Siargao
Siargao is the surf island of the Philippines — a teardrop of mangroves and palm-lined coast in northern Mindanao, an hour’s flight from Cebu. Cloud 9, the island’s most famous reef break, throws a fast right-hand barrel that has hosted international surfing competitions since the 1990s; the wooden boardwalk that stretches over the reef is the postcard image, and even non-surfers come to watch from the platform at sunrise. Twenty minutes north, the Magpupungko tidal pools form in flat limestone shelves at low tide and disappear with the rising sea. A short bangka ride south leads to Bucas Grande and the enchanted lagoon at Sohoton Cove, where boats glide through a low natural rock arch into a hidden jade-water lagoon. The peak surfing window is August through November; the rest of the year the swells are smaller and the island is quieter.
