Dapa Port to Del Carmen
The ferry arrival for the mangrove side of the island — and the one transfer on Siargao where saying “the port” can mean either end of the journey.
Two ports, two completely different jobs
This is the transfer where one word does the most damage. Dapa Port is Siargao’s passenger sea gateway, the terminal for ferries from Surigao City. Del Carmen has a port as well, and it is not a passenger gateway at all — it is the road-to-boat launch into the mangrove channels, the place you leave from for Sugba Lagoon. Both are “the port” in a booking message, and they sit on opposite sides of the island doing unrelated things. Tell us which one you mean, and if it is Del Carmen port, whether the boat beyond it is already arranged.
Where you land, and how far around you are going
Dapa sits on the south side of Siargao; Del Carmen is on the west, and the road between them runs north-west across the base of the island. The two municipalities do share a land boundary — checked against the same 2023 PSGC boundary file the island map on our routes page is drawn from, Dapa borders Del Carmen, General Luna and Pilar — but bordering is not the same as being close to your bed. Del Carmen covers roughly 148 square kilometres, the largest municipality on the island, with the airport, the town proper and the port all inside it under one name. The corridor on our map is traced from real OpenStreetMap highway geometry; we still do not publish a journey time for it, because road conditions and your actual drop-off decide that, not the line.
Why anyone sails to the municipality that has the airport
Sayak Airport is in Del Carmen, so arriving by ferry to reach Del Carmen reads backwards until you know who does it. The Surigao City ferry is the way in for travellers coming overland through Mindanao rather than connecting through a Philippine airport hub, and for anyone whose plan continues by sea afterwards. It is a legitimate arrival, not a mistake — but it does mean your first leg on Siargao is a road crossing, from the busiest town on the island to the quietest coast on the other side of it. Dapa is the most populous municipality in the Siargao Islands group, with 31,392 people at the 2024 census across 29 barangays, of which barangays 1 to 13 form the poblacion. It is a working port town, and the pickup should be arranged before the boat docks rather than negotiated on the pier with your bags.
What is waiting at the other end
The reason to make this crossing is usually the mangroves. The Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve joined the Ramsar Convention’s List of Wetlands of International Importance in 2024 as Ramsar Site No. 2553, with 4,871 hectares of mangrove cover — roughly 53 per cent of all the mangrove forest on Siargao, and described in the Ramsar site record as the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Philippines. One piece of trivia is worth carrying: the municipality was called Numancia until 1966, when it was renamed after its patroness, the Virgin of Carmel, so older maps and a few directories still list it under the old name.
What to include in your request
Give us the ferry operator, the departure point, the sailing date and the scheduled arrival, so the pickup is planned around the boat you actually booked. Then say which Del Carmen you need — town proper, port or airport — with the property name and barangay, since the municipality has 20 of them. Add your group size, bags, boards and any child-seat need, and tell us whether a Sugba Lagoon boat should be quoted with the road leg or is already arranged. That is enough for one fixed, all-in price by email.
Why there is no price or journey time here
We would rather publish nothing than publish a number we cannot stand behind. Roads, weather and group size all move the answer. Send the trip and we will send a fixed, all-in price for your date.
Places tied to this route
These destination pages cover the arrival point, departure area or boat-connection stop behind this route, so you can understand the bigger trip before asking for a quote.
Dapa Port
Siargao’s main seaport and the island arrival point for passenger ferries from Surigao City.
Read moreDel Carmen
The west-coast municipality that contains Sayak Airport and the port used for boat trips through the mangroves to Sugba Lagoon.
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Sugba Lagoon
A green lagoon on the island barangay of Caub in Del Carmen, reached only by boat through the mangroves — and shut by ordinance every year from 10 January to 10 February.
Read moreSayak Airport
Siargao’s main airport, at Del Carmen on the island’s west side — IATA code IAO, and the arrival point most Siargao trips begin with.
Read moreWorth reading before you book this leg
The questions this journey tends to raise on either side of the drive itself - what you are allowed to bring and how to declare it, and what the end you are heading for actually asks of you. Answered in full, so your request arrives with the details we would otherwise have to write back for.
Getting to Siargao
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.
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Boards, bags & pets
Surfboards, a stack of luggage, a balikbayan box, a bike, a dog in a crate — what to tell us so the vehicle that meets you actually fits it, and the one item that needs a government permit before it can fly or sail.
Read more
Where to stay in Siargao
Siargao is nine municipalities, and the one you book in decides how every later day of your trip moves. Here is what each base actually gives you — and why the town name alone is not enough to quote a transfer.
Read moreTell us your trip. Get a fixed price.
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