Siargao – Day 1: Baby Jesus Returns
SIARGAO
Day 1: Baby Jesus Returns
October 26, 2024
After spending just one day in Moalboal, I was ready to move on to my next destination: Siargao Island. Siargao is a tear-shaped island located off the northeastern coast of Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippines. While Siargao is known for many things, it is widely regarded as the surfing capital of the country, drawing in surfers from all over the globe.
After an entire day of travelling and flying, I finally reached the island, only to be told that everyone’s luggage had been left behind and that the airline would deliver it the following day. I was simply livid. How could they do such a thing without even so much as warning us beforehand? While I could survive one night of post-travelling dirt and filth, there were people who were literally stranded there without medicines they needed to get by. To that, the staff told them they should’ve kept a few blister packs handy, sparking an uproar as everyone demanded their luggage there and then.
Baby Jesus is Back
Seeing that there was no way for that to happen, I immediately hopped onto a shuttle and made my way to General Luna, the vibrant heart of Siargao Island and the island’s main tourist hub and the soul of its surf culture.
Here, I’d be staying at the Mad Monkey Hostel, my previous experience at Nacpan Beach having left me wanting more. I bought a change of clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, which I swore I’d claim via insurance but never actually got around to, and then sat down for dinner all alone. Finally, some peace and quiet…
Which lasted for about a hot second. “BABY JESUS!” yelled a couple of familiar faces. It was Jasmine and Myriah from Underwater Vision back in Utila. I could hardly believe my eyes, but they were there, in the flesh, by sheer coincidence. You know how many friends I had met along the way and promised to meet up with, only to never actually manage? And then this happens. A simple case of serendipity and the world being too small.
Needless to say, my initial plan of eating and going straight to bed went up in smoke. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Somehow, I ended up piss drunk at this beach rave, everyone having the time of their lives as we relived our days back at Tranquila. It was exactly like Tequila Tuesdays, with the endless line of shots that had me wanting to pluck my throat out. It was such good fun. If only Tim and Amelia had been there, it would’ve been just like the good ol’ times!
Enter Micah
As I was busy doing my best slut drops and stanky legs, this guy I had been chatting with on Tinder showed up. Enter Micah: this cornrowed Filipino hottie.
It didn’t take too long for us to “get to know each other”, having to excuse myself for a late-night beach excursion. God, I hadn’t done that in a while. In fact, the last time I had been with someone on a beach under a starry sky, it was back in Montezuma with Bianca. We had kept in touch over the years, though we had never managed to meet up again. She was still really into me, for some reason – verging onto obsession kinda into me. Despite her occasional neurotic tendencies, I would still find myself occasionally thinking about her. Maybe I was a bit obsessed with her myself. She just had this wild thing going on.
But anyways, back to my other flavour of the night. Here I was now, in the Philippines, with a guy. Same, same, but different. Very different. And Micah? Let’s just say we got off really well right from the start.
A New Adventure?
Micah seemed like a legit cool guy. He worked at a hostel and, in his free time, he was a freediver, surfer, martial artist, acrobat and… yep, the list goes on.
I was equally impressed by him as I was envious. There I was, little old me with my very limited skill set, perched on a fallen palm tree trunk, riddled with sand and anxiety at how little I had done over my entire life. In fact, when he told me his hostel ran freediving courses, I found myself agreeing to join without so much as thinking twice about it. Hell, I had been entertaining the idea of doing it anyway, especially after my conversation with Cherry back in El Nido.
My initial plan was to spend a few days surfing here, my experience back in El Tunco, El Salvador, having left me craving more. But, as I figured, I could plan another holiday around that. Meanwhile, if I were to learn the basics of freediving, I could go on to practise that back home, yet another skill I could add to my arsenal. And just like that, I was going to start yet another adventure.
After that, we made our way back to the party, where Jasmine and Micah had been going at it all night with Michael, this German guy. We danced and drank some more and somehow ended up skinny dipping. Fun night!