Getting to Siargao — by air, by sea, and what to plan for
How to reach Siargao Island, Philippines — fly into Sayak Airport or take a ferry to Dapa, with the decision points that matter for your trip.
Two ways onto the island
Siargao is an island in the Philippine Sea, in the province of Surigao del Norte. You cannot drive onto it — every arrival is either a flight into Sayak Airport (IATA code IAO, commonly called Siargao Airport) in the municipality of Del Carmen, or a ferry into Dapa, the island’s main seaport, from Surigao City on the Mindanao mainland. Both gateways are on the west side of the island, so a road transfer to your accommodation — most of which is on the south-east side, around General Luna — is part of the journey either way.
Flying — Sayak Airport (IAO)
Sayak Airport — IATA code IAO, ICAO code RPNS — sits in Del Carmen municipality on the west coast of Siargao, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines designates it a Class 2 principal, or minor domestic, airport. Its single runway is short enough that the aircraft serving it are turboprops rather than jets, and there are no scheduled international arrivals, so an overseas trip always connects through a Philippine hub first. The point worth getting right before you book anything: there is no nonstop from Manila NAIA. Cebgo moved its Siargao flights from Manila to Clark in early 2025 and PAL Express has since followed, so a “Manila to Siargao” fare shown by a booking site is a connection rather than a direct flight. The airports that do have nonstops into Sayak are Cebu, Clark and Davao — and Cebu is by a wide margin the busiest of the three, which is the practical reason to prefer it: several carriers fly it daily, so a flight cancelled for weather has something to rebook onto, where Clark and Davao run only a few departures a day between them. Sayak itself is a small island terminal and arrivals bunch around a handful of daily schedules, so booking your airport-to-accommodation transfer ahead of the flight means someone is waiting with your name when you walk out, on a price agreed before you left home.
By sea — Surigao City to Dapa
Dapa is a municipality on the south side of Siargao and the island’s main passenger seaport. Ferries connect Surigao City — the capital of Surigao del Norte province, on the northern tip of Mindanao — with Dapa. Surigao City is reachable by bus from Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and other Mindanao cities, so the sea route is a practical overland-and-ferry option if your trip includes mainland Mindanao. At Dapa, a pre-arranged road transfer removes the need to negotiate the onward journey after disembarking with bags.
Which one should you choose?
The answer depends almost entirely on where you are coming from. If you are flying into the Philippines from overseas, the air route to Sayak is the path most visitors take, and for most of them that means connecting through Cebu — landing at Manila is not the end of the journey, because the onward leg from there is either a second flight or a long road transfer north to Clark. If your trip already includes Mindanao, the ferry can turn the journey into a more gradual arrival that starts on the mainland, and Davao is the one nonstop air gateway on that side of the country. Neither option is objectively better; what matters is having the road transfer from your actual arrival point — airport or port — arranged before you land, so the last leg of a long journey is not the one you sort on the spot.
Plan the last leg before you travel
Whichever gateway you use, your final leg across the island needs a vehicle big enough for your group, your bags and any boards you are carrying. Send us your flight number and date, or your ferry sailing and scheduled arrival, plus your accommodation name, group size and luggage, and we will send a fixed, all-in quote by email — no deposit to ask.
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.
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