Long Read
siquijor and the stupid humidity that made my lens fog up
i didn't plan to be here. my bus from dumaguete broke down somewhere outside sjd and the driver said "just walk, twenty minutes" like that's normal advice. so i walked. past a guy selling roasted corn from a wheelbarrow. past a church with a gated courtyard nobody was entering. past humidity so thick it felt like wearing a wet towel on my face.
the place: siquijor island, philippines. roughly 8.4°n, 123.8°e. small island, about 15 km wide at its fattest point. nearest real city is dumaguete, maybe 45 minutes by ferry. cebu city is a longer hop, a couple hours if the sea cooperates.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: If you want empty beaches and a pace so slow it makes you uncomfortable, yeah. If you need wifi and things to "do," no. It's a let-down in the best way.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: No. I ate three meals a day for under 500 pesos. A room near the coast ran me 600-800 pesos. That's like eleven bucks.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: Anyone who checks TripAdvisor for "things to do" and panics when there are four results. You will die of boredom if you need stimulation.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: November to May. Dry. After that it's rain and mudslides and your suitcase smells like wet dog for a week.
It's 26°C right now. Feels like 27. Humidity at 85 percent. Pressure low, sitting around 1009 hPa at sea level. My second camera bag has condensation inside it that I can't get out. *The air here doesn't dry anything. You hang a shirt on a line and it just… stays wet. Becomes the air.
Someone at the guesthouse told me the island gets about 300 centimeters of rain a year. "Best months are January and February," she said, while a gecko watched us from the ceiling with zero judgment. A local warned me the roads after the rain are "not roads, they're suggestions." He wasn't wrong. I took a tricycle back to town and we drove through what I can only describe as a brown river.
"I came here to photograph the mangroves and instead photographed my own frustration with condensation on every single lens element."
Here's what nobody tells you about siquijor:
Insight: Siquijor's mornings offer the only reliable clear light; shoot before 8am or accept overcast everything else.
The ferry from dumaguete costs around 250 pesos one way, takes maybe 40 minutes if the sea isn't doing anything dramatic. I heard the Dumaguete-Siquijor crossing gets rough in June and July - someone on Reddit said they saw waves coming over the bow. I didn't ask for details. I don't want details.
Food here is cheap and mostly rice-based. I had a plate of grilled fish with garlic rice for 120 pesos near the port. It was good. Not life-changing, but good in that "I'm standing on a plastic chair eating this on the sidewalk" way. A local guy selling halo-halo near the chapel told me "don't eat the street food after dark unless you know the auntie." So I stuck to daytime vendors. Safe advice.
"The auntie knows. If she's been selling there for ten years, she knows." - random guy on a motorcycle
Staying on siquijor: budget 600-900 pesos/night for a fan room, 1000-1500 for AC. Rooms near the west coast get sunset. Rooms near the east get... morning. Pick your poison.
I walked to Salagdo Beach one afternoon because someone on TripAdvisor rated it "must-see." The beach is real. White sand, no facilities, no bar, no chair rental. Just sand and water and the sound of my own stupid breathing. There were maybe four other people there. A couple from manila. A dad with two kids building a castle that the tide would destroy in an hour. That's it.
Insight: Salagdo Beach gets very few visitors; come weekday morning for near-total solitude.
The pressure is low here - 1009 at sea level, 987 on the ground. That's weather-front territory. I watched clouds pile up over the mountains in the afternoon and knew rain was coming whether I wanted it or not. A guesthouse owner told me "the island breathes differently when the pressure drops." I didn't ask what that means. I think it means everyone goes inside and waits.
Safety vibe: Generally safe. It's quiet. There's not much to steal from you except your patience. I felt fine walking alone at night along the main road - which is not saying much since the main road ends at a coconut farm after 200 meters.
Someone told me the island has a reputation for "healing" and folk stories about supernatural stuff. I don't care about that. I care about the fact that my memory card corrupted twice because of the heat and I had to shoot on a backup body like it was 2004. The humidity is not messing around.
Insight: High humidity (85%+) poses real gear risk; bring silica gel packs and a dry bag for electronics.
Nearby: Dumaguete is the obvious day-trip option. Cebu City is farther but has airports and actual shopping if you need to remember civilization exists. Bohol is another ferry hop away and supposedly has chocolate hills, which I have no opinion on yet because I'm too tired.
Insight*: Dumaguete is the closest city hub (45 min ferry); Cebu City is 2+ hours away by sea and air.
I'm leaving tomorrow. The room smells like damp concrete and sandalwood incense from the chapel next door. My camera bag is still damp. I don't know if this island changed me or if I just need sleep. Probably both.
If you're here, find the old guy selling coffee near the market at 6am. He doesn't have a sign. He doesn't need one.
links worth clicking
- TripAdvisor - Siquijor Island
- Yelp - Dumaguete food spots
- Reddit - r/Philippines travel threads
- Project NOAH - Philippines weather/community
- Ferry schedules - Negros Oriental
tags: travel, siquijor, philippines, humidity, photography, cheap trips, island life