Island guide · surf

Siargao surf spots, honestly graded.

Published and verified 8 July 2026 · every spot cross-checked across at least two surf sources · single-source details flagged · part of our Siargao surf guide

Siargao packs more than a dozen named reef breaks around General Luna, plus the powerful lefts of the north coast, and every one of them breaks over coral. Beginners belong at Jacking Horse and Daku Reef; intermediates get Cemetery, Salvacion, G1 and small-day Stimpy's; and Cloud 9, Tuason, Quiksilver, Rock Island and Pacifico are advanced waves whatever the rental shop tells you. Here is the honest map.

Where should beginners surf in Siargao?

Beginners in Siargao start at Jacking Horse: a mellow right-hander at the north end of the Cloud 9 beach (take the footpath left of the main gate) that breaks over reef but rides like a soft beach break. Surf it mid-to-high tide, never at dead low when the bottom turns shallow and rocky, and expect the friendly chaos of every surf school in town teaching on the same peak. One honest hazard: a sideways current that gets strongest around high-tide transitions, another reason lessons here run with SISA-accredited instructors. Daku Reef, about 15 minutes out by bangka, is the graduation wave: soft, forgiving rights that longboarders love, at their best on the April-to-May south swells. G1 (Giwan), a 15-to-30 minute drive up the coast (not the same place as Guyam Island), offers gentle reef peaks with waves nearly year-round.

Which Siargao spots suit intermediate surfers?

Intermediates get the best spread on the island. Cemetery (locally Pesangan), opposite the General Luna cemetery, is about 500 metres of reef carrying five or six left peaks and a right, fast and hollow, and, unusually for this coast, best around low tide. Salvacion, a five-minute boat ride past the Catangnan bridge, serves shoulder-high glassy walls with a slightly quick takeoff. Stimpy's, a quality left across the channel, is the step-up wave: fun for solid intermediates at low-to-mid tide on a moderate day, and a genuine proving ground once it goes overhead, when the big rock on the inside starts collecting the caught-inside. And a warning about Quiksilver, the right immediately beside Cloud 9: blogs sell it as the easy step-up, but the local surf shops rate it advanced, fast, technical and locally dominated when the season is on. Treat it as intermediate only on small mid-tide days.

Which spots are for advanced surfers only?

Cloud 9 is the island's signature: a hollow, barreling right over a reef shelf reported at roughly one to two metres deep at low tide, expert territory when a real swell runs, surfed mid-to-high tide from the boardwalk with a short paddle, and famously crowded (the 5:30am session exists for a reason). Tuason Point, the heavy left next door, is very fast and hollow over rocky reef with holes in it, works at high tide only, and is widely considered one of the most technical waves here. Rock Island, a 15-minute boat ride out, is a powerful right with steep drops, best from head-high to double overhead at mid tide, with a long, exhausting paddle back when it goes wrong. And Pacifico, about 35 km north (roughly an hour by scooter), is possibly the island's biggest and best left, holding up to triple overhead, with a beach paddle-out, a strong rightward current, and a wave that reads smaller from the sand than it is. Rarely crowded, entirely earned.

Further out, one line each, all lightly documented so confirm locally: Pansukian Reef, an uncrowded outer-reef barrel near Naked Island needing a mid-size east swell; Pilar, two quality expert-leaning lefts up the east coast, a long boat or road trip; and Caridad, clean left barrels on northeast swell in peak season with almost nobody on it.

How do the boats work, and what do they cost?

The boat spots run from the launch at the end of Tourism Road, past Cloud 9. As of 2025 to 2026: Stimpy's and Rock Island cost about ₱250 per person return with a two-person minimum (the two breaks sit minutes apart, so check both), Cemetery about ₱150 per person, and a Daku Reef run about ₱1,500 per boat. The boatman anchors in the channel and waits while you surf. Prices are informally consistent rather than officially fixed; agree before you load the boards, and expect them to drift over time.

How do tides work on Siargao's reefs?

Tide is the main variable that turns a Siargao spot from fun to unsurfable, and the default rule is mid-to-high tide on the General Luna reefs. The exceptions are the ones to memorise: Cemetery is best around low, Stimpy's prefers low-to-mid, Rock Island peaks at mid (low is too shallow, high goes fat), and Tuason only works at high. Jacking Horse handles anything except dead low. Two tide pushes a day means two sessions a day if you plan around them, which is exactly the rhythm a long-stay base in General Luna makes easy: surf the push, work the low on Starlink, paddle back out on the return. Lessons, board rental and boat runs can all be arranged through Tuloy's experiences menu, and the breaks are pinned on our neighbourhood map.

Questions we get at the bar