Siquijor

  Welcome to the Mystical Voodoo Island, where you're highly likely to get raped by Wakwaks and get your face bitten off by a Manananggal! Kidding aside, Siquijor is rather a peaceful, beautiful island. It's not what most (local) people fear it's like.

Photos by: Karsten Kirstätter

How to get there:

   You can choose to fly to Dumaguete or take the bus from the South Bus Terminal. From the SBT, take the bus for Liloan, Santander. It should take you about 3 hours to get to the wharf. Then take the boat to transport you from Liloan to Sibulan, Dumaguete. You will arrive in 20 minutes then you have to go to the Dumaguete Port via jeepney or tricycle to yourself. There, you can catch the ferry to Siquijor.

  You can also opt to take the ferry from Cebu City to Siquijor via Bohol. The schedule for trips can be found here. Prices vary depending on the shipping line. Once you get to Siquijor, you can take a tricycle to your place of accommodation.

Fare (one-way):

Air-conditioned bus: Php 175
Non-air-conditioned bus: Php 165
Ferry to Sibulan: Php 65
Jeepney: Php 12
Tricycle: Php 70- Php 100
Ferry to Siquijor: Php 120 - Php 160

Tip: 

• If you have to wait for your boat, you can check out the Boulevard in Dumaguete and grab a bite or just to let time pass. There's a line of restaurants/cafes there so it shouldn't be a problem! The Boulevard is just right beside the port.

Where to stay:

Find the list here. 

  However, we can recommend JJ's Backpackers' Village for people on a budget. Plus they're very warm and friendly. You can even just pitch a tent for Php 150 per person. The tricycle from the port to JJ's should be around Php 50 per person, but to have the tricycle to yourself, Php 150 - Php 200 should be enough, not higher.

Photo by: Karsten Kirstätter

 
Around the Island:

There are plenty of places to visit. You can easily get around by just renting a motorbike or a tricycle to go around. Some of the places you can go to are:

• Cantabon Cave
• Lugnason Falls
• Cambugahay Falls
• Bandilaan Peak
• Butterfly Sanctuary
• Salagdoong Beach
• Lazi Convent
• Enchanted Balete Tree
• San Juan de Capilay Lake

  But if you'd like to discover more places in the island - like some undiscovered caves or untouched waterfalls or an abandoned beach, you can hire a highly recommended tour guide - Junel. He knows Siquijor by heart. His standard rate is Php 500 but you can give him more if you like his service. 

  Junel the vice president of the Association of Siquijorian Healers and president of the Siquijor Massage group. He's also a palm reader! You can contact him through his mobile: (+63) 926 570 4979.

  If you just want to get a good massage, Junel owns a spa called "I Am Spa" over at San Juan.  

Erica, Mayan, Junel and Kim outside JJ's