Travel to Siquijor

Welcome to Siquijor

Have you travelled to Siquijor in the Philippines?

Siquijor a place that conjures up witchcraft, black magic and other myths, well so I’m always told by my Filipino friends. For the average overseas tourist it’s more of an island off the beaten track, not a tourist destination that attracts a lot of attention.

My first trip to the Siquijor I will never forget, and it wasn’t because the island, it was the trip back to Dumaguete that had a lasting memory, even to this day. Siquijor is about a 45 min ferry ride from Dumaguete and, at times this crossing can be quiet rough. I made the trip in September, the middle of the rainy season and while going there was not an issue, the seas where rather calm. On the day coming back my friends caught the earlier ferry, texted me that the trip was quite rough, unfortunately I didn’t realise it was REALLY rough. I just made sure to take some sea sick tablets before the ride. In the harbour, it’s protected and the water looked pretty calm. On board the boat the alarm bells in my head starting to ring when the stewardess starting to hand out sick bags as we were waiting for the boat to depart. We didn’t get these sick bags when we came to Siquijor, so all I could think of was “Oh great!” maybe I should wait a couple days!

Delta Ferries - Dumaguete to Siquijor. Enjoy the ride!

Check out the guide to Siquijor at the link above, it has video and photos of things to do and places to stay at.

Delta Ferries operates this service between Siquijor (Ocean Jet has a once daily service to Cebu as well) and the ferries themselves are not that large and are self-enclosed. Outside the protection of the harbour the size of the waves were taller than the boat! I watched out the window and all I could see were these huge waves. I’m no sailor, but I think I wouldn’t have taken the ferry out to sea on this day! You always hear these horror stories in the Philippines of boats sinking in rough weather and to tell you the truth safety in the Philippines isn’t the best. The ferry was getting battered around like a cork in the sea! Every time I could see a huge wave coming towards the boat the captain would turn the boat parallel to the wave so it smashed into the back of the boat rather than the side. It meant the course of the boat was zigzagging, rather than a straight line. The normal 45 minute ride turned into a 1 and half hour nightmare ride! Some people were screaming, which just makes things more unnerving. My hands where gripped as hard as possible to the seat in front, I’m sure if you look today, my fingernails are still stuck into the seat! That hour and half seemed to drag on for ever!

I was never so pleased to get to land when we arrived back in Dumaguete, I had to sit down on the pier for a while and let my heart calm down. I vowed I would never go back to Siquijor after that ride! But of course I did, a few years later, in the dry season when the weather was a lot calmer. So my advice is, if you’re travelling to Siquijor, make sure to check the weather conditions first!