Pilar transfers & east-coast trips
The east-coast municipality Magpupungko belongs to — quieter than General Luna, with its own surf, mangroves and town-proper stays.
Where it is
Pilar is a municipality of Surigao del Norte on the eastern side of Siargao Island, facing the Philippine Sea. It is bounded by San Isidro to the north, Del Carmen to the west and Dapa to the south. It was a barrio of Dapa until Executive Order No. 638, issued by President Elpidio Quirino on 31 October 1953, made it a municipality in its own right. Today it is a town of about 11,000 people across 15 barangays, named after its patron, Our Lady of the Pillar.
Pilar is the town — Magpupungko is the attraction
Magpupungko Rock Pools are in Pilar, and most visitors meet the name of the attraction long before the name of the municipality. That causes real confusion when a transfer is booked: an enquiry for “Magpupungko” when you are actually staying in the town proper or an outlying barangay is not the same drop-off, and neither is the reverse. Send the accommodation name or the barangay along with your dates and the quote covers the leg you actually need. If it is the pools you are heading for, the Magpupungko guide covers the tide timing that decides the pickup.
What else is on this side of the island
Pilar surfs, and far more quietly than the south — there are breaks in front of the town proper and at Barangay Caridad, at their best on north-east swells. Lukod Beach and Caridad Beach are here, and Taglungnan Beach and the Tagbayanga Islets sit across from the town proper, reached by boat. Inland, the municipality holds an extensive mangrove forest reserve and Paghongawan Marsh in Barangay Jaboy, where 36 captive-bred Philippine freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus mindorensis) were released in March 2013 as a conservation effort. The town also hosts an annual invitational sport-fishing event, the Siargao International Game Fishing Tournament.
Getting here
Pilar has no airport or visitor ferry terminal of its own. Arrivals come through Sayak Airport in neighbouring Del Carmen, or by sea to Dapa Port, which carries the island’s ferry link to Surigao City — and either way the last stretch is a road transfer across to the east coast. That is a long arrival to leave to chance late in the day. Send your flight or ferry details, the barangay or accommodation name, your group size, bags and any boards or child-seat needs, and we will send one fixed, all-in price by email before you travel.
No published price — and that is deliberate
A fair price depends on your date, your group, your bags and how long we wait. So we quote per trip instead of publishing a number we would have to hedge. Fill in the form below and we will send a fixed, all-in price by email.
Related route guides
If this place is one stop in a wider Siargao trip, these route guides explain the road or road-and-boat legs visitors most often need to sort around it.
General Luna → Magpupungko
The island’s one trip where the tide, not the clock, sets your pickup time — a road transfer north from General Luna to the tidal pools at Pilar.
Read moreSayak Airport → Pilar
The arrival that crosses the island — from the airport on the west side to the quiet east coast, where the road you take depends on which part of Pilar you are actually going to.
Read moreDapa Port → Pilar
The ferry arrival for Siargao’s east coast — from the municipality Pilar used to be part of, to the one it became in 1953.
Read moreTell us your trip. Get a fixed price.
It takes under a minute. No account, no payment now, no obligation — just a clear, all-in quote from someone who actually drives these roads.
- Free & no-obligation — quote first, decide later
- Reply by email from a real person on the island
- Fixed, all-in pricing for the right-sized vehicle
- Your details are used only to prepare your quote