
Getting around Siargao — what your options actually are
There is no Grab or Uber on Siargao. Here is what actually moves you around the island — habal-habal, tricycle, rented scooter or a private vehicle — and when each one is the right call.
There is no ride-hailing on Siargao
The first thing worth knowing is what is not here. Siargao has no Grab, no Uber and no metered taxi network — the ride-hailing apps that work in Manila and Cebu do not cover the island. There is no scheduled public bus service around it either. Everything you will use is either a local motorcycle-based service you flag down, a vehicle you rent and drive yourself, or a private transfer you arrange in advance. That is not a problem, but it does mean the plan you make before you arrive matters more here than it would in a city.
Habal-habal — the motorcycle taxi
A habal-habal is a motorcycle taxi: you ride pillion behind the driver. It is the fastest and cheapest way for one person to move a short distance, it reaches places a wider vehicle cannot, and around General Luna you can usually find one without much waiting. The limits are obvious once you picture it — one or two passengers at most, no real luggage capacity, nothing over your head if it rains, and no seat belt. For a solo traveller hopping between a hostel and a beach it is ideal. For an airport run with bags, it is not.
Tricycles — the local taxi
A tricycle is a motorcycle with a covered passenger sidecar bolted to it, and it is the closest thing Siargao has to a town taxi. It carries more people than a habal-habal, keeps the sun and rain off, and takes a modest amount of luggage. You flag them down in General Luna and the other towns, or find them at stands. Fares are agreed with the driver rather than metered, so settle the price before you set off. Two practical catches: they thin out in heavy rain and late at night, which is exactly when you most want one, and a long cross-island run in a sidecar is slower and less comfortable than it sounds on paper.
Renting a scooter — and the rules that come with it
Renting a scooter is the most common choice for confident riders, and it is genuinely the best way to explore the island at your own pace. Two legal points are worth knowing before you commit. First, helmets: Republic Act No. 10054, the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009, requires standard protective helmets for both the driver and the back rider on public roads throughout the Philippines. Second, your licence: the Land Transportation Office allows a visitor to drive on a valid foreign driver’s licence for 90 days from their date of arrival, after which it must be converted to a Philippine licence. Carry the licence itself, not a photo of it. Beyond the paperwork, ride to the conditions — road surfaces around the island vary, and dogs, chickens and other riders all use the same road you do.
When a private vehicle is the right answer
A private vehicle with a driver is not the cheapest way to cross Siargao, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It earns its place in specific situations: arriving at Sayak Airport or Dapa Port with luggage after a long travel day; a group too big to split across two or three tricycles; surfboards, which most local options simply cannot carry; travelling with small children, elderly parents or anyone with mobility needs; a long north-end run to Pacifico, Burgos or Santa Monica; moving after dark or in the rain; or a day trip where you want the vehicle to wait for you rather than hoping to find a ride home. If none of those describe your trip, a scooter or a tricycle will serve you perfectly well.
Get a quote: Sayak Airport → General LunaGet a quote: Dapa Port → General LunaNights and early mornings — the gap the island does not fill
Every local option above is a daytime option in practice. Tricycles and habal-habal thin out late at night and in heavy rain, there is no ride-hailing app and no metered taxi to fall back on, and no scheduled bus runs at any hour. So the hours when you are least able to sort something out on the spot are exactly the hours a long travel day tends to land in: a ferry that docks near midnight, a north-end departure that has to leave before first light to make a morning counter cut-off, a boat day that starts on a sailing window rather than on a convenient time. A pre-arranged private transfer is the one option on this page that is not tied to when drivers happen to be out — it runs to the hour you name, at the price you were quoted, and it is the reason most of the off-hours legs we are asked for get booked in advance rather than found on arrival.
Get a quote: Dapa Port → General LunaA sensible mix for most trips
Most visitors do not pick one option — they mix. The pattern that works for a lot of trips is a booked private transfer for the arrival and departure legs, when you have all your bags and the least local knowledge, then habal-habal, tricycles or a rented scooter for day-to-day movement once you have settled in, and a private vehicle again for any long cross-island day trip. That way you pay for the vehicle only on the legs where it actually earns its keep.
Get a quote: General Luna → Sayak AirportBook the legs that matter before you travel
If you want us to handle the arrival, the departure or a full day trip, send us your flight number and date or your ferry sailing, your accommodation name, your group size, and your luggage — including any boards. We will send a fixed, all-in price by email, with no deposit to ask. Everything else on the island you can sort out once you are there.
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.
The route guides behind this plan
Each of these is one of the journeys named above, with what the leg actually involves and a quote form already set to it — so a plan on this page turns into a request without starting over.
Why travellers ask us
Siargao runs on tides, small roads and word of mouth. We quote by hand because that is the only honest way to price a trip on an island like this.
Booked in English, in advance
Arrange everything by email before you fly, from anywhere in the world.
Local drivers, local knowledge
Vetted local drivers who know the island roads, the tides and how long things really take.
Built around your flight
Pickups timed to your actual arrival at Sayak, not a guess — send us the flight number.
More on how we work — fixed all-in pricing, and what the quote covers before you commit.
What happens to your request
- 1
Tell us your trip
Pickup, where you are headed, the date and how many of you. Add your flight number, your resort or any stops — whatever helps us get it right.
- 2
Get a fixed quote
We reply by email with a clear, all-in price for the right vehicle or boat. No account, no deposit to ask.
- 3
Confirm & go
Happy with the price? Confirm and we lock in your driver. You travel on a fixed price with a trip-day contact you can reach.
Tell us your trip. Get a fixed price.
Tell us your plans. We will email you a fixed, all-in quote.
Free to ask. No payment now, no obligation.
Before you send it
How much does a transfer or island trip cost?
It depends on the route, the vehicle or boat, how many of you are travelling, waiting time and any extra stops. That is exactly why we quote per trip rather than publishing a price list — tell us the details and we will send a fixed, all-in price.
What should I put as the pickup and drop-off — is the town name enough?
Send the property name if you have one — your hotel, hostel, villa or homestay — rather than the town on its own. This is the detail that most often makes a quote need revising later, and it is the easiest one to get right. Siargao’s municipalities are large rural areas rather than neighbourhoods: Del Carmen covers roughly 148 square kilometres and Dapa about 84, against General Luna’s 47, so “we are staying in Del Carmen” can describe two places a long drive apart, and it holds the airport, the town proper and the port all under one name. “Pilar” can likewise mean the town or the Magpupungko area some way from it, and they are different drop-offs. A map pin or the barangay is just as good, and a landmark works when a property has no obvious address. If you are being collected at Sayak Airport or Dapa Port, naming the gateway is enough on that side — it is the other end we need pinned down. Our route pages prefill the town to save you typing; replacing it with where you are actually staying takes ten seconds and is the difference between a price that holds and one that has to be sorted out at the roadside. Where to stay in Siargao — and what to send us
How and when do I pay?
There is no payment to request a quote and no obligation to book. Once you are happy with the price we will confirm the payment options with you before you travel.
Is the all-in price really everything — is there anything left to pay on the day?
For the transfer itself, yes: the price we agree in writing is the price for the journey, and there is nothing further to settle with the driver at the end of it. What that price cannot include is money that is not ours to take. Several of the places people visit here charge their own entrance or environmental fee, collected on the spot by the barangay or the municipality — the gate at the Magpupungko rock pools, the sites on an island-hopping day, the lagoon and cove trips — and those are theirs, not ours. We do not collect them, we take no cut of them, and we will not fold them into our figure and present it as a package, because that would make a transfer quote look like a tour price. We also do not print the amounts: they are set locally, the reported figures differ between years and sources, and a number we do not control is not one we will publish. Two practical things follow. Bring some cash for the day, because these are cash desks rather than card terminals. And tell us the stops you have in mind when you request a quote, so the reply can say plainly which legs, which waiting time and which arrangements it covers — then the only thing left on the day is a gate fee you already knew about. The Siargao land tour — what we quote, and what is collected on the day
How far ahead should I book — and is it too late if I am already on the island?
Sooner gives us more room, but do ask late: plenty of the trips we arrange are booked a day or two before travel, and some by people who are already here. The dates with the least slack are the ones when everyone wants a vehicle at once — the wet months, and the run of days around the Philippines Pro at Cloud 9, which is on from 31 October to 10 November 2026 — and so are early-morning departures and late-night arrivals, because those are the hours when Siargao has the least to fall back on: no Grab, no Uber, no metered taxi network, no scheduled bus, and the tricycles and habal-habal thin out late and in heavy rain. What we will not do is publish a cut-off, because whether a trip can be covered depends on the day, the vehicle it needs and where on the island it starts. So send the request with your date and time even if it is tomorrow, and we will tell you straight away whether we can cover it rather than leave you guessing. Getting around Siargao — what runs, what does not, and when
I do not have my dates fixed yet — should I wait until I do before asking?
Ask now with your best guess. The form needs a date in the box because almost everything about a trip is worked out from it, but it is not a commitment and it does not have to be your final answer — write the day you think is likeliest, then say in “Anything else we should know?” what is still moving: the flight you have not booked, the ferry you are waiting on, a week you know only roughly, or a departure hour that could still shift. We will quote what you do know. It is the same with a time you are unsure of: the pickup-time box says to leave it blank if you are not sure, and a return date you have not fixed yet is not a problem either. There is a real reason to ask early rather than wait. Movable dates are worth something here — the Magpupungko pools are only worth visiting around low water and the window drifts later each day, the boat days are weather-gated, and if you tell us which of your days can slide we will tell you which ones give the better window before you commit to one. We would also rather hear from you early and adjust than meet you for the first time on the week you travel: plans change, and telling us as early as you can is what makes them easy to work with. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing — it is a request, not a booking, and nothing is reserved until we confirm it in writing. The one thing to know is that a quote is built on the details you gave us, so if the date or the shape of the trip genuinely changes, the price can change with it, and we will say so before anything is confirmed. We publish no cut-off: send what you have, and we will tell you straight away what we can do with it. Siargao itineraries — which days are worth keeping movable
Can I ask for the return trip at the same time, or do I have to book it separately?
Ask for both at once — it is one request, not two bookings. On an airport or point-to-point transfer the form has a box marked “I also need the return trip”: tick it and you can give the return date and pickup time in the same message. A day trip asks instead for a “Back by” time, and a multi-day itinerary for a “Return / end date” and a return pickup time, so on those two the second leg is already part of what the form collects rather than a separate box to find. If the journey you want back does not fit any of those — a different route home, an extra stop, a move between towns part-way through — write it into “Anything else we should know?” and it will be quoted with the rest. It is worth doing now rather than later. Almost every request that reaches us is an arrival, and the trip home is the one journey with a deadline you do not set: a departure is timed backwards from a check-in counter that closes whether you are standing at it or not, and the load going home is often not the load that arrived — a board bought here, a box, a bag that no longer closes. Both are easier to settle while you are still planning than on your last morning. And asking commits you to nothing: there is no obligation attached to a quote, and a return date you have not fixed yet is not a problem — say so, and we will quote what you do know. General Luna to Sayak Airport — planning the way out
All the questions we get asked — including bags, boards and pets, night pickups, delayed flights and child seats.


