A breathtaking view from the reception/ dining area of the Boardwalk at Cloud 9, Siargao.
With surfing in mind, buffet breakfast on the table and this view..ahh this is the life!
[March 25-26, 2013]
When our alarms went off at 3:00 am, it didn't take long for us to get up and pack our things. We need to leave Cinnamon Island this early so we can go to Socorro and catch the ferry bound for General Luna leaving at 6:00 am. We chose not to laze around longer because we knew that if we miss the first ferry, we'll have to waste hours waiting for the noon trip. And that is definitely not an option for us. So in the dead silent cold night, we mustered every strength we have left and had ourselves ready for a long travel. Like it was on cue, we heard the sound of our boat approaching. Boy!Everyone was on time! The staff of the island were awake to bid us goodbye too. Aw..we'll surely miss Cinnamon Island the most. Moving on, we boarded the boat, arranged ourselves on the wooden seats (with no back support) and sailed away in the pitch-black night. There was only one light that you can see and that is placed on top of the boat to serve as warning/signal light. And it wasn't even bright. There was no light in front of the boat that could guide the boatman where he was going nor was there light at the back of the boat. Eeeeekk! I was scared, I didn't realize our travel would be like this. So I prayed dearly that we be safe throughout the trip. The four of us were not even talking because the sound from the engine of the boat was too loud, so there was no way we could establish a good conversation. I just wondered if they were as scared as I am, travelling at night seemingly blind. But then I grew tired wondering and I just dozed off. After more than an hour, we've reached Socorro. We hopped on to the ferry we were supposed to ride with a dozen other passengers who were also bound for General Luna. The guys bought us food and hot choco to warm our tummies. Yey! Oh by the way, we had the same wooden seats (again with no back support).
They weren't comfortable at all, good thing I choose to sit near the window at the left side of the ferry and just leaned on it. We all managed to find comfortable positions to help us through another 2-hour ferry ride. I tried to sleep the entire time and it helped while away the minutes. The next thing I knew, we were already approaching the busy town of General Luna. It was quite a busy port, the one where we docked. So we decided to walk away further, escape the chaos and that's when we faced each other thinking of the same thing: NOW WHAT??!!?? We didn't book any hotel for us beforehand, we don't know where we are going and even if we did, we wouldn't know how to get there. Hahaha! This is just the best part about travelling with dear friends, every inch of the way is an adventure! We just laughed at ourselves and hailed a tricycle that could bring us to the area close to the surfing site. Apparently, that is the place called Cloud 9 in Siargao. En route, I remembered I printed out a list of accommodations in Siargao before we left Cebu. Thank goodness I found it! My friend tried to dial the numbers, the first call was unsuccessful with no answer/out of reach. Tough luck! Second call, we got through. Yey! My friend managed to book us over the phone and informed the hotel that we were on our way. The driver of the tricycle wasn't sure were the hotel exactly was but he said he'll take us there. When it seemed that we were nearer, we passed by lots of resorts/hotels and we couldn't seem to find the one we were looking for. Though we are not entirely sure, we suspected that the driver had a hand in this and that he was really directing us to another hotel. He brought us to The Boardwalk. Woah! A blessing in disguise indeed because I read about this place and I initially liked it. I just didn't put in the priority list because the room rates listed on the website were not in our budget. But we decided to inquire for available rooms anyway.And to our surprise, they had rooms available for us at Php350 per person. Siargao, we have arrived!!!
As what my friend said: "We are exactly where we are meant to be."
This place is beautiful...it's perfect!
Oh and did I mention our Php350 included a buffet breakfast??!! We're so happy we got here thanks to manong driver. Haha! Our back to back sea travels made us very hungry so we consumed our 'buffet' breakfast whilst enjoying this view.
After breakfast, we asked about surfing lessons because we want to get on it right away. However, surfing is best done when the tide is high and at this time of the day, the water is still shallow. Our surfing instructor said he'll come back for us after lunch and see if the water is high and safe enough for us to go surfing. In the meantime........we decided to go around and explore this talked-about destination:
The boardwalk is a long walk..haha! yes it was and the sun was high up in the sky. But we didn't really mind.
We walked all the way to the viewing place.
They have this three-story viewing structure were spectators flock to during surfing season.
It is where you get the best view of the surfers riding the waves.
Too bad it was low tide when we arrived, there were not much surfers around.
Great art structure near the entrance to the hotel. We decided to go back to the hotel around 1pm and see if our surfing instructor is back. He met with us and said that we'll start by 3pm because it is dangerous when you surf in shallow waters. A surfer could hit his head with a rock when he falls.
With our free time, we decided to grab something to eat. There's quite a number of stores nearby
We chose to eat at Happy Gecko where they serve this huge burgers. This place was also a lodging house own by a foreigner and his Filipina wife.
Minutes before 3pm we hurriedly went back to the hotel to get ready for our surfing lessons.
Refer to next post for details on our first ever surfing experience.
photo credits[noel, paul & cro]
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