SiargaoTrips
Aerial view of mangrove forest and winding tidal rivers at Dapa on Siargao Island
Sayak Airport (IAO) → Del Carmen town, port or mangrove reserve

Sayak Airport (IAO) to Del Carmen

The arrival where you have already landed in the municipality you are heading for — and still need a transfer, because the airport is not the town and Del Carmen is the biggest municipality on the island.

You have already landed in Del Carmen — and still need a transfer

Sayak Airport sits inside the municipality of Del Carmen, so visitors booking a Del Carmen stay often assume the arrival is a non-event. It is not. Measured from the same 2023 PSGC boundaries the island map on our routes page is drawn from, Del Carmen covers roughly 148 square kilometres — the largest municipality on Siargao, and more than three times the size of General Luna’s 47. The airport and the town proper are two separate places inside it, and the port is a third. Landing in the municipality tells a driver almost nothing about where you are actually going.

Three drop-offs wear the same name

Del Carmen town proper, Del Carmen port and Sayak Airport are distinct locations, and a request that says only “Del Carmen” can mean any of them. The port is the road-to-boat connection for trips out through the mangrove channels to Sugba Lagoon; the town is where the accommodation and the municipal offices are; the airport is where you started. Tell us which one you need — better still, the property name and the barangay — so the quote covers the right final leg instead of an average of three.

What is out there: a wetland of international importance

The reason to stay in Del Carmen is usually the mangroves. The Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve was added to the Ramsar Convention’s List of Wetlands of International Importance in 2024 as Ramsar Site No. 2553 — the tenth in the Philippines, announced during the 10th Asian Wetland Symposium in Metro Manila on 25–28 November 2024. Its mangrove cover is recorded at 4,871 hectares, roughly 53 per cent of all the mangrove forest on Siargao, and the Ramsar site record describes it as the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the country. It lies within the Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape. Sources: the Ramsar Sites Information Service, the Philippine Climate Change Commission and Wetlands International Philippines.

A base that suits an early flight or a mangrove day

Del Carmen earns its place around a dawn departure, a late arrival, or a trip built around the lagoon and the mangrove channels. It works far less well as a base for a week aimed at the surf and the sandbars: those sit on the opposite, south-east coast, so most days would open with a cross-island leg. If you have not committed to a base yet, read our guide to choosing where to stay before you book the room — changing a booking costs less than absorbing an extra journey every day.

The flight home leaves from the municipality you are staying in — ask for it now

Del Carmen contains Sayak, so your departure is the shortest road leg of anyone on the island — and that is exactly why it gets left to the last morning. The deadline is still not yours: all three airlines serving Sayak close the domestic airport counter 45 minutes before departure and the boarding gate 15 minutes before it, and the online check-in most people assume they can use from the car closes an hour before the flight on Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, which operates PAL Express, and two hours before on Sunlight Air — the earliest of the three. Sayak is also a domestic airport, so if you are flying home your island flight is a hop to a hub and the one that leaves the Philippines is a separate connection. Tick “I also need the return trip” on the form below and send the outbound flight number with the arrival one: we work the pickup back from the cut-off that belongs to your carrier, and both legs are quoted together.

What to include in your request

Send your flight number and date, the property name and barangay, how many of you are travelling, and your bags and boards. If the port rather than a bed is your destination — because a Sugba Lagoon boat is the reason you are here — say so, and tell us whether that boat is already arranged or you want both legs quoted together. Any child-seat need goes in the same message. That is enough for a 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.

The other direction

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.

Who you are booking with

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.

After you send it

What happens to your request

  1. 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. 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. 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.

Get a quote

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.

Your trip

Your trip

A property name — your hotel, hostel, villa or homestay — is worth more than the town on its own. Siargao’s municipalities are large rural areas, so a town can cover two places a long drive apart. If you have a map pin or the barangay, even better; if you are being met at the airport or the port, the gateway is enough.

Going to more than one place? Add them in the order you want to visit them — up to 6. Order matters here: the boat trips leave from three different places, so a day that alternates boat and road works where one that clusters them does not.

Flight number (optional)
Your passengers

Your passengers

Your details

Your details

Include your country code, so the driver can reach you on the day.

No payment now. No obligation. We reply by email.

FAQ

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.