Siquijor On A Budget Overnight Trip - Getting There and Budget Summary

I took another opportunity to visit the island of Siquijor for the weekend, two days and one night. I had a good friend as my company, Eli, who thankfully brought a big enough tent, which saved us from accommodation expenses. There were four of use who originally planned on going but two ended up not coming so I decided to go as planned and not let others ruin my chance to go out and see the outside world.

My first time in Siquijor was December of 2008, about three years ago, and it was to attend a wedding of a good friend of mine from high school, Maricor. She was generous enough to book the entire hotel at Salagduong beach, Hotel Agripino, for her guests to stay overnight. So during that time, my only expense was only for round trip fare and some meals before and after the wedding buffet.

In this second trip, a few things were expected,  traveling from Siquijor port to the Salagduong Beach, basking in the sun, eating, relaxing and forget all the problems for a day or two. But there were other things too that i didn't expect i would get to see. I'll share them in parts and i'll try my best to recall and document what we went through on our way there.

Getting There

Siquijor Island is pretty much near Dumaguete. There are a number of boat or ferry rides you can take to cross to the island. In our case, we chose Delta Ferry since it only takes 45 minutes to an hour to get us there.

If you're wondering where Siquijor is located relative to Dumaguete, here's a map:

We paid Php160.00 plus Php15.00 terminal fee. Tickets can be purchased directly at Dumaguete Port. Ferries leave about every other two hours so there's always a chance to catch one.

Departure (11:48 am)

Dumaguete Port Terminal boarding area

I'm always anxious riding the Delta because it's usually a really wavy one-hour ride. It's really a small vessel about the size of a bus or two combined. Boarding the ferry looks pretty nerve-racking seeing it going up and down along the waves while on dock. It leaves right away as soon as it's full and that's when you try and adjust your senses. The center of the boat is the best place to sit as it's the part where movement isn't as bad as being seated at the sides, thus minimizing the feeling of sea sickness. While the ferry is moving, they have this guy who walks around distributing small plastic bags to use when you get sea sick. I asked for one just in case because i started to feel my head spin.

 

A "bumpy" ride and a snapshot of Delta Ferry

Thankfully, the ride was over after an hour and I was fine.

Arrival (12:55 pm)

We got out of the ferry and walk down the terminal. As expected, you'll meet a lot of local drivers offering ride or tour packages if you don't have any to take you to your resort or hotel.

Eli has a friend in Siquijor and his name is Lord. Yeah. Lord. He's a pretty good and helpful person and we were glad we had him as our tour guide. He has a motorcycle which we used as our tour vehicle for our entire trips within the island. He really knows a lot of the whereabouts of people and places because he works in the island as an NSO staff.

This is the sight that welcomed us when we arrived.

 

 

Upon arrival, Lord met us near the ticketing counters at the terminal. We attempted to buy our tickets for the next day in advance but we can't. They only sell tickets on the same day the ferry leaves.

Lunch (1:30 pm)

Before going to Salagdoong where we plan to stay, we requested Lord to take us somewhere we could have lunch. It was half past one and we were getting hungry. He took us to a small restaurant called "Break Point". We each ordered and paid for around Php 650 for two dishes and one combo meal, rice and drinks. That much because we have big appetites.

The place also offers Wifi internet for customers.

  

After Lunch (2:40 pm)

After having lunch, we're off to Salgaduong so we could leave our stuff there as we didn't want to keep carrying a lot of stuff while touring. Eli's tent was heavy and my backpack and other bag was killing me, plus i had to carry around my camera in a separate bag.

We arrive in Salagdoong Beach at around 3:15 pm. We had no idea that there was going to be a dance contest to be held that night so they set a special rate of Php 30 just for it. Usual rate is Php 15 per adult. We entered the resort and I was disappointed even more that there were so many people! As if a party was going to be held later that night! I was really hoping for a quiet day at the beach, few to zero people so i could just laze around and not mind people other than the great view.

I was planning to get a standard and cheapest room in Hotel Agripino (Php 800) but it was fully-booked. The cottages near the beach, there were four at Php 1,500/3pax but all had occupants. Last resort was to rent a tent that we could pitch near the beach. Tent rental is at Php 300 but to my dismay, all their tents had been rented out. The only option left is to sleep in the same tent as Eli which as also pretty big it can accommodate three people, but i didn't feel a lot comfortable sharing a tent with a guy (although eli is really a good friend and a person - he has a gf and i didn't want people thinking we're a couple or something because we share a tent).

Anyway, i had no choice so i said it was ok. It was also best since it's free. He pitched the tent early afternoon, beside all the others already there by the beach. The place was really swarming with people i had lost all the excitement i had earlier that day. I wanted to get out of there fast and instead tour other areas of the island. So when done with the tent, we went up to the front desk of Hotel Agripino and requested if we could leave our bags there for a few hours. It was alright so we were glad that we could get a move on.

With Lord driving the motorcycle, Eli and I left Salagdoong beach and decided to go to Cambugahay Falls in the town of Lazi.

One good thing about riding a motorcycle around Siquijor is that you get a great view of every place you pass by. Before Lazi, we passed by Maria, where i saw a lot of nice beach views and mangroves.

 

  

More snapshots along the way

I wish we had more time so we could go back just to take more pictures, but we didn't want to get home by dark so we headed on.

This is my first time to do a complete documentation on a place i went to and i hope it helps out some of you who need info on planning a trip to Siquijor.

Here is a summary of what we spent for an overnight trip to the island.

160.00 Tickets (Delta Ferry to Siquijor)
15.00   Terminal Fee (Dumaguete Port)
300.00 Lunch at BreakPoint
165.00 Supper at Salagdoong Beach Resto
30.00 Entrance fee to Salagdoong (15 is the usual rate - we got a special rate because of the  event that day)
0.00 Accommodation (because Eli brought a tent)
5.00 Hot water (i brought sachets of 3 in1 coffee - their coffee costs 30 pesos - expensive)
160.00 Tickets (Delta Ferry to Dumaguete)
14.00   Terminal Fee (Siquijor Port)
195.00 Total gas expense for motorcycle ride
200.00 Tip for our friend for showing us around (he wasn't expecting anything back for being our driver/tour guide though)

Total spent: Php 1,244.00

I posted different entries for the different places we went to in Siquijor so just click on any you'd like to read more about.

This post is part of a series:

• Siquijor On A Budget Overnight Trip
• St. Isidore Labrador Church & Convent, Lazi, Siquijor
• Cambugahay Falls, Lazi, Siquijor
• Salagdoong Beach and Molave Forest, Salagdoong Siquijor
• Bandilaan National Park, Cantabon, Siquijor