SIQUIJOR – Coastal Route

Siquijor Coastal Highlights: San Juan I Old Balete Tree I Lazi Convent and Church I Cambugahay Falls I Salagdoong Beach

Siquijor Coastal Tour

Today was going to be a great day touring the highlights of Siquijor! Started with a disappointing breakfast though at Flora’s. At least made me eat less, haha. Been eating a lot back home!

Noynoy picked us up around 9am. We organized with him our coast tour for P1800 for the jeepney ride, whole day. Maximum participants would have been around 8-10. That was pretty cheap, even if it’s just for the two of us.

I have already experienced the same route last time I was in Siquijor but didn’t mind doing it again.

San Juan We first stopped at San Juan with the welcome to Siquijor sign and the church of Assissi behind it. It was built in the 1700s. Pretty old. Most of the resorts are located at San Juan. I guess the beaches must be prettier. I stayed in Coco Grove in the area last time I was here.

Old Balete Tree We then passed by the port on the way to the Old Balete Tree, swamped by tourists. Not too bad though, we still got us a sit around the spring and had our fish spa. It just didn’t have as much of enchanting feel as it did for me the last time when there weren’t many people around.

Entrance fee was P10. For P30, I got to enjoy a fresh buko juice… and staved my hunger pangs from not enough brekkie eating the young coconut flesh. The Cowboy played with the monkey who took his shades and broke it. Sigh…

Lazi Convent and Church Even though I’ve seen it before, I still feel enamored by this town. It’s just so quaint, clean and with a serene vibe. Big acacia trees shaded the street that separated the church and the convent. The convent had been turned into a school. I was able to get inside the church this time. It’s starting to look and smell rundown with molds on the walls.

Cambugahay Falls. Noynoy had to attend to something urgent and therefore had to hand us over to his other driver. He suggested we skip the three falls that The Cowboy wanted to check, and head straight to Cambugahay. We were easy.

The falls was as I recalled it. It was still very pretty, just with more tourists, a number of whom are foreigners. There were three rope jumping stations set-up that wasn’t there before. Made it for a more fun experience though, I think. At the same time, it kinda loses the rustic feel of the place. There was a jumping station at the lower falls and at the upper falss. The cost at each station is PhP 50 for foreigners and PhP 20 for locals, for unlimited jumps. I gave it a go with the upper falls. The Cowboy went for both the upper and lower falls jumps. I was satisfied swimming at the upper falls and didn’t bother with the lower falls.

Unlike most waterfalls, the water was refreshing but not freezing. I loved it!

Had lunch on the way. We loved the fish sisig!

Salagdoong Beach I think this is the crown jewel of beaches in Siquijor. The water looked pretty much like the Mediterranean, but without the pebbly type of mediterranean beach. It is sandy though not as smooth and as fine as the sand in Flora’s resort beach. Aside from the amazing colors of the water, the main attraction are the cliff jumping platforms. They’re pretty high! There were two levels. The Cowboy jumped off the higher level – it took his breath away and he was done with just one jump. Haha! I didn’t even bother even with the lower level – it was still pretty high!

I did go for a swim, the water was warm as it was at Larena. There were a couple of floating platforms five hundred meters or so from the beach. They had swings on them. It was pretty cool!We were satisfied. We finished around 5PM. I was too tired, after taking a shower back at Flora’s, I was so sleepy and couldn’t be bothered having dinner.

It was a great day!