
Pacifico, Burgos or Santa Monica to Sayak Airport (IAO)
The island’s longest road transfer, run in the one direction that has a deadline — from the north end to an airport whose tightest hour is the departure one.
The longest road leg, run against a clock
We already publish the arrival version of this journey, and the two are not the same trip in reverse. Coming in, the road absorbs a late flight: you land, and however long it takes is however long it takes. Going out, the same road feeds a counter that closes without you. Pacifico sits in the municipality of San Isidro, with Burgos and Santa Monica as separate municipalities further north, and Sayak Airport is over in Del Carmen on the west side — which makes this one of the longest road transfers on Siargao, taken in the only direction where arriving late costs you the flight. It is the leg we would most want arranged in advance, and the one most often left to the last morning.
Read the route guide: Sayak Airport → Pacifico / Burgos / Santa Monica →At Sayak the queue is on the departure side
This is the part visitors do not expect, because the arrival hall is not where Sayak is under strain. When the Department of Transportation inspected the airport in March 2025 it was handling seventeen flights a day through a terminal built for fewer than two hundred passengers, with three check-in counters — and it was the pre-departure area, not arrivals, that was described as cramped and overcrowded. Ground was broken on 8 August 2025 for an expanded terminal that raises pre-departure capacity from two hundred to at least seven hundred and fifty and takes the check-in counters from three to nine, with completion targeted for 2026. We are not going to guess which of those two terminals you will meet on your date, so we would rather time your pickup for the smaller one and have you spend the difference sitting down.
Turboprops, not jets — which is what makes a missed flight expensive
Sayak is designated a Class 2 principal (minor domestic) airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and its single runway takes turboprops rather than jets. That is the constraint behind almost everything else about flying out of here: the aircraft carry a limited number of passengers, the daily schedule is short, and the Department of Transportation’s own stated position in August 2025 was that only a runway extension permitting jet aircraft would meaningfully change Siargao fares. We publish no fares and no seat counts of our own. The practical consequence is simply this — there is not usually a later flight in the way there is at a mainland airport, so the margin you build into the road leg is the whole of your safety net.
Send us the flight, not the pickup hour
The most useful thing you can give us is the flight number, its scheduled departure time and the date, and let us work the pickup back from your carrier’s cut-off rather than from a convenient-sounding hour. This is the longest road move on the island, so the deadline matters more here than anywhere else. All three carriers into Sayak close the domestic counter 45 minutes before departure and the gate 15 minutes before. Their online check-in windows are not the same: Cebu Pacific opens 48 hours before and closes an hour before, Philippine Airlines (operating PAL Express) opens 24 hours before and closes an hour before, and Sunlight Air opens 48 hours out but closes a full two hours before departure. The flight number tells us which of those applies, so send it rather than an hour. We do not publish a journey time for this road and will not invent one — the corridor on our routes map is traced from real OpenStreetMap highway geometry, but the weather, the road and exactly where on the north end you are staying decide the morning. Give us the deadline and we will name a pickup we are willing to stand behind.
What to include in your request
Your flight number, its scheduled departure time and the date; which of the three towns you are actually leaving from, and the accommodation name, because “the north end” spans three municipalities; how many of you are travelling; bags and boards, with lengths if there are boards; and any child-seat need. Tell us if you bought a board here — the load going home is often not the load that arrived, and that changes the vehicle. If you have not yet booked the arrival leg, ask for both at once and we will quote them together.
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.





