Our twin-engine turboprop bird unsteadily circled above the island for about twenty minutes. The air was tense inside the cabin. Not so much because we were terrified of a rough touchdown, but because we were worried about not touching down at all. That the near-zero visibility will force the pilots to abort landing.
The captain came on as I tugged my daughter Luna’s seat belt tighter. I caught “Try… South quadrant… Approach…”. In case you missed it — “Try”!
I tugged my seat belt tighter.
Buddha’s Surf Resort, nestled amidst towering coconut trees.
A few more minutes passed, then finally, the sound of screeching tires. Not the kind of landing I was bracing myself for. Twas relatively smooth. Eerily calm under the glum weather.
I heaved a sigh of relief.
A thirst-quenching island welcome.
The hubby, my daughter and I hopped off the plane and huddled to share a brolly we grabbed from the ground staff at the foot of the stairs. We joined our travel buddies Melo of
Out Of Town Blog, Ron of
Flip Travels, and Lai of
Pinay Travelista at Sayak Airport’s teensy arrivals hall. Soon as we got our backpacks, we headed to the airport’s parking lot and were ushered by a driver to his van where three foreigners from our flight were already waiting.
Ze icon. A van ride from Siargao’s Sayak airport to General Luna costs P300 per person (one way) and can easily be arranged upon arrival (if heading straight to another town, hire a
habal-habal). Trip lasts forty minutes, and passengers are dropped off at the doorstep of their respective hotels. Our accommodation was booked beforehand so we simply uttered
Buddha’s Surf Resort to the driver before conking out.
Wall art at Buddha’s Surf Resort’s restaurant.
Buddha’s Surf Resort lies between the municipality of General Luna and the famous surfing spot Cloud 9 (where the annual Siargao International Surfing Cup is held). A convenient location for both surfers and non-surfers. The staff promptly assisted us in unloading our luggage when we arrived and led us to the reception-slash-restaurant. Our stay was a sponsored one and the manager, Chris (with a crown of gorgeous curly locks similar to that of the hubby’s before middle age deprived him of hair), gave us a quick intro of the resort as we sipped our welcome drinks.
Rooms are housed in a building separate from the restaurant and communal lounge area.Resort Amenities:
All rooms have air conditioning and hot water
Daily housekeeping
En-suite bathroom for each room
Free Wi-Fi throughout the resort
From January 2014 all direct bookings include breakfast
Oh that humongous key chain. You certainly can’t lose something like that.
Accommodation
Although the property’s quite vast, the resort is currently offering only five rooms. Which guarantees guests seclusion. My family was given the superior room while the others were assigned in the family room.
The superior room on the second level was every bit ideal for our family of three. Its floor space is insanely immense. The bed, although too high for our toddler to climb on, is colossal as well and had pristine sheets when we checked in (I still dream of its softness ’til this very day). There’s a flat screen telly and a hard drive that contains heaps of movies. A desk that made us digital nomads cheer, and a private balcony where we whiled away the rainy afternoons. And oh, there’s a Loudbasstard amplifier in the room which we weren’t able to use but raved about anyway. Its rate as of writing is P2,650 per night (about UD$60), brekkie included.
The superior room’s private balcony.
One of the three beds in the spacious family room.
The family room on the ground level has two adjoining rooms with two aircon units. It also has a flat screen telly, a desk, and a balcony with deck chairs. Current price is P3,000 (US $67) + P100 (US $2.20) per head, includes brekkie.
Standard room is at P2,200 (US $50) per night. And guests could choose either queen or twin bed.
Buddha’s Surf Resort’s restaurant.
The Food. Oooh man, the food!
The restaurant’s menu has a pretty wide range of food and beverages. For starters, the brekkie choices included in the room rates are tops. The Big Buddha Breakfast is enough to last me ’til mid-arvo, and the banana pancakes (the fluffy kind, not the Thai kind) are simply amazeballs. Loved their bowl of muesli too.
Big Buddha Breakfast for the big appetite. Their mains are also smashin’! My faves are the chicken in red curry (recommended by the staff, and not as spicy as it may seem), chicken adobo, and carbonara (super duper creamy).
The resort takes pride of their Thai-themed menu. Am not a big fan of their pad thai but I fell for their chicken mango cashew salad (cause of unavailability, they added pineapple instead of mango, which surprisingly came out well).
Upon request and with proper lead time, the kitchen can whip up a feast for a party.
On Thursdays, local artists perform at the communal lounge area. It’s open to the public and you could request for your food to be served there.
Activities
Buddha’s Surf Resort is totes equipped for surfing lessons. Surfboards, motorbikes to transport guests and their boards, and pro instructors — like Marlo who *ahem* recently rubbed elbows/boards (lol) with a rockstar. In the water.
Cause Marlo’s cool like that. Photo from Buddha’s Surf Resort’s Facebook fan page.
Slacklining. Where I applied most of my morning energy on. This local showed me how it’s done backwards.
If you’re a non-surfer, there are other activities that the resort can host/arrange for you. From kite surfing to diving to fishing to kayaking to stand up paddle surfing. They also organize island hopping trips.
Won’t be surprised if you’d rather ‘waste time’ at your balcony, sitting on a deck chair with your feet up, staring at nothing in particular. Like we did.
So will we actually spend our dibs for a resort like this? Definitely! In fact we extended our stay at our own expense — okay wait, we only intended to because the resort owner didn’t let us pay for the last night as well. But yah know, the thought’s there.
Buddha’s Surf Resort
Catangnan, General Luna
Siargao Island, Surigao Del Norte
Philippines
Email: buddha@siargaosurf.com
Mobile number: +63 (0)9199 456789 (SMS only) +63 (0)9282 079631 (all calls)
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Akala ko naman kasama nyo si Anthony Kiedis. hahaha! 🙂
Sayang nga. Di man lang kami nagkasabay! Hahaha!
Exclusivity to it’s finest! Hope to try surfing in Siargao and stay on this abode.
Nkpgstay din ako dito. Very homey sya! and I gottaq agree with you, red curry and their pancakes are delish!
I actually read your Trip Advisor review! Hahaha! And I do remember your posts about the resort on Facebook. I’d looooveee to come back!
Yeah! Perfect for couples, yiiiiii.
na miss ko bigla sobrang aga na flight from Manila-Cebu-Siargao tsaka experience sa propeller plane specially pag malakas hangin lols 🙂 wahhh want to go back na sa Isla ng Siargao 🙁
Siargao should be the next destination kaso I dunno Surfing is not really my interest. 🙁 Pero sure akong hindi lang surfing ang tanging maibibigay, like what you said kite surfing. I guess bet ko siya, I like sports with some kinda elevation. 🙂
My fave staycation buddy is my wife who is my partner for more than ten years.
it’s my bff since high school, Josie… though we share same likes and “trips” she gives me insightful views from places we visits… well what more to ask to a best teacher…:-)
I want to win an overnight stay to celebrate love with my girlfriend!
My favorite staycation buddy is my boyfriend.
my favorite staycation buddy is my husband we both love the same things so there are no boring moments when we are together. We could talk about anything that makes the staycation more memorable outside our busy schedules with work.
my fave staycation would be my best friend, because there’s no dull moment everytime were together
My favorite staycation buddy is none other than… (drumroll please) my husband! We love to relax in front of the television while munching on corn chips dipped in salsa and talk about anything under the sun. No boring moment! =D
My sister’s my favorite staycation buddy <3 We definitely jive in most of things and trippings 😀
my wifey! we always find time to relax, only the two of us together!
my fave staycation buddy? my ex-boyfriend now my hubby of course, we always look for some time for us to be alone together despite of our busy sked, so if there is an opportunity we would do staycation to catch up on each other and rekindle some magical moments 🙂 🙂
No fave.
My favorite staycation buddy is my husband, because like me, he loves to spend the weekends just staying-in, to either read, sleep or watch movies.
i usually don’t have a staycation buddy for overnight. what i usually do whenever i’m in hotels in the metro is call a friend over early the next morning to join me in the breakfast buffet at the hotel LOL
my favorite buddy is my sister.. she is my bestfriend and i know she know how to define coolness and she love to travel.
Id like to spend the stay here with my son and have quality time with him.
Myrel Bascao 🙂 He is my bestfriend and a lover rolled into one 🙂
I love “staycationing” with my husband whenever we can escape from our wonderful little boys. Those rare moments when we can be alone together are much cherished. ♥
My fave staycation buddy is my partner for 4 years ♥
my wife and daughter are my fave travel buddies!
My fave staycation buddy is my fiancée who is also my bestfriend. We love to do staycations once in a while to escape from our stressful routines. Hoping to win this one! 🙂
My favorite staycation buddies are my two girls. My ex-girlfriend who is now my wife and our one and only daughter. Simply because spending quality with them brings me so much happiness.
my fave staycation buddy is my baby Jin because she so energetic fun to be with
My fave staycation buddy is my hubby coz he’s so funny, there is never a dull moment with him.
My fave staycation buddy is my M0M because we just love exploring new places! ^_^
My fave staycation buddy is my Sissy because we are both adventurous 🙂
Does me, myself and I count panyera Gay? 😀
My sister, because we get to bond over these experiences and share a common connection
True, Siargao’s got a lot to offer. Not just surfing. And it’s for everybody. Solo backpackers, honeymooners, family with kids…
I-sched na ang pagbalik, Jeffrey 🙂
Hahaha! Yeah!
it either be my mom or my dad.. staying in a hotel would be an experience for them..
My fave travel buddy is also my personal chef, my bff, my partner in crime! My only one… my husband! He’s always game to almost everything and just like me, he’s adventurous too!
My mom. Cause she’s awesome and I love her to bits!
My hubby is my fave staycation buddy. Never a dull moment when we’re together. We enjoy little simple things in life
My fave staycation buddy is none other than my husband! He’s the one who showed me that travelling is fun!
My BF is the best travel buddy. Ofcourse family also. 🙂
my fave staycation buddies are my parents and my sister coz we enjoy each other’s company
Jet who is my best friend and a brother to me is my fave staycation buddy! Specially after a weeks work, we just love to rest, sleep and enjoy the cool ambiance of hotels 🙂
My favorite staycation buddy is my 7-yr boyfriend who goes with me in travels, gigs, festivals, food finding, and a lot more! 😀 ♥
Secret! 😉
My fave staycation buddy is my ever-spontaneous boyfriend! ♥
my bff and kuya Joey is my favorite staycation buddy 🙂
my senior parents are my best hotel buddies. i cant drag them go shopping and touring but suites like those in linden are a welcome staycation!
My favorite staycation buddy is none other than my loving wife coz she’s always been my happiness wherever I go
My hubby will always be my fave travel buddy!
my favorite staycation buddy is my husband because I enjoy his company wherever I go 🙂
Joed, my boyfriend is my favorite staycation buddy! We both love traveling, enjoying the nature, meeting new people & discovering new places! It’s fun and exciting when you and your partner has a common interest! #travelbuddy #vacation #travel
P200 I think kapag habal-habal 🙂 It’s a long ride rin kasi, about 40 minutes.
my favorite staycation buddy is my Mother!
My favorite staycation buddy is my mom because I could tell her everything!
https://twitter.com/Kaarrreen/status/446709584619507713
My fave staycation buddy is my son, he always makes me Happy & no dull seconds every time his with me.
My favorite staycation buddy? My one and only bestfriend,boyfriend and future husband. My dadilabz. . ^_^
my favorite staycaton buddies are of course my notsoKJ friends!!! The reason is simple, they are simply awesome!!!!
My ate because she always makes me laugh and help me in my problems. 🙂
my favorite staycation buddy would be my partner, we love to do the same and never a dull moment with her 😀
my favorite staycation buddies of course are my cute son and daughters. Why? Simply because bonding with family is priceless!
Would love to be here soonest if only time permits. Breakfast palang parang busog na ako kaya tulog uli cgurado haha
Parang gusto ko sumama pag pumunta ka 🙂