or mopeds as they are called in some countries) to get around the island. You’ll see them speeding along the Circumferential Road with no helmet and wearing only shorts and flip-flops. Although technically illegal, the enforcement of traffic rules on Siquijor is very lax, and for some backpackers that’s the appeal of Siquijor.
For older travellers hiring a motorcycle is not recommended – unless you are already an experienced motorcyclist. A better option is to hire a tricycle with a driver – the ones on Siquijor are very comfortable. For larger groups, a van or multi-cab can be hired.
A coastal tour of the island will cost 1,200 pesos per tricycle (they will fit up to four persons but are most comfortable with two) and a tour including the inland hills will cost 1,500 pesos. The prices are fixed, so you won’t have to bargain. The tours will take 4-6 hours depending on how long you stop at each location.
The standard coastal tour includes the 400-year-old balete tree at Lazi that is growing over a spring where visitors can have their feet nibbled by fish in a pool, the Lazi Monastery and nearby Camabugahay Falls, the Salagdoong beach resort between Maria and Enrique Villanueva, a lookout overlooking the town of Larena (where you’ll find the best coffee on Siquijor), a mangroves boardwalk between Larena and Siquijor, and Palitan Beach on the northern end of San Juan.
There are also a few historic churches along the way to which your driver will take you if you are interested. Senior travellers who have heart problems or walking difficulties may find it hard to reach the Camabugahay Falls because there are 130 steep and uneven steps to negotiate (although there is a steel handrail to assist).
Personally I wasn’t impressed with Salagdoong Beach. The beach has a lot of rocks so is not good for swimming. Most visitors go there for the cliff jumping – an activity that will not appeal to most older travellers. I more enjoyed the beach further up the coast in Barangay Bino-Ongan where Uela’s Three Mangrove Trees are located. It’s a white sand beach that I had to myself, but it was hot because there is no shade there.
If starting from San Juan, it’s best to do the tour in an anti-clockwise direction so you can stop at the Larena lookout for lunch (the food at the restaurant there is very good) and finish up at Paliton Beach for an afternoon swim. Bring a handful of 20 peso notes with you because you will need those for various entrance fees during the day.
If you want to do more than the standard tricycle tour, then there is a full day tour being offered through Airbnb Experiences that includes a visit to a traditional folk healer and a tour of a recently opened cave with an underground river. It’s run by an expat who moved to the island as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in 2007, and gets consistently good reviews on Airbnb.
Local travel agents and some resorts also offer guided tours for around the same price, but most don’t offer much more than what you can do on a self-guided tricycle tour. The advantage of a self-guided tour is that you can move on from places that you don’t find of much interest and then stay longer at places that you like.
Aside from the island tour and perhaps learning a little about the history and culture of the island (including how it acquired its mythical reputation for being the home of witches and sorcerers) there’s not a lot to do on Siquijor except eat, sleep and relax (and maybe have a massage). There are some very good restaurants dotted around the island, many of them run by expats who are married to locals.
One that had recently opened not far from the resort where I stayed at San Juan was called Dolce Amore. I ate some of the best Italian food there that I’ve had in the Philippines, and they make what is undoubtedly the best garlic bread that I’ve tasted in Asia. Their wine list is excellent too, and it’s reasonably priced for the quality of their menu.
There are many other good restaurants around the island. The best strategy is to check the reviews of those closest to your resort on Google or Trip Advisor, and then make a choice from there. Whether you want to eat international food or local food, you should find plenty of options within a short tricycle ride from where you are staying.
When to go
Siquijor can be visited at any time of the year. The temperature does not vary through the year as much as in many other parts of the Philippines. Daytime temperatures are usually around 28°C and nighttime temperatures around 23°C.
It can rain throughout the year too, but the driest months are February to April, and October and November are the wettest months.
School holidays in April and May, and other public holidays should be avoided if possible, although Easter is not as crowded as other popular destinations in the Philippines because some Catholic Filipinos are superstitious about going to Siquijor on religious holidays because of its association with witchcraft.
Getting there
To reach Siquijor you will need to first fly to Dumaguete on the southeastern coast of Negros Oriental. From Manila the flight takes an hour and ten minutes. Fares are about twice the price of fares to Cebu (around 6,000 pesos or $120 each way), despite being further, because there is not a lot of competition on the route.
There are also prop-jet flights from Cebu, and ferries from Bohol and Cebu if you are already in the country.
Once in Dumaguete you can choose to either take a tricycle (150 pesos) or taxi (300 pesos) directly to the port terminal for the ferry to Siquijor, or into the city if you prefer to overnight there before going over to the island (fares are the same). It’s worth breaking the journey in Dumaguete if you have time because the city is known as a foodie hub.
There are four companies currently operating ferry services across to Siquijor. They depart throughout the day from 5.30 am to 6.00 pm. Half the services are fast ferries taking just under an hour to make the 20 km crossing, whilst the others are slow ferries taking just under two hours. Fares vary from 130 pesos to 380 pesos.
Tickets can be purchased immediately before departure, but during weekends and holiday periods it may be wise to take a tricycle to the port terminal (it’s only 5 minutes from the city centre) and purchase tickets at least an hour before departure, as they do sell out during peak periods.
The best option is the Ocean Jet service. It’s the fastest and most comfortable ferry. Its ticket office is located inside the port terminal compound between the 2GO Travel office and Dunkin’ Donuts (the ticket offices for the other services are outside the port terminal gate). The fares are 250 pesos tourist class and 380 pesos business class. Departures are at 7.20 am, 9.40 am, 12.20 pm, 2.40 pm and 5.00 pm.
After going through security you’ll be required to check-in for seat allocation and deposit large bags at the Ocean Jet office on the left (there is a baggage carriage fee of 50 pesos for check-in bags) and then return to the passenger waiting area to the right of security to await your boarding call. There are about a dozen snack outlets inside the waiting area.
The walk to the ferry from the terminal building is along a fairly long open wharf, and it’s the same on arrival at Siquijor port, so if it’s sunny it would be wise to have some sunblock on hand to apply. If it’s raining, you’ll need an umbrella.
If you are prone to seasickness it may be a better option to take the slower but much larger Montenegro ferry, because on some days the swell between Dumaguete and Siquijor can be quite significant, and the smaller ferries can get tossed around on the ocean, especially during the monsoon season.
The Montenegro ferries are very stable and you can walk around the open deck – something you cannot do on the fast ferries. The Ocean Jet ferries are air-conditioned, but the Montenegro ferries are not (but the seating area is shaded).
The Montenegro ferries dock at Larena instead of Siquijor port which is a longer tricycle ride to the resorts around San Juan. The tricycle fare from Siquijor port to San Juan is 250 pesos whilst the fare from Larena to San Juan is 500 pesos.
Header image: © David Astley
