
Del Carmen to Dapa Port
The sea departure from the mangrove side — back across the base of the island to the Surigao City ferry, from a municipality where “the port” usually means somewhere else.
The port you are leaving from is not the port in your town
Two places on this island are called the port and they do unrelated jobs. Del Carmen port is the road-to-boat launch into the mangrove channels, the place you leave from for Sugba Lagoon, and nobody leaves Siargao from it. Dapa Port is the passenger sea gateway and the terminal for the crossing to Surigao City on the mainland. Leaving Del Carmen by sea is a road leg to Dapa first and a sailing second. If your message to anyone — us included — says only “the port”, it is the one word most likely to send a driver to the wrong side of the island.
Back across the base of the island
Del Carmen is on the west of Siargao and Dapa on the south, and the road between them runs across the base of the island. The two municipalities share a land boundary, checked against the same 2023 PSGC boundary file the island map on our routes page is drawn from, but bordering is not the same as close: Del Carmen covers roughly 148 square kilometres, the largest municipality on the island, so where in it you are being collected from matters. The corridor on our map is traced from real OpenStreetMap highway geometry, the same one arriving ferry passengers travel in the opposite direction. We do not publish a journey time for it.
We will not print a sailing time — and be careful which one you trust
Departure schedules for this crossing are republished across a great many travel pages, and they do not agree with each other. Sailings are also weather-dependent, and the Philippine Coast Guard can suspend crossings outright at a few hours’ notice, scoped by vessel tonnage — the small fast craft is the first thing to stop while a larger ferry may still sail. So we publish no sailing times, no crossing durations and no fares for the ferry. Confirm the sailing with the operator or the ticket office for the day you are travelling, then tell us the time you have to be at the terminal, and we will time the pickup to the sailing you are actually booked on. If the sea closes on your morning, tell us: moving a transfer you already hold is far easier than finding a vehicle on the day everyone else is trying to leave too.
Leaving by sea from the municipality with the airport
Sayak Airport is inside Del Carmen, so sailing out of a Del Carmen stay reads backwards until you know who does it: travellers going on overland through Mindanao, and anyone whose plan continues by sea. If you are actually flying home, the airport leg is the shorter road and has its own page. If a flight from the mainland waits on the other side of the crossing, say so, and we will time the pickup with that connection in mind rather than to the ferry alone.
Read the route guide: Del Carmen → Sayak Airport →A last mangrove morning is a question to ask, not a plan to assume
Most people stay in Del Carmen for the mangroves: the Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve is Ramsar Site No. 2553, listed as a Wetland of International Importance in 2024. If you want one more boat out through the channels before the ferry, tell us the sailing and the boat in the same message, and we will say plainly whether the morning leaves room for both. If it does not, we would rather tell you than build a pickup that puts the sailing at risk.
What to include in your request
The sailing date and the time you need to be at the terminal; the accommodation name and the barangay in Del Carmen, since the municipality has 20 of them, or Del Carmen port if a boat is where you are being collected; your group size; bags and boards, with lengths if there are boards; and any child-seat need. If you have not booked the arrival leg yet, ask for both at once and we will quote them together, in 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.
Worth 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.
The same journey, the other way round
Most requests that reach us cover one leg. The opposite leg is a different page with its own deadlines and its own preset form - and asking for both in one message is the easiest way to get them quoted together, with no obligation attached to either.
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.




