Siargao
Siargao Island Hopping: Sugba, Naked, Magpupungko
Photo: Lucky Ambago Purok Otso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The three trips almost everyone does on Siargao besides surfing are the three-island boat trip to Naked, Daku and Guyam (commonly ₱1,000 to 1,500 per person on a shared tour with lunch, per tour listings on 11 October 2026), Sugba Lagoon out of Del Carmen, and the Magpupungko tide pools up in Pilar, which sit on the opposite side from the lagoon and are best on their own day. Surfing is why most people come to Siargao, but it is not what fills the rest of the week. Here is what each one actually involves.
The three-island hop: Naked, Daku and Guyam
A short outrigger-boat circuit out of General Luna or Dapa, usually sold as one half-day trip:
- Naked Island, a sandbar with no shade and almost nothing on it, which is the point.
- Daku Island, the biggest of the three, with a small village and usually where lunch is cooked and served.
- Guyam Island, tiny, a cluster of coconut trees, good for snorkelling just offshore.
Boats leave in the morning and the whole loop takes three to four hours including lunch on Daku.
How the route connects
- General Lunaor Dapa, the jump-offOutrigger boat
- Naked IslandsandbarOutrigger boat
- Daku IslandlunchOutrigger boat
- Guyam Islandsnorkelling
The whole loop takes three to four hours including lunch on Daku.
Sugba Lagoon
A mangrove-enclosed lagoon in Del Carmen, on the opposite side of the island from General Luna, reached by habal-habal or van to the jump-off point and then a short boat ride through the mangrove channel. There is a floating cottage in the middle of the lagoon and a jump platform on the rocks at one edge. It gets busy from mid-morning, so an early start matters more here than at the three-island stops.
Magpupungko rock pools
Natural tide pools cut into the rock shelf in Pilar, on Siargao’s east coast. They only exist as swimmable pools at low tide, at high tide the shelf is underwater and there is nothing to see. Check a tide chart before planning the day around this one; turning up at the wrong tide is the single most common complaint about this stop.
What it costs and when to go
Scroll across for the rest of the columns.
| Stop | Typical cost | Duration | Depends on | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three-island hop (shared) | ≈ ₱1,000–1,500 pp incl. lunch | Half day | Weather, boat availability | 11 October 2026 |
| Three-island hop (private boat) | ≈ ₱3,000–5,000 total | Half day | Group size | 11 October 2026 |
| Sugba Lagoon | ≈ ₱2,150+ boat rental (up to 6) + ≈ ₱170 pp fees | Half day | Group size, time of day | 11 October 2026 |
| Magpupungko rock pools | ≈ ₱50–100 pp entrance/environmental fee | 1–2 hours | Low tide only, check a tide chart | 11 October 2026 |
Sourced against current tour-operator listings and the posted barangay/municipal fee schedules on 11 October 2026. Confirm the price with whoever is taking you out.
Not everything on the island costs a boat fee, the beach in that clip is free to walk to, no tour required. It is a different spot from the three above, but it is the same island logic: ask locally what is free before you book a boat for something that is not.
Where to stay for this
General Luna puts you closest to the three-island jump-off and the surf; Del Carmen is the better base specifically for Sugba Lagoon. I wrote a full breakdown in where to stay in Siargao, and the getting-there guide covers flights and the Surigao ferry.
Before you book
Book a shared tour through your accommodation or a boatman in General Luna/Dapa rather than online in advance, prices and availability change day to day and locals get the current rate. See a 5-day Siargao itinerary for how to split this against Sugba Lagoon and Magpupungko, things to do in Siargao beyond the boat tours for the land-based stops, and Siargao: what a trip costs for the full daily budget. If this is part of a longer Siargao trip, the Siargao trip I am building is on the waitlist, and a session with me is the fastest way to ask about pulling an itinerary together.
Questions people ask
What is included in a Siargao island hopping tour?
The standard three-island boat trip (Naked, Daku and Guyam) includes the outrigger boat, a boatman, and usually lunch cooked on Daku Island. Snorkel gear is sometimes included and sometimes a small extra, ask when you book. Entrance, environmental and terminal fees at each stop are charged separately and are not part of the boat price.
How much does island hopping cost in Siargao?
Shared three-island tours are commonly quoted around ₱1,000–1,500 per person including lunch; a private boat for a small group runs roughly ₱3,000–5,000 total. Sugba Lagoon is usually a separate boat trip, with boat rental for up to six people starting around ₱2,150–2,700 on top of entrance, environmental and terminal fees of about ₱170 per person. These are the figures tour listings and the municipal fee schedule showed on 11 October 2026. Confirm the current price with your guesthouse or boatman before you go.
Is Sugba Lagoon worth visiting?
It is a genuinely enclosed, mangrove-lined lagoon with a floating cottage and a jump deck, which is rarer than another beach stop, that is the draw. The trade-off is the boat ride each way from Del Carmen and the crowds around midday; going early or booking it as its own half-day rather than tacking it onto a longer itinerary is what most people recommend.
Can I visit Magpupungko and Sugba Lagoon on the same day?
Not comfortably. They sit on opposite sides of Siargao, Magpupungko is up in Pilar on the east side, Sugba Lagoon is out of Del Carmen on the west, and Magpupungko only makes sense at low tide, which will not always line up with a Sugba Lagoon morning. Most itineraries give each one its own day.
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