Siargao.

Siargao is a tear-drop island in the Philippine Sea off north-east Mindanao, ~437 km² of coconut and reef. General Luna is the surf town. The headline wave is Cloud 9. Within a tricycle ride of GL sit other reefs: Tuason Point, Quicksilver, Stimpy’s, and Jacking Horse. Boat trips run to Daku, Rock Island, and Pansukian. The drive north opens up Pacifico, Burgos (called Little Hawaii), and Caridad. The Siargao International Surfing Cup at Cloud 9 was upgraded to WSL QS6000 in 2025.

September through November is peak, when Philippine Sea typhoons fire east to north-east swell at the reef line. August and December extend the window on either side. Working size is shoulder-high to 3.5 m, and the outer reefs need 11-second-plus period to stand up. The monsoons are the calendar. Habagat, the south-west monsoon, blows June through September and is offshore on every east-facing reef. Amihan, the north-east monsoon, takes over October through March, side-onshore on the east coast but the same wind that drives the swell.

Water sits at 27 to 29 °C year-round. Boardies and a rashie cover everything, with reef booties worth packing. The island is live coral and the bottom does not forgive. Most cuts come on the inside dry-reef section after a fall drifts you wide. Motorbike crashes on island roads kill more visitors than the surf does. Cloud 9 fills early, and locals call it Crowd 9; the boat reefs (Pansukian, Stimpy’s, Daku) are how the crew scores empty barrels. Jacking Horse is the forgiving reef where surf schools teach. Super Typhoon Rai flattened the island in December 2021; the scene is rebuilt and back open.