The Philippines - Siargao Island, Chapter Four

_{"Need a dash of paradise? Rent a boat and visit the three islands near Siargao - I promise you won't regret it. "}    

「  Siargao Island, The Philippines  」

_{C H A P T E R    F O U R}

_{Guyam Island - one of the places we visited on the Siargao Island tour}

Good afternoon everyone! As you know I've been spending time on the island of Siargao (and absolutely loving it). This blog will be a little different however. I went on an island tour with some friends to three absolute stunning islands and I want to share descriptions and photos for each one. For those wondering, the Siargao island tour is only approximately $20 for a whole day, including a huge buffet lunch and drink. As per usual, all experiences and photos are my own. So without further ado, here they are:

Naked Island

Naked Island was the first stop on our island tour, located approximately 30 minutes away from the pier in General Luna. We set off at about 8am from the hostel where we were all picked up, and very excited to see the islands around Siargao! The eight of us (and the hostel dog!) climbed aboard on the small boat. On the way to Naked Island, we stopped off at one of the many reefs and had the opportunity to snorkel. After a bit of snorkelling, I got back on the boat and was able to get my drone into the air. There was a solitary structure in the middle of the sea that looked utterly stunning from the sky - I just had to get a few shots!

_{Utterly unreal how blue this sea is in the Philippines!}

After fifteen more minutes on the boat we finally moored up on Naked Island, and finally understood the origins of the name. There was not a single natural feature on the island, no bushes, no trees, no grass, nothing. To be honest it was unlike anything I've seen before! There were already a few boats that had arrived at the island so it was fairly busy, but it was pretty much paradise nonethless as you could see across the whole island. Since the tidal range of the region is quite big, the only time you can really visit Naked Island is during low tide - so we were very fortunate that we were able to visit it when we did! During high tide, the island is completely covered by sea water.

_{You can really see why they call it Naked Island!}

_{Our boat - amongst others - moored up on the shores of Naked Island}

_{Our hostel dog "Aa" who joined us on the trip - obviously enjoying the nakedness!}

Daku Island

The next island on our tour was Daku Island. "Daku" in many Filipino dialects means "big", which makes absolute sence as this was by far the biggest island on the trip. So much so that there's actually a community of people permantly residing on the island! We arrived here about 11:30am and we were taken aback by the brilliant white sands that lined the palm trees in the middle of the island. Again we docked, and were escorted by our awesome guide Christine to one of the huts to leave our bags and chill out. We were then given some time to explore the island or have a swim whilst she organised lunch. The seas were magnificently warm, and the winds were gentle as we sat on the beach watching the boats sway slowly bobbing in the sea. The sands were vast, and in front of the many huts on the beach were volleyball nets as well as docks to go jet-skiing from.

We really enjoyed Daku Island, particular because there were some shops that allowed us to buy some (very) cheap rum and fresh fruits to create a very potent but delicious mixer to enjoy with our meal. Christine finally rounded us up and revealed a delicious feast of fish, pasta, adobo (the Philippine national dish!), rice, and other seafood. It was an absolute treat and we were stuffed by the end of it. Vast palm tree jungles are located in the centre of the beach, and there were huge coral shelfs out to sea as observed by the large amount of surfers there. After spending a couple of hours here, resting and soaking up the sun (and mostly digesting our hearty meal!) we finally set off for Guyam island for sunset.

_{The stunning white sands of Daku Island. Look at how huge the sand spit of the island is!}

_{Was pretty hard to leave this piece of paradise!}

_{Perfectly symmetrical blue and red boats moored up on Daky Island}

Guyam Island

This was the last island on our trip and we were very content with what we'd seen so far. Guyam Island is located only a 20-minute boat ride from Daku Island, and is a tiny island nearest to General Luna. It's name is taken from the Visaya word "Guyam" which means ant, and represents the island's size. The island of Guyam was the very definition of island - a small round island of only 4300 square metres, with fine, white sand and a forest of palm trees in the centre, all of it surrounded by crystal blue sea due to how shallow the water is.

We moored up again for the last time on this island and prepared ourselves for what was to be the last island on the tour. The sun was slowly setting, but we still wanted to explore what the small island had to offer. There were a few stalls dotted on the island, selling souvenirs, snacks and beers. Luckily, waste was kept to a minimum here (and across all three islands) so it didn't detract from the beauty of the place. As the sun set however, we just sat on the beach, looking back towards Siargao island, exhausted but content with a full day of laughs, activities, experiencing new places and a lot of sunbathing! We were treated to a spectacular display however. The sunset was a red and orange streak across the clear sky, reflecting like jewels on the water. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen in my life. And to spend it on a small island, sitting on lush white sand and surrounded by amazing friends... well, this was utter bliss.

_{Enjoying a magical sunset as we closed the day on Guyam Island}

_{Beautiful shadows in the sand}

_{Guyam Island from the sky}

_{D E T A I L S} 🌏 | Siargao, The Philippines 📷 | Canon PowerShot SX730 HS/DJI Spark 🎨 | Lightroom Mobile edits used

Over the next few weeks I'll be trekking through The Philippines and I'll be sharing with you my stories, emotions, advice and tips about this wonderful place. I will be doing this while sharing my photographs with all of you too. I sincerely hope this inspires you to go out there and travel!

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_{P R E V I O U S   P O S T}

Click on the photograph in case you missed the last adventure...