For decades, the Filipino culture has been stricken with local myths, legends and folklores that have been passed from one generation to another. We grew up hearing myriad stories about the origin of almost everything. We have the stories of Pina (Legend of the Pinapple), Daragang Magayon (Mayon Volcano) and Maria Makiling to name a few. We also grew up hearing sinister stories about mythical creatures like the cigar smoking giant (kapre), shape shifting evil spirit (aswang) and warlocks or enchanters (mangkukulam). A few well-known provinces in the country, to this day, are  still infamous for the “said” existence of such creatures. Until now, some people are hesitant to visit and travel these places because such spine-chilling reputation continues to live on.  One of these places is Siquijor.

Siquijor is an island located in Central Visayas and has a familiar reputation as home to dark magics and sorcery. The island is a stone’s throw away from Dumaguete and there are daily trips thru fast crafts (~ 1-hour travel time) and ROROs (~ 1.5 hours travel time) back and forth.

Even with all the scary stories we heard about this place, we just cannot let this opportunity pass so we decided to board that 10:30 am fast craft bound for Siquijor.

Note: If you plan to visit Siquijor, make sure you pop one of those dizziness pills or get one of those plastic bags given at the port.

Why? Well the sea waves between Dumaguete and Siquijor are just not so friendly. Rough sea is an understatement. As per the boat crew it gets worse during amihan (north east monsoon) season which is usually during the ber-months.

After a close to an hour rollercoaster-like boat-ride, we reached the port of Siquijor. The first thing that caught our attention is the clean sea waters of Siquijor port. It was by far, the cleanest port we’ve been to. Next thing we did was to rent a motorcycle. Siquijor is a small island that you can travel all the way around in one day.

Motorcycle rent rate: 350 php per day

Now that we’re all set, it’s time to start our Siquijor adventure!

WHERE TO GO AND EAT?

We stayed at San Juan, Siquijor which is said to have the best white beaches in the island. After checking-in at our hotel, we began our island trip.

First stop was Salagdoong beach resort which is located at the far north-eastern side of the island. It took us a little more than an hour to reach the place. We also passed thru Salagdoong forest which is the biggest man-made molave forest in the Philippines.

As expected, Salagdoong beach was brimming with tourists. It is one of the most commonly visited attractions in the island. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the luscious blue-green sea waters.

Since we were famished after the long ride to Salagdoong, we made a quick stop at Lilibeth’s Pan de Bisaya which is said to be home to authentic visayan pastries.

Next stop was the century-old enchanted balete tree (said to be around 400 years old). There’s also a spring found at the base of the tree where we chilled for a few minutes. If you're a fan of fish spas, then the experience of having your tired toes nibbled by the fishes will be a perfect stress-reliever.

There were also lots of potions sold in the area. Yep, from healing to love potions!

Before heading back to the hotel, we had a quick stopover at the cleanest creek (our opinion) we’ve ever seen in our lives. The water comes straight from the Capilay spring.

Would you believe that this very creek is just beside the local market?

It was a long and tiring first day in Siquijor, so we decided to wrap it up by having a sumptuous dinner. Dagsa was just the perfect place for this. With its fancy restaurant setup, good food plus the live acoustic music, it was just a perfect night for me and Milot.

The following day, our next stop was on one of the most popular falls in Siquijor. The motorcycle ride was about 45 minutes from our hotel. Then after trekking for another hundred steps or so, we were finally welcomed by the cold waters of Cambughay falls!

Apart from swimming, there are also several fun activities you can do at Cambughay falls like doing the “tarzan swing”. There are two types of swings you can try. The first one is lower and easier while the other one is a challenging 10 to 15-foot drop swing.

After a little more swimming, video and picture-taking, it was time to go back to the resort. We dropped by at Baha Bar for lunch. Their local Filipino dishes was just perfect to revitalize our tired and beat-up bodies. Sadly, it was still early when we arrived, and their craft beer is not yet available. Well there’s always a next time.

SEE YOU AGAIN SIQUIJOR!

It was a short two days visit in Siquijor, but the experience we had was so fulfilling that we already miss it the moment we hopped on that boat back to Dumaguete. Indeed, that place is full of magic, not the dark ones, but full of magical places that will leave you in awe. Awesome and clean beaches and falls, friendly locals, good food and scenic views and places, what else can we ask for? If it’s sorcery that makes this place the perfect getaway from the busy and dragging city life, then the people of Siquijor are doing a great job. There are a number of reasons why we easily fell in love with this place. First, this is one of the places we enjoyed riding a motorcycle.


Second, the island is full of wonderful and honest people. Several times that i have left my mobile phone on the phone holder of our bike, yet it was always there when I got back.

Milot left her glasses at the spring park, when we realized it was missing we went back but it was no longer there. As we were about to leave, a married couple approached us and said they have found the glasses. They saw us on our way back to the spring, so they followed us back. Ain't that just great?


Third, the quiet breakfast by the beach is just priceless.


Lastly, we never had any bad experiences nor “aswang” and “mangkukulam” encounters on this island. So, forget those creepy stories and visit the wonderful island of Siquijor!

If you want to see more of our Siquijor adventures, watch the video below!