Siquijor may be known in the Philippines as a mystical place where supernatural creatures and uncanny practices abound, but that is slowly changing as tourism in the province slowly picks up. Today more and more people are discovering Siquijor’s hidden gems – from beautiful white sand beaches with crystal clear waters, to majestic falls, to old, historical churches.
As far as I know, Siquijor is only accessible via Dumaguete. The province has no airport of its own, so you need to fly to Dumaguete first (Sibulan airport) and take a boat to Larena port to get to Siquijor. It’s an ideal place for a day trip from Dumaguete, but you can also stay there for a night or two if you wish since there are several resorts in the province.
To get around Siquijor, it’s best to hire a tricycle to take you to the famous tourist attractions for a half day or whole day tour because most of Siquijor’s tourist spots are far from each other. Upon arrival at Larena port, you’ll be greeted by tons of tricycle drivers offering tours around the province.
The tour price ranges from Php 700 to Php 2,000, depending on the places you’ll visit and your haggling skills. The drivers will even show you a poster of all the possible places to go to, which you can also find in most of the tricycles there, just like in Baler.
Since our time was limited because we had to fly back to Manila that day, we decided to do a half-day tour only and settled on three places to visit: Old Enchanted Balete Tree, Cambugahay Falls and Salagdoong Beach.
Old Enchanted Balete Tree
We were supposed to skip this tourist attraction because I wanted us to maximize our time at the falls and the beach, but since it’s along the way anyway, our tricycle driver asked us if we wanted to stop by, which we did.
There’s really nothing to see here except the huge and imposing Balete tree and the small pool (sort of) below it. The pool is home to little fishes, and we were told that we could soak our feet in it for a fish spa experience.
I was hesitant to try it but I did anyway out of curiosity: D The fishes are not that big (unlike the ones in Luljetta Spa in Antipolo), so they don’t take you by surprise once you put your feet in the water. It’s still not recommended for ticklish people though :p
Cambugahay Falls
Parking fee for the tricycle: Php 20
Guide (required): you decide how much you give as a tip
Even though I’m not particularly fond of waterfalls, I included this in our itinerary because I wanted to see for myself the turquoise waters that the falls is famous for. True enough, the turquoise tint of the waterfalls is what sets it apart from others; it’s just like you’re at a beautiful beach except that it’s freshwater 😀
Swimming there was so refreshing too because the water just had the right temperature and the environment was so peaceful (of course, it was a huge thing that we had the whole place to ourselves when we went there :P). I actually thought of just spending the rest of our day there since the place was so beautiful and relaxing, but of course, I couldn’t pass up the chance to spend some time at the beach too. 😛
Adding to the beauty of the waterfall is its various tiers; the falls is divided into three sections, and you can actually choose which part to stay in or explore first.
We chose to stay at the lowest part where the vine swing could be found. The chance to swing and jump into the water is actually one of the reasons tourists flock to Cambugahay.
Our guide encouraged us to try it by showing us how to do it, and Joseph was easily convinced, so he tried it himself – not once, but twice. Haha. I wanted to try it but I was worried that I won’t be able to let go of the rope and jump into the water because I might be too chicken to do so. Hahaha.
After a while, I couldn’t resist the temptation because I figured it might be my only chance to try such an activity, so I went ahead and did it. After seemingly 10 years of standing by the falls, holding on to the rope with Kuya guide behind me impatiently waiting for me to finally jump, I actually went on a Tarzan-like swing and jumped into the water.
It was an extraordinary experience for me and probably one of the daring things I have done (I’m not much of an adrenaline junkie, obviously, haha). I wanted to do it again but we had to leave because we still had to go to Salagdoong Beach (excuseeees :D).
Salagdoong Beach
To cap off our Siquijor day trip, we went to Salagdoong Beach, which is especially famous for its water slide and cliff jumping site. (Day trip guests have to pay an entrance fee of Php 50 per person, if I remember correctly, and Php 20 parking fee for the tricycle.)
Salagdoong Beach can be found inside Salagdoong Beach Resort, which offers various rooms if you want to spend the night as well as other facilities. Because it was a weekday, we also practically had the whole place to ourselves; other tourists came around lunch time, when we were about to leave already.
The resort is huge and has numerous cottages for rent for those on a day trip. Dividing the beach into two areas is the ledge/walkway, which you can climb to go to the water slide or cliff diving point or to simply enjoy overlooking views of the beach.
There are various stairs built into the sides of the ledge, so you can practically jump off into the water if you wish, though I don’t advise you to do so because the water below is deep.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try the water slide because it was apparently destroyed during the earthquake last year. We didn’t try cliff diving too because we didn’t have enough guts to do so. Maybe next time. Haha.
We mainly stayed on the beach area on the right side because it has finer sand; it’s also where the sunbeds are located.
Among the beaches we’ve been to the entire trip (from Dumaguete and Oslob), Salagdoong Beach was the most ideal for swimming because there were hardly waves and the water was crystal clear. We would’ve stayed there much longer, if only we had a lot of time.
After a few hours of beach bumming and picture-taking, we called it a day and went back to the port so we could catch a ferry back to Dumaguete, where we would be taking our flight back to Manila.
Note: If you’re just on a day trip, there are shower areas at the resort, at the back of the comfort rooms. It’s public though (as in out in the open), so you have to use the restroom to change clothes. 😀
How to Get to Siquijor from Dumaguete
Go to Dumaguete Port (along Rizal Boulevard) to catch a ferry to Siquijor. Fare is Php 160, terminal fee is Php 15. Travel time is one hour. The earliest ferry leaves at 5:45 am.
Tip: Take Ocean Jet instead of GL Shipping Lines Ferry. We took GL on the way to Siquijor and the boat ride took forever. The ride was also uncomfortable because it was hot inside but we couldn’t open the windows because the waves were strong and the water was splashing inside the ferry. It was a stark contrast to our boat ride back to Dumaguete via Ocean Jet, which only took 45 mins. It had air conditioning, too 😛
In Siquijor, there are various stalls of shipping companies near the port where you can buy your ticket back to Dumaguete Port. If you’re just on a day trip, make sure to check the schedule of the trips to Dumaguete before you head out for your Siquijor tour.
We were supposed to buy our return tickets to Dumaguete upon arrival in Siquijor, but the stalls were still closed since it was still early. You can buy tickets right before you leave Siquijor, but make sure you arrive near the port early so you can score tickets for your preferred schedule.
*Travel date: December 2014
Wanderworld 
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