Siargao, beyond surfing and island-hopping

Siargao has long been a surfer's dream come true, what with its hang loose vibe and those big mighty waves at Cloud 9.

Lately, the island has been attracting tourists beyond its usual crowd of surfers and backpackers. While island-hopping is an easy activity to offer the leisurely crowd — not to mention yoga retreats coming aplenty — those hardly scratch the magical surface of Siargao. 

RELATED: Things to do, sights to see, food to eat in Siargao

Enter Bathala Land Tours, a sustainable tour company that aims to promote Siargao's culture without taking from its ecological richness.

Using a customized, hand-painted jeepney, Bathala will take guests from General Luna to explore the often undiscovered northern side of Siargao.

The customized jeepney plying through Northern Siargao

A full day tour starts with a coffee-tasting workshop, where guests are brought to the beachfront brew bar of MA+D Siargao, a non-government organization working directly with coffee farmers. Here they are given a taste of a variety of coffee beans sourced from the different parts of the Philippines.

A three-hour Banig Weaving Workshop in Burgos, about an hour and a half drive away from General Luna, then follows. Organized by LOKAL — a snack bar also located in Burgos — the workshop allows guests to learn weaving, as well as introduce the banig industry of the island. Here, guests learn how important the livelihood is for residents. 

Learning about the banig-weaving culture of Siargao

"The end goal of this is to have the Siargao weaving ladies be DTI certified so they can export their business locally, and hopefully, globally," says Camille Banzon, one of the owners of Bathala.

From there, the tour will take guests through Pilar River Village, Pacifico Beach, and Lokal Community Market, a rent-free local platform for farmers to showcase their crops. Guests can and will learn a little bit more about Siargao's farming industry as well as shop for locally grown supply.

At MA+D, guests can enjoy a variety of coffee beans grown around the Philippines

The tour ends at sunset in a secluded beach or mangrove viewpoint before heading back to General Luna. The tour starts at 8:30am and ends at 7pm — enough time for a cool dinner and maybe a few beers, yes? — LA, GMA News 

P2,000.00/head. SMS/WhatsApp: +639950117805.