This is my humble contribution to the forum based on a 3 week vacation to Siargao in the Philippines. Forgive me for not being a native English speaker/writer. This datasheet is based on my own observations, discussions with other travellers, locals and local business owners. I am by no means a PUA, rather the opposite, a total newbie: thread-54529.html
Background
I chose Siargao based on the raving reviews on both this forum and other forums where most people consider it the hidden gem of SEA in terms of surfing and island vibe. My main purpose was a combination surfing and gaming.
Siargao is a teardrop shaped island, it is located close to the Pacific ocean and is blessed with some of SEAs best surfing waves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siargao
Although Dapa is the biggest town on the island all the action takes place in General Luna which is an town with some 20000 inhabitants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Lu..._del_Norte
Following the coastal road, circling the island is some 130 km.
Conclusion
Overall Siargao did not meet my expectations in terms of surfing and gaming:
Positive:
a) Sea: The water is really warm (29 degC) at all times and it just feels great. Even when it rains it is warmer to be in the sea water than out of it.
b) Food: The food is great and cheap. You can get purified water everywhere.
c) Internet: You really don't need a local SIM card since there is Wifi in most places where you will be staying or eating.
d) Island vibe: The place has some of this special island vibe where you are cruising down the main road on a motor bike only wearing shorts with wind in your hair.
e) Surfing: They do have beginners spots and if you get yourself a surf instructor, you should be able to ride your first wave the 1st day. A surf instructor for 1h is 500 pesos incl the board rental (10 USD).
f) Malaria: There is supposedly no Malaria on the island and none of the travellers I met were taking pills.
g) Hidden gem: Even though there are some negative sides about this place, most long term travellers I met love this place - and these travellers have been all over SEA like Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand etc. Based on that, I don't even want to think how things are in those other SEA places.
h) Hygiene: I was amazed by the hygiene of the local filipinos. Many live in shacks/huts and are obviously poor, but they always have clean clothes on, the girls have long well groomed hair, the boys have a nice haircut, they don't smell bad like they never bathe/shower. If they have a job they are dressed sharp and show up with the cleanest white shirt even though the floor in their shack is dirt and not concrete. Very impressive about these people. However the downside is their dental hygiene, many miss some of their back teeth.
Negative:
a) Surfing: Surfing can be a pain. More on that below.
b) Climate: It feels hot and humid and as a result you want to shower multiple times a day because you just feel dirty due to the sweat. Remember, you will be outside most of the time - the only place with AC will be in your private room - if you have one. Without too much warning I had 2 weak typhoons moving through the area with almost no wind but heavy rain for several days. It is summer time and locals said it should not be happening - but it did. The dirt roads flood, you become depressed because the sky is grey and it just keeps raining for hours/days - not really what you expect from a tropical island in official non rainy season.
c) Gaming: Local quality is low - foreign quality is much better - more on that later.
d) "Tourist trap": My first impression was that General Luna felt extremely touristy - and later I found I was right. This place changes at lightning speed, and in a worst case scenario becomes something like Boracay in a few years. 1 year ago there were 3 flights to the island each day from Cebu only. Now there are 9 flights from Cebu, Davao and Manila. There is a massive influx of people every day. 3 years ago, the main road from General Luna to Cloud 9 was even not paved. The locals dream back to those times 2-4 years ago when General Luna was great - now it is slowly becoming too touristic but everybody silently accepts because more tourists = more money. But I personally feel I came too late - the raving reviews on the net are 2-4 years old - and now in 2018 everything changes for the worse.
e) Friendliness/hospitality: Unless I was staying/eating in a resort with local staff, the locals were not particularly friendly/chatty/open. I have had much better experiences in the Midwest of USA. Other travelers told me that Siargao is super friendly compared to Thailand - I was amazed, then Thailand must be really bad. However, if you go to the rural municipalities, then you will get some more stares and "Hello's".
Verdict
I truly believe that Siargao was the hidden gem af few years ago but not so anymore. I discussed this fact with many locals and it is not just my personal view. Without being an expert this is not a place, if you are looking for endless pussy. My impression is, if you are a skilled gamer, you can get some decent foreign pussy within a few days. But combine it with surfing -
otherwise it might become boring. As an alternative, come here with a girlfriend or a buddy and have some fun as wingmen (to game groups of foreign girls). I myself thought this trip was about meeting local filipinas and it turned out to be meeting foreign travellers.
Weather
The UV index is extremely high. The scale goes from 0 to 15 and easily reaches 13 in Siargao which is waaay above European summer UV indexes. You see plenty of tourists with sun burnt red skin so cover up and use a +50 UPF at all exposed skin until you slowly start tanning. The sun is so strong that even the brown skinned local surf instructors use zinc cream on their face when they go surfing. Strongly consider a long sleeve rash vest when you go surfing. Also when surfing it is best to have a rather long hair cut so you wont get burned on your head but only have to cover up your face.
Daytime temperature is some 30 degC and I was told it can reach almost 40 degC in june/july. Nighttime temp only drops a few degrees to some 26 degC which means you will sleep almost naked without a sheet if you don't have AC in your room.
Smartphones
The smartphone usage by foreign tourists and locals is massive. Many are staring at the screen at all times. I find it difficult to chat up people who are addicted to their phone. Most people do instagram, selfies, selfie videos, watch youtube videos. People are hiding from their insecurity by using the phone all the time. You will often see dirt poor locals living in shacks, but they are fiddling with a smartphone. And foreign tourists came to this tropical island to spend hours after hours on their phone - and all they are doing is Instagram. So even though Siargao is a travel destination, travellers rarely talk to each other.
Clothing
99% of all people are wearing flip flops (incl tourists). You will stand out massively if you wear a set of boat shoes or something else (without socks). I never saw a guy dressed sharp - it's all about t-shirts or naked upper body. If you dress sharp you will easily stand out. Just beware of not wearing clothes with a heavy fabric like denim - you need something much more airy. In the evening you should be able to wear a long sleeved shirt - maybe some pants. Many times I wish I had an umbrella to go places when it was raining.
Money
There is only 1 ATM in Dapa 15 km away and usually it is not working. If you stay at a resort or eat at a resort, you will be able to pay using a credit/debit card. If not, you will need to bring all your cash to the island. I overheard many travellers who got desperate because they were out of cash. On a daily basis, as a rough estimate, if you spend 2000 pesos on accommodation, 1000 pesos on food and 1000 pesos on surfing/biking = 4000 pesos (75 USD) you should be fine.
Infrastructure
Basically there is only 1 paved road in General Luna. The road coming from Dapa is paved. At the main intersection the road splits - one going to Cloud 9 and one going to the municipality of Malinao. These roads are also paved. Everything else is dirt!! It basically means that 95% of all roads in the area are dirt roads which become heavily flooded during heavy rain. For instance the famous Kermit resort is located in a residential area with flooded dirt roads as the only access if it is raining. But the main road going to Cloud 9 is paved and this is the place where you will be hanging out most of the time. There is no drainage system so water needs ½-1 day to seep through the soil.
Transportation
You can get to the island in 2 ways:
Either by boat from Cebu-Surigao-Dapa (Dapa is 15km away from General Luna). This actually requires 2 boat rides with a stopover in Surigao. I never did the boat but I believe it is a 24h adventure. Remember: Surigao and Siargao is not the same: Surigao is a larger town in Mindanao and Siargao is the island itself.
Or you can take a flight from either Davao, Cebu or Manila and arrive at Sayak airport which is 30 km away from General Luna. A taxi ride one way should be 300 pesos. There are often promos and flying one way can be as cheap as 1000 pesos from Cebu. The normal price range is something like 2000 pesos one way which is still dirt cheap. The flight from Cebu only takes 1 hour. There is however one major problem with flying: The runway is very short and there is no control tower, lights etc so the pilot only relies on his visual eyesight. As a result there are only flights during daytime and if the weather is bad, the flight will be cancelled. Bad weather might just be as simple as rain or low hanging clouds. It is not uncommon that the plane leaves Cebu in good hopes and as the plane approaches Sayak airport, the pilot decides to return to Cebu again with all the passengers - solely for safety reasons. The day before I left, 2 out of 4 flights were cancelled due to heavy rain - if you have a short layover in Cebu you are screwed. Still, I suggest you go by plane since it is so much easier.
Local transportation
On the entire island, motorbikes and the like make up some 95% of all vehicles. There are almost no cars. I think there are more trucks than cars. As a result you will see motorbikes and tricycles everywhere. The tricycles are mostly used by locals if they need to go somewhere and maybe carry a bit of stuff - or if more are going at the same time. The most common bike is the semi automatic 4 speed Honda XRM 125 ccm which can travel at speeds of up to 100 kmh. Next are fully automatic scooters which also have engines in the same engine size range.
Part of island life is to rent a bike and go places. From a legal point of view you will need a motorcycle drivers license if the bike is more than 50 ccm (and they are ALL more than that), an international drivers license and a helmet. My estimate is that 95% of all foreigners renting a bike don't have a motorcycle license - and even 18 year old high school girls drive these bikes. Police is present in General Luna but normally they don't enforce the law. If they did, tourism would drop since the tourists couldn't go surfing anymore with their boards strapped to the bike racks. So when you rent a bike, nobody asks for your drivers license, and you will have to ask if you want a helmet along. However, it is important that the registration of the bike is either in your wallet or somewhere on the bike - ask where it is when you rent the bike. If the police stops you, this will be the first thing they will ask for. Again for the sake of tourism they will not stop you, however during my stay they did a small raid 2 times at the main intersection. Rent is usually 400 pesos pr day, 350 pesos for +3 days and 300 pesos for +10 days. In town you can also rent some real rugged motorcycles and become more badass. You can get fuel everywhere on the island from 1litre cola bottles offered by local residents along the roads over the entire island. 1 litre is 50-55 pesos and should give you a mileage of about 50 km/l.
As a "real" motorcyclist myself I think people have no clue how dangerous it is driving on such a bike. They go waaaay too fast for the road conditions, there is gravel on the road in curves, there are children and dogs everywhere on the roads and they might walk out in front of you just like that. People just leave their brains at home.
Demographics
First of all there are almost no traveling families in General Luna. Within 3 weeks I saw maybe 3 western children with their parents. I would say that 95% of all travellers are 20-40 in age, heavily skewed towards 20-30 so maybe 75% will be in the 20-30 age range. It is my rough estimate that the male/female ratio is 50/50 amongst travelers, but if you go to the parties it will be more of a 70/30 sausage fest. General Luna is all about surfing and I guess 75% of all travelers are here to surf, the rest are here to relax and do some tours like island hopping etc. Depending on the time of the year there will also be a lot of Filipino tourists from Manila, Cebu, Davao etc - but they mainly go to Siargao just to relax - the Europeans are mainly here to surf or try surfing. As a rough estimate I guess that the Filipino tourists make up 20% of all tourists and they usually come from wealthy families and stay in the expensive resorts. At no point I met a traveller from USA (but of course they are there). There are a lot of travellers from Holland, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy. Then less travellers from other European countries. Then some from Israel, Australia, South America and the like, but they were few. I guess there are also a lot of travellers from Korea but I never talked to them as they try to mind their own business at all times.
Then you have the Europeans who fell in love with this place and stay here long term. It is a mix of European girls who got knocked up by a local dude and now raise the kid in General Luna (you will visually see them driving their motorbike down the main road with their mixed kid in the front - very obvious). Then you have European surf "dudes" who love the place and bought/rented a house. Then you have foreign business owners who started their business here in hopes to live away from cold winters and make a living.
I saw extremely few white +50 year old dudes. At no times I felt that these were here to pick up girls or find a wife/girlfriend. However, I did see some middle aged white dudes with filipinas but it was very apparent that they were here on a holiday together and that they met somewhere else in the Philippines.
If you stay along the "strip" = the main road leading towards Cloud 9 the ratio between foreigners and locals will be something like 50/50. If you wander into the residential areas (which are only a few steps away), it will be 99% local filipinos: Here, everyday life goes on with washing clothes, slaughtering a pig every now and then, repairing the tricycle using a stick welder but having no welding helmet and just sunglasses.
Food
The resorts typically have Western style food (Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Burgers) of very good quality and taste where a meal will cost 200-400 (4-8 USD) pesos and a softdrink/beer 50-60 pesos (1 USD). A drink/cocktail will typically be 100-200 pesos (2-4 USD). If you go to the store 1 full bottle of local rum or gin will cost only 95 pesos (2 dollars). This is seriously dirt cheap. The local filipino restaurants are typically half the price of the resorts in terms of food. Softdrink/beer will be the same price. Street food which is also present everywhere is even cheaper: You will get a meal for less than 100 pesos (2 USD).
The grocery store in town is called TAG Store and is located on a dirt road on the way to Malinao (on main road leaving General Luna). But if you want to buy fruits or meat you need to go to the market close to the port/harbor: You will not find a European/US style grocery store that carries everything.
Accommodation
There are many options for accommodation in General Luna ranging from 350 pesos in a dorm/bunk bed to several 1000 pesos in a private AC room. Unlike other SEA places you cannot just walk in and get a room. Everything is booked months ahead in time so you will need to make a reservation well before you leave. Based on my research and observations the Bravo Beach resort is your best option in terms of logistics combined with gaming and food: http://www.bravosiargao.com/
They have a great hang out place with ocean view and a small pool which attracts a lot of people (not just from the resort itself) and it is fairly easy to chat up girls there. Moreover it is located centrally on the "strip" (=main road) with perfect access to other eateries and only a few minutes walk to your room. A double room is 3400 pesos (65 USD) but I would say it is totally worth it due to logistics. Bravo also serves great food.
Other places you can get a AC room for 1000 pesos (to mention one http://lukaysiargao.com). The main problem is, that there is no central webpage where all accommodations are listed - when you show up in town you will see so many places you've never seen in the internet, but it is already too late because everything has been booked. Otherwise you need to do some serious research since many places don't have a webpage.
Kermit Resort is another place worth mentioning. Their rooms are in the 1000-2000 pesos range (less than Bravo) but unfortunately located in a residential area with dirt roads as the only access with serious flood problems if it rains. They have a great restaurant with a wood fired stone pizza oven possibly making the best pizzas in SEA. Evening table reservations are 1 month ahead. They also have a great vibe and a special hang out area if you are an in house guest - also good for gaming.
Paglaom Hostel is 350 pesos hostel in the dirt road residential area with 20 bunk beds attracting mainly long term solo travellers who need to observe their costs. The average age is 20-30 years old with a 50/50 split. 20% of the guests are filipinos from Manila, Davao, Cebu - the rest from mainly Europe. It is a non party hostel requiring silence at 10pm. It is very rudimentary (especially the kitchen) why most people eat out or have take away.
Smiling Pig is a party hostel on the main road leading to Cloud 9 located very conveniently across from Bravo. You cannot make a reservation here - they only accept walk in guests. You will have to fit their party/drinking style/habits and should accept that sex might occur everywhere. They will decide whether you fit in or not. A very strange concept.
Besides these 5 places there are of course numerous other places - just do a search. Most resorts also offer some sort of bunk bed accommodation but in a much more tidy environment than Paglaom/Smiling Pig.
Internet
All resorts have Wifi of varying quality and usually restaurants too. You can buy a local Globe or Smart SIM card to have your own data and they should work fairly well - there are billboards everywhere as advertisements.
First impression
As you arrive at the airport you will immediately feel the humidity and heat (felt hotter and more humid than Cebu). As you start driving the 30km towards General Luna in the taxi you will see rice fields, water buffalos, pigs, dogs everywhere, dirt poor people living in shacks made out of palm tree leaves, scrap wood and sheet metal, children everywhere running around on the highway, women washing clothes by hand, men fixing bikes along the road, workers mixing concrete on the ground because they don't have access to a mixer. Basically you will have shacks almost all the way to General Luna - even between the small towns. As you reach General Luna you will see a myriad of local filipinos everywhere, and you will see more and more foreign tourists riding their rented motorbike. As you turn left on the main road leading towards Cloud 9 and all the resorts, you will be met by endless shops, motorbikes everywhere, souvenir boutiques, eateries, restaurants, surf shops, billboards, poor filipinos running around with their smartphones texting etc etc. My first thought was: "Is that really it"?? I did not feel like a pleasant place - the best place in SEA. The first impression is quite overwhelming, but after a few weeks you will know everything and the place will feel very small.
Second impression
After 2-3 weeks you start to notice the other travelers (short term and long term) and filipinos - the ones you've seen or met previously. So basically it IS a very small place. And when you've stayed here long term for let's say +6 months most people will know you.
To maximize the stay, I would stay here only 1 week. Maybe extending to 2 weeks. If you stay longer, you will feel you've lost the "energy" (you been to all the places - you've been eating at all the places etc) - this of course might be different if you find a girl. If you decide to extend your stay you are in for some serious trouble: It is almost certain that you cannot extend your stay since everything has been booked months in advance. You have to search for some accommodation yourself - probably of lower quality to extend - preferably start searching 1 week before you want to extend. Don't do it last minute.
If you take surfing out of the equation, I guess there are places in southern Europe that have the same "wild west" island vibe feeling as Siargao.
Surfing
You cannot go surfing without a motor bike or a boat. There are no surf spots close by. The closest spot is Cloud9/Jacking horse 4 km away. Cloud9 made Siargao famous and is the name of a pro (expert) surf spot 4km north of General Luna. Just next to Cloud9 you have "Jacking Horse" which is a famous beginners place. Then there is Giwan, Paradise, Secret Spot which are 12 km away (more intermediate). With a boat you can reach Daku Island, Cemetery, Stimpies, Rock Island (intermediate to pro). But the idea of just walking down to the beach in front of the resort is not possible (unless you live in one of the resorts close to Cloud9 - but then you are away from all the action in town). Next there is the problem with the reefs: There is no sand but only sharp reef sea floors with rocks and the like. It means you easily get reef cuts on your feet - I did and a lot of other surfers did. So bring some reef booties. Next, due to the reef floor, it is usually only possible to surf during high tide otherwise you will get injured and damage your board because of the shallow waters during low tide. It basically means you cannot go surfing all day. If things are good you have 2 high tides pr day with 3 hours of surfing each. If things are bad you will only have 1 high tide during daylight and thus only 3 hours of surfing. Next, the swell can be weak and you cannot really surf because the waves are too small. Next, not all waves are of a high quality, if you are in the water for 3 hours you are very lucky if you catch 20 waves. Overall a lot of factors influence surfing, it is like going to war - you will be waiting most of the time.
Nightlife
Basically there is no fixed nightlife spot. Everything changes daily/weekly, but to name the most important places: Viento Del Mar, Buddhas, Loose Keys, Bravo, RumBar, Hotspot, Harana, Octopus, The Jungle. You will have to ask around and listen to what's going on.
Viento Del Mar, Buddhas, Bravo and Harana are resorts who often host parties with DJs or live music - but nothing is scheduled - you have to ask around. At these parties you will have some 100 people, maybe 150 mostly foreign and almost no local filipinos. It will be a sausage fest with a 70/30 ratio I guess with drinks starting at 60 pesos. Because they are resorts, music will shut down between 22 and 24 and people transition somewhere else. Then people transition to the Jungle, Octopus, Hotspot or Rumbar where there is a large proportion of local filipinos - maybe 80%. It basically means that a lot of foreign travellers went to bed. I found it very annoying with all the transitions between the places, driving on motorbikes, hiring a tricycle etc.
As for the resorts, the dining area, hang-out area, beach front is transformed into bar/dancing area - but the music is loud and you cannot really converse. The Jungle and Octopus are very different: They are basically just a roof of 30x20m in size with people dancing below (with a local DJ playing loud music) and with a bar selling "jungle juice" in the corner. They are in the back of a residential area with dirt roads and the talent quality is low. As for gaming/pickup only the resorts are worth considering.
Daygaming
I believe there are 4 spots and all of them are about gaming foreign girls:
a) Along the main road leading to Cloud 9 there are a number of foreign girls you can approach. There will always be some girls walking down the street, parking a motorbike, looking confused etc etc. There are almost no local girls here (except for the ones working in shops). But I believe you cannot do it for long since you quickly will stand out after a few days.
b) In the Bravo resort dining/hang-out area with the pool and beach view. There are plenty of sofas and a number of single girls (travellers) come here to hang out and eat. It is rather easy to approach them here.
c) When surfing and waiting for waves out in the water. When waiting for waves you can check out the girls and just chat them up - very easy because you have a lot in common = surfing. The local surf instructors have the time of their life: They can close up touch and watch foreign bikini girls on a daily basis while instructing how to surf.
d) Tours. Many resorts offer all kinds of tours and very often these single girls are part of these tours. You are together as a group for ½ a day and it is ideal for gaming/isolating since everybody else minds their own business.
You have to remember that many of those solo traveler girls have been traveling for days without anybody talking to them except for staff or waitresses at restaurants - they will be happy if you chat them up.
Girls (talent)
First of all there is no rockstar effect in General Luna. The locals are used to foreigners. Next, I did not do any pipelining, Tinder, Online Dating etc. Everything is based on "real life" interactions:
Girl demographics:
Besides hostels, I would say that 10% of the girls are solo travellers which basically means that you will have a number of single girls staying alone in single resort rooms. Then there is a large number of girls travelling in a group of at least 2, they might make up 30%. The remaining 60% are couples. For the filipino girl tourists, the ratio is about the same.
The white talent is quite decent, almost no fatties, almost no hipster types, few girls with massive tattoos. This place attracts surf girls which tend to be fit and slim - while waiting for waves you see mostly slim, attractive bikini girls in the 5-7 range. If you spot a bikini girl waiting for some waves, it is very likely you will see her again when one of the resorts hosts a DJ the same evening.
The local girls in town were below the white ones talent wise. However, the waitresses in some the resorts where hot - I guess in the 7-8 range. Especially if you go to the Jungle, Octopus or Hotspot where the local girls are dancing in groups - the talent is low ... maybe in the 4-5 range. As a result don't come here for local filipinas - however you might get lucky with some Tinder/Online.
Many of the waitresses work long hours for many many days without having weekends etc - once they finish their shift they usually go back home to sleep and rest.
I circled the island to get a glimpse of the rural filipino municipalities where no tourists go. Now, this is where the talent shows up. In these poor rural areas you will see the cute, slim, adorable, untouched sweethearts but they are probably below the age of consent - but cannot estimate their ages. But I also noticed that the 20-30 year old girls (their older sisters) were almost non-present - I guess they mostly went to bigger cities to find a job. It is my strong feeling it would be a very very bad idea to wife up such a girl even though the material is ideal. The step from their world to your world is simply too brutal.
My own gaming results
Moving away from the "official" datasheet: Now it becomes very personal and officially according to this forum I am screwed forever because I didn't manage to get laid in the country with the easiest pussy. I moved out of my comfort zone (venue change) and in many cases went for the prey - and it felt great. During the 3 weeks I approached and had more interactions with girls than my entire previous life. So from that point of view I should go again to increase my chances further. I would like to mention 3 of my most memorable cases:
a) Airline flight attendant while flying out: This 12h long haul flight is ideal for gaming hot flight attendants. While everybody was asleep I went to the bar area and chatted up this hot flight attendant and we had a nice conversation. Problem was she was on her job and her manager showed up so she couldn't continue. Some valuable information: These hot girls often have a 3-5 days layover in the city. This girl had been inside her hotel room for 3 straight days on the internet doing social media. She never went out. Must be boring as hell. Just telling you guys - there is some real opportunity here. Moreover, during a long haul flight they are allowed to rest/sleep for 3h on the plane before they have to serve breakfast. It basically means they have long periods where they relax and are maybe sick and tired of their co worker and would be happy to talk to a stranger.
On my way back home I tried the same, but now there were 2 girls working together and unfortunately the cute one was cockblocked by the older one, and there was nothing I could do. They told me that the entire crew had a 5 day layover in my city. They were going to do some sightseeing and do some shopping .... just saying. Basically it felt great going up to an 8.5 and start rambling.
b) Was out surfing and spotted this extremely cute UK girl. Slim, great smile and she was really talkative with her surf instructor. Would rate her an 8. As we both got knocked over by a wave I started chatting her up but did not have time to do any elderly or rambling. I had to be much more personal really fast because our instructors were waiting further out. She was really open and chatty and I suggested she should try out the food at Kermit resort famous for its pizza. I did not ask her out. I was not very direct. Later we ended our lessons and my mind was racing on how to take things further because I haven't really been very concrete. When we came back to the surf instructors place things got "confusing" for me - I had never been in such a situation before - I got the biggest smile from her from a distance but could not pull myself up for some reason. She left and later that night she went to a party with the surf instructors. The next day the instructor told me she had been asking for me!!!!! FUCK. Now I tried to remember everything she said about where she stayed, tried to find her name + contacts in the logbook but to no avail. I knew she was staying for only a few days but never saw her again. I should have been much more aggressive.
c) Flight attendant during island hopping. The strangest encounter ever: Walked down the beach and spotted a girl fiddling with a drone. Showed interest and we started talking - she couldn't make it work. I tried to fix it but to no avail. She was extremely kind, open and curious and SHE suggested that we took a walk along the beach - just out of the blue. Convo went so easy and it was like perfect chemistry. Was almost too good to be true (was she a pro?). I asked her about her job ... she was a flight attendant for a major airline and this was her 5 day holiday all by herself. I was shocked - was she a pro - or what was going on. I started asking some technical questions about the aircraft in their fleet to assure myself that she truly was working for that company and not being a pro. She passed the test. On our way back she had to go eat with her group of fellow island hoppers and we split while I went back to my group. Now my brain started racing - I knew I had a slot of 30-45 min before she would jump on that boat and be gone forever. I had to strike the iron while it was hot. I went back to the hut I believed she was staying at ... and found her sitting and eating there with the other guys from her group. Without much hesitation I asked her out right away. To my resort the very same evening - for dinner!!! She accepted but would not guarantee it 100%. So according to this forum I did everything wrong by asking out for dinner - but it felt as the only desperate solution at the time being. For the first time in my life I asked a girl out in real life. But I also knew that she might flake - based on knowledge from this forum. Later that evening I made myself comfortable with the nicest outfit I had and on time she showed up. Hot as hell. At least a 8,5. I had the hottest girl at my table in the entire place. Cool. And no flaking. Convo did not flow perfectly but she was so easy going and was able to start convos herself after 3 seconds of silence. She was laughing all the time and she would not let me pay the entire bill - she wanted to pay her part - and I let her. Later we played/balanced on the slackline and SHE started kino on me and touched me several times. Well, we decided to go to the resort she was staying at and have a drink where we played 2 truths and a lie. She told me the next day was here final day on the island and this is when things really fucked up for me. Suddenly out of the blue my friends showed up and asked me about another island hopping the next day which I agreed to while this hot girl in front of me was complaining on what to do the very same day. At that very moment I thought about the friends and wouldn't let them down and sort of forgot her. We agreed on meeting the next day at 6pm after my island hopping no 2. She never showed up! I could have kicked myself so badly!!! I was so #¤% sad that day at 6pm.
It really makes me sad - these girls were falling into my lap without any work from my side (except that I initiated the approach by opening my mouth), they were hot, adorable and just nice. It was almost too good to be true and I could not "handle" it. I have never experienced something similar in my home country ... ever. And was probably perplexed by it.
Further useful notes/observations etc:
a) Non-party hostel: For gaming, the hostel was a bad choice. The girls were some tough nuts to crack - I would say the filipinas were even more tough. After meeting some 40 travellers in this place, no romance between anyone was happening at all. Even though some of the other guys were ripped and in their prime, nothing was happening in terms of gaming and hookup. When we went to parties it was all about drinking. Normally the guys were more social, listening to music, playing music, smoking, drinking together while the girls were in the common area staring at their phones. The girls were difficult to talk to for some reason. But of course there is this weird dynamics going on - you get along with 50%, the rest are you trying to avoid.
b) Gaming girls at resorts was much better - the girls staying everywhere else but in a hostel. They were much more open and chatty/friendly/curious. Such a delight - I would have thought the opposite before I arrived. This is why I suggest staying at a resort and not the hostel.
c) After a while, I started noticing the single girls traveling alone. I also sensed that they travel without really talking to anyone besides staff and waitresses - so usually they were happy when I started talking to them. So unless you talk to them they will be on their phone or going somewhere. What I liked about this trip was the fact that somehow my prey instinct came alive: When I saw this single girl I would seize her up for a while and then go for the kill - just walk up and start rambling. Something I would never do back home - but in this tropical setting it felt right. It felt great going into the common sofa area at Bravo, spot a single girl and casually pick a seat close by. Order some food/drink and then go for the kill, elderly, rambling etc. Since most men are addicted to their phone, they rarely look around for prey and are somehow satisfied with their Instagram and miss all the cuties sitting around. This is where you have to strike hard - get off the phone and talk to these girls - they feel more lonely now than 5 years ago where wifi wasn't present. Some of these girls have been traveling for many days and feel lonely because nobody talks to them.
d) On purpose I would also chat up couples even though I knew it would lead nowhere - just to get talking and do some rambling/small talk.
e) When gaming I realized that I only went for the attractive ones. I never went for the unattractive ones - which could be good for just training/testing GALNUC material etc. I felt it was a waste of time.
f) I missed my opportunity with the above mentioned girls but from a numbers point of view I am still happy: If I would go again - similar opportunities should arise just from a statistical point of view.
g) For some reason this trip has been all about gaming foreign girls and not locals. Even though I wandered around in the residential areas to look for filipinas I never saw something of interest - and they never showed interest in me. From that point of view I was a bit disappointed.
Final comment
Towards the end of my stay I just wanted to get back home - away from the rain, the flooding etc. I felt that I missed my opportunities and energy was dropping massively. Now that I am back home in my city and have had some time to digest my impressions, I have an ambivalent feeling: It feels even worse here - and I would like to go back to see other parts of PH. In my city, looking forward, my biggest challenge will be to keep up the prey/killing attitude I demonstrated in PH - I already feel it will be a massive problem.
Cebu mini datasheet
I had a 2 day layover in Cebu city while I stayed at a hostel and spent my time checking out the city. I met some cool guys from the UK and we went out eating and were drinking in the common area.
I wanted to see Cebu city based on all the comments on this forum. I did no pipelining/Tinder etc - I just walked out to see what's going on. In total I walked 30 km (18 mi) around in the city (I like walking even if it's hot). I did my deed and saw the fort, Magellans Cross as part of my tour.
Maybe you get lucky by pipelining, but Cebu was awful. I admit your only chances might be Ayala mall or IT park - the rest is not worth mentioning. I felt I was the only foreigner while walking down the streets with no rockstar effect whatsoever, I saw only very few white foreigners with filipinas. Talent very low. In Ayala mall it was crammed with filipino families, children everywhere, I could hardly spot any cute single girls I wanted to approach. Went into a bookstore and started conversing with the clerk (20ish girl) but no chance. No eye contact anywhere, no rockstar effect at all. Siargao was heaven compared to Cebu.
The only place I saw some talent, were girls riding on the jeepneys. But I never figured out where they came from and where they were going.
I guess pipelining is the only way forward in Cebu.
Background
I chose Siargao based on the raving reviews on both this forum and other forums where most people consider it the hidden gem of SEA in terms of surfing and island vibe. My main purpose was a combination surfing and gaming.
Siargao is a teardrop shaped island, it is located close to the Pacific ocean and is blessed with some of SEAs best surfing waves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siargao
Although Dapa is the biggest town on the island all the action takes place in General Luna which is an town with some 20000 inhabitants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Lu..._del_Norte
Following the coastal road, circling the island is some 130 km.
Conclusion
Overall Siargao did not meet my expectations in terms of surfing and gaming:
Positive:
a) Sea: The water is really warm (29 degC) at all times and it just feels great. Even when it rains it is warmer to be in the sea water than out of it.
b) Food: The food is great and cheap. You can get purified water everywhere.
c) Internet: You really don't need a local SIM card since there is Wifi in most places where you will be staying or eating.
d) Island vibe: The place has some of this special island vibe where you are cruising down the main road on a motor bike only wearing shorts with wind in your hair.
e) Surfing: They do have beginners spots and if you get yourself a surf instructor, you should be able to ride your first wave the 1st day. A surf instructor for 1h is 500 pesos incl the board rental (10 USD).
f) Malaria: There is supposedly no Malaria on the island and none of the travellers I met were taking pills.
g) Hidden gem: Even though there are some negative sides about this place, most long term travellers I met love this place - and these travellers have been all over SEA like Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand etc. Based on that, I don't even want to think how things are in those other SEA places.
h) Hygiene: I was amazed by the hygiene of the local filipinos. Many live in shacks/huts and are obviously poor, but they always have clean clothes on, the girls have long well groomed hair, the boys have a nice haircut, they don't smell bad like they never bathe/shower. If they have a job they are dressed sharp and show up with the cleanest white shirt even though the floor in their shack is dirt and not concrete. Very impressive about these people. However the downside is their dental hygiene, many miss some of their back teeth.
Negative:
a) Surfing: Surfing can be a pain. More on that below.
b) Climate: It feels hot and humid and as a result you want to shower multiple times a day because you just feel dirty due to the sweat. Remember, you will be outside most of the time - the only place with AC will be in your private room - if you have one. Without too much warning I had 2 weak typhoons moving through the area with almost no wind but heavy rain for several days. It is summer time and locals said it should not be happening - but it did. The dirt roads flood, you become depressed because the sky is grey and it just keeps raining for hours/days - not really what you expect from a tropical island in official non rainy season.
c) Gaming: Local quality is low - foreign quality is much better - more on that later.
d) "Tourist trap": My first impression was that General Luna felt extremely touristy - and later I found I was right. This place changes at lightning speed, and in a worst case scenario becomes something like Boracay in a few years. 1 year ago there were 3 flights to the island each day from Cebu only. Now there are 9 flights from Cebu, Davao and Manila. There is a massive influx of people every day. 3 years ago, the main road from General Luna to Cloud 9 was even not paved. The locals dream back to those times 2-4 years ago when General Luna was great - now it is slowly becoming too touristic but everybody silently accepts because more tourists = more money. But I personally feel I came too late - the raving reviews on the net are 2-4 years old - and now in 2018 everything changes for the worse.
e) Friendliness/hospitality: Unless I was staying/eating in a resort with local staff, the locals were not particularly friendly/chatty/open. I have had much better experiences in the Midwest of USA. Other travelers told me that Siargao is super friendly compared to Thailand - I was amazed, then Thailand must be really bad. However, if you go to the rural municipalities, then you will get some more stares and "Hello's".
Verdict
I truly believe that Siargao was the hidden gem af few years ago but not so anymore. I discussed this fact with many locals and it is not just my personal view. Without being an expert this is not a place, if you are looking for endless pussy. My impression is, if you are a skilled gamer, you can get some decent foreign pussy within a few days. But combine it with surfing -
otherwise it might become boring. As an alternative, come here with a girlfriend or a buddy and have some fun as wingmen (to game groups of foreign girls). I myself thought this trip was about meeting local filipinas and it turned out to be meeting foreign travellers.
Weather
The UV index is extremely high. The scale goes from 0 to 15 and easily reaches 13 in Siargao which is waaay above European summer UV indexes. You see plenty of tourists with sun burnt red skin so cover up and use a +50 UPF at all exposed skin until you slowly start tanning. The sun is so strong that even the brown skinned local surf instructors use zinc cream on their face when they go surfing. Strongly consider a long sleeve rash vest when you go surfing. Also when surfing it is best to have a rather long hair cut so you wont get burned on your head but only have to cover up your face.
Daytime temperature is some 30 degC and I was told it can reach almost 40 degC in june/july. Nighttime temp only drops a few degrees to some 26 degC which means you will sleep almost naked without a sheet if you don't have AC in your room.
Smartphones
The smartphone usage by foreign tourists and locals is massive. Many are staring at the screen at all times. I find it difficult to chat up people who are addicted to their phone. Most people do instagram, selfies, selfie videos, watch youtube videos. People are hiding from their insecurity by using the phone all the time. You will often see dirt poor locals living in shacks, but they are fiddling with a smartphone. And foreign tourists came to this tropical island to spend hours after hours on their phone - and all they are doing is Instagram. So even though Siargao is a travel destination, travellers rarely talk to each other.
Clothing
99% of all people are wearing flip flops (incl tourists). You will stand out massively if you wear a set of boat shoes or something else (without socks). I never saw a guy dressed sharp - it's all about t-shirts or naked upper body. If you dress sharp you will easily stand out. Just beware of not wearing clothes with a heavy fabric like denim - you need something much more airy. In the evening you should be able to wear a long sleeved shirt - maybe some pants. Many times I wish I had an umbrella to go places when it was raining.
Money
There is only 1 ATM in Dapa 15 km away and usually it is not working. If you stay at a resort or eat at a resort, you will be able to pay using a credit/debit card. If not, you will need to bring all your cash to the island. I overheard many travellers who got desperate because they were out of cash. On a daily basis, as a rough estimate, if you spend 2000 pesos on accommodation, 1000 pesos on food and 1000 pesos on surfing/biking = 4000 pesos (75 USD) you should be fine.
Infrastructure
Basically there is only 1 paved road in General Luna. The road coming from Dapa is paved. At the main intersection the road splits - one going to Cloud 9 and one going to the municipality of Malinao. These roads are also paved. Everything else is dirt!! It basically means that 95% of all roads in the area are dirt roads which become heavily flooded during heavy rain. For instance the famous Kermit resort is located in a residential area with flooded dirt roads as the only access if it is raining. But the main road going to Cloud 9 is paved and this is the place where you will be hanging out most of the time. There is no drainage system so water needs ½-1 day to seep through the soil.
Transportation
You can get to the island in 2 ways:
Either by boat from Cebu-Surigao-Dapa (Dapa is 15km away from General Luna). This actually requires 2 boat rides with a stopover in Surigao. I never did the boat but I believe it is a 24h adventure. Remember: Surigao and Siargao is not the same: Surigao is a larger town in Mindanao and Siargao is the island itself.
Or you can take a flight from either Davao, Cebu or Manila and arrive at Sayak airport which is 30 km away from General Luna. A taxi ride one way should be 300 pesos. There are often promos and flying one way can be as cheap as 1000 pesos from Cebu. The normal price range is something like 2000 pesos one way which is still dirt cheap. The flight from Cebu only takes 1 hour. There is however one major problem with flying: The runway is very short and there is no control tower, lights etc so the pilot only relies on his visual eyesight. As a result there are only flights during daytime and if the weather is bad, the flight will be cancelled. Bad weather might just be as simple as rain or low hanging clouds. It is not uncommon that the plane leaves Cebu in good hopes and as the plane approaches Sayak airport, the pilot decides to return to Cebu again with all the passengers - solely for safety reasons. The day before I left, 2 out of 4 flights were cancelled due to heavy rain - if you have a short layover in Cebu you are screwed. Still, I suggest you go by plane since it is so much easier.
Local transportation
On the entire island, motorbikes and the like make up some 95% of all vehicles. There are almost no cars. I think there are more trucks than cars. As a result you will see motorbikes and tricycles everywhere. The tricycles are mostly used by locals if they need to go somewhere and maybe carry a bit of stuff - or if more are going at the same time. The most common bike is the semi automatic 4 speed Honda XRM 125 ccm which can travel at speeds of up to 100 kmh. Next are fully automatic scooters which also have engines in the same engine size range.
Part of island life is to rent a bike and go places. From a legal point of view you will need a motorcycle drivers license if the bike is more than 50 ccm (and they are ALL more than that), an international drivers license and a helmet. My estimate is that 95% of all foreigners renting a bike don't have a motorcycle license - and even 18 year old high school girls drive these bikes. Police is present in General Luna but normally they don't enforce the law. If they did, tourism would drop since the tourists couldn't go surfing anymore with their boards strapped to the bike racks. So when you rent a bike, nobody asks for your drivers license, and you will have to ask if you want a helmet along. However, it is important that the registration of the bike is either in your wallet or somewhere on the bike - ask where it is when you rent the bike. If the police stops you, this will be the first thing they will ask for. Again for the sake of tourism they will not stop you, however during my stay they did a small raid 2 times at the main intersection. Rent is usually 400 pesos pr day, 350 pesos for +3 days and 300 pesos for +10 days. In town you can also rent some real rugged motorcycles and become more badass. You can get fuel everywhere on the island from 1litre cola bottles offered by local residents along the roads over the entire island. 1 litre is 50-55 pesos and should give you a mileage of about 50 km/l.
As a "real" motorcyclist myself I think people have no clue how dangerous it is driving on such a bike. They go waaaay too fast for the road conditions, there is gravel on the road in curves, there are children and dogs everywhere on the roads and they might walk out in front of you just like that. People just leave their brains at home.
Demographics
First of all there are almost no traveling families in General Luna. Within 3 weeks I saw maybe 3 western children with their parents. I would say that 95% of all travellers are 20-40 in age, heavily skewed towards 20-30 so maybe 75% will be in the 20-30 age range. It is my rough estimate that the male/female ratio is 50/50 amongst travelers, but if you go to the parties it will be more of a 70/30 sausage fest. General Luna is all about surfing and I guess 75% of all travelers are here to surf, the rest are here to relax and do some tours like island hopping etc. Depending on the time of the year there will also be a lot of Filipino tourists from Manila, Cebu, Davao etc - but they mainly go to Siargao just to relax - the Europeans are mainly here to surf or try surfing. As a rough estimate I guess that the Filipino tourists make up 20% of all tourists and they usually come from wealthy families and stay in the expensive resorts. At no point I met a traveller from USA (but of course they are there). There are a lot of travellers from Holland, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy. Then less travellers from other European countries. Then some from Israel, Australia, South America and the like, but they were few. I guess there are also a lot of travellers from Korea but I never talked to them as they try to mind their own business at all times.
Then you have the Europeans who fell in love with this place and stay here long term. It is a mix of European girls who got knocked up by a local dude and now raise the kid in General Luna (you will visually see them driving their motorbike down the main road with their mixed kid in the front - very obvious). Then you have European surf "dudes" who love the place and bought/rented a house. Then you have foreign business owners who started their business here in hopes to live away from cold winters and make a living.
I saw extremely few white +50 year old dudes. At no times I felt that these were here to pick up girls or find a wife/girlfriend. However, I did see some middle aged white dudes with filipinas but it was very apparent that they were here on a holiday together and that they met somewhere else in the Philippines.
If you stay along the "strip" = the main road leading towards Cloud 9 the ratio between foreigners and locals will be something like 50/50. If you wander into the residential areas (which are only a few steps away), it will be 99% local filipinos: Here, everyday life goes on with washing clothes, slaughtering a pig every now and then, repairing the tricycle using a stick welder but having no welding helmet and just sunglasses.
Food
The resorts typically have Western style food (Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Burgers) of very good quality and taste where a meal will cost 200-400 (4-8 USD) pesos and a softdrink/beer 50-60 pesos (1 USD). A drink/cocktail will typically be 100-200 pesos (2-4 USD). If you go to the store 1 full bottle of local rum or gin will cost only 95 pesos (2 dollars). This is seriously dirt cheap. The local filipino restaurants are typically half the price of the resorts in terms of food. Softdrink/beer will be the same price. Street food which is also present everywhere is even cheaper: You will get a meal for less than 100 pesos (2 USD).
The grocery store in town is called TAG Store and is located on a dirt road on the way to Malinao (on main road leaving General Luna). But if you want to buy fruits or meat you need to go to the market close to the port/harbor: You will not find a European/US style grocery store that carries everything.
Accommodation
There are many options for accommodation in General Luna ranging from 350 pesos in a dorm/bunk bed to several 1000 pesos in a private AC room. Unlike other SEA places you cannot just walk in and get a room. Everything is booked months ahead in time so you will need to make a reservation well before you leave. Based on my research and observations the Bravo Beach resort is your best option in terms of logistics combined with gaming and food: http://www.bravosiargao.com/
They have a great hang out place with ocean view and a small pool which attracts a lot of people (not just from the resort itself) and it is fairly easy to chat up girls there. Moreover it is located centrally on the "strip" (=main road) with perfect access to other eateries and only a few minutes walk to your room. A double room is 3400 pesos (65 USD) but I would say it is totally worth it due to logistics. Bravo also serves great food.
Other places you can get a AC room for 1000 pesos (to mention one http://lukaysiargao.com). The main problem is, that there is no central webpage where all accommodations are listed - when you show up in town you will see so many places you've never seen in the internet, but it is already too late because everything has been booked. Otherwise you need to do some serious research since many places don't have a webpage.
Kermit Resort is another place worth mentioning. Their rooms are in the 1000-2000 pesos range (less than Bravo) but unfortunately located in a residential area with dirt roads as the only access with serious flood problems if it rains. They have a great restaurant with a wood fired stone pizza oven possibly making the best pizzas in SEA. Evening table reservations are 1 month ahead. They also have a great vibe and a special hang out area if you are an in house guest - also good for gaming.
Paglaom Hostel is 350 pesos hostel in the dirt road residential area with 20 bunk beds attracting mainly long term solo travellers who need to observe their costs. The average age is 20-30 years old with a 50/50 split. 20% of the guests are filipinos from Manila, Davao, Cebu - the rest from mainly Europe. It is a non party hostel requiring silence at 10pm. It is very rudimentary (especially the kitchen) why most people eat out or have take away.
Smiling Pig is a party hostel on the main road leading to Cloud 9 located very conveniently across from Bravo. You cannot make a reservation here - they only accept walk in guests. You will have to fit their party/drinking style/habits and should accept that sex might occur everywhere. They will decide whether you fit in or not. A very strange concept.
Besides these 5 places there are of course numerous other places - just do a search. Most resorts also offer some sort of bunk bed accommodation but in a much more tidy environment than Paglaom/Smiling Pig.
Internet
All resorts have Wifi of varying quality and usually restaurants too. You can buy a local Globe or Smart SIM card to have your own data and they should work fairly well - there are billboards everywhere as advertisements.
First impression
As you arrive at the airport you will immediately feel the humidity and heat (felt hotter and more humid than Cebu). As you start driving the 30km towards General Luna in the taxi you will see rice fields, water buffalos, pigs, dogs everywhere, dirt poor people living in shacks made out of palm tree leaves, scrap wood and sheet metal, children everywhere running around on the highway, women washing clothes by hand, men fixing bikes along the road, workers mixing concrete on the ground because they don't have access to a mixer. Basically you will have shacks almost all the way to General Luna - even between the small towns. As you reach General Luna you will see a myriad of local filipinos everywhere, and you will see more and more foreign tourists riding their rented motorbike. As you turn left on the main road leading towards Cloud 9 and all the resorts, you will be met by endless shops, motorbikes everywhere, souvenir boutiques, eateries, restaurants, surf shops, billboards, poor filipinos running around with their smartphones texting etc etc. My first thought was: "Is that really it"?? I did not feel like a pleasant place - the best place in SEA. The first impression is quite overwhelming, but after a few weeks you will know everything and the place will feel very small.
Second impression
After 2-3 weeks you start to notice the other travelers (short term and long term) and filipinos - the ones you've seen or met previously. So basically it IS a very small place. And when you've stayed here long term for let's say +6 months most people will know you.
To maximize the stay, I would stay here only 1 week. Maybe extending to 2 weeks. If you stay longer, you will feel you've lost the "energy" (you been to all the places - you've been eating at all the places etc) - this of course might be different if you find a girl. If you decide to extend your stay you are in for some serious trouble: It is almost certain that you cannot extend your stay since everything has been booked months in advance. You have to search for some accommodation yourself - probably of lower quality to extend - preferably start searching 1 week before you want to extend. Don't do it last minute.
If you take surfing out of the equation, I guess there are places in southern Europe that have the same "wild west" island vibe feeling as Siargao.
Surfing
You cannot go surfing without a motor bike or a boat. There are no surf spots close by. The closest spot is Cloud9/Jacking horse 4 km away. Cloud9 made Siargao famous and is the name of a pro (expert) surf spot 4km north of General Luna. Just next to Cloud9 you have "Jacking Horse" which is a famous beginners place. Then there is Giwan, Paradise, Secret Spot which are 12 km away (more intermediate). With a boat you can reach Daku Island, Cemetery, Stimpies, Rock Island (intermediate to pro). But the idea of just walking down to the beach in front of the resort is not possible (unless you live in one of the resorts close to Cloud9 - but then you are away from all the action in town). Next there is the problem with the reefs: There is no sand but only sharp reef sea floors with rocks and the like. It means you easily get reef cuts on your feet - I did and a lot of other surfers did. So bring some reef booties. Next, due to the reef floor, it is usually only possible to surf during high tide otherwise you will get injured and damage your board because of the shallow waters during low tide. It basically means you cannot go surfing all day. If things are good you have 2 high tides pr day with 3 hours of surfing each. If things are bad you will only have 1 high tide during daylight and thus only 3 hours of surfing. Next, the swell can be weak and you cannot really surf because the waves are too small. Next, not all waves are of a high quality, if you are in the water for 3 hours you are very lucky if you catch 20 waves. Overall a lot of factors influence surfing, it is like going to war - you will be waiting most of the time.
Nightlife
Basically there is no fixed nightlife spot. Everything changes daily/weekly, but to name the most important places: Viento Del Mar, Buddhas, Loose Keys, Bravo, RumBar, Hotspot, Harana, Octopus, The Jungle. You will have to ask around and listen to what's going on.
Viento Del Mar, Buddhas, Bravo and Harana are resorts who often host parties with DJs or live music - but nothing is scheduled - you have to ask around. At these parties you will have some 100 people, maybe 150 mostly foreign and almost no local filipinos. It will be a sausage fest with a 70/30 ratio I guess with drinks starting at 60 pesos. Because they are resorts, music will shut down between 22 and 24 and people transition somewhere else. Then people transition to the Jungle, Octopus, Hotspot or Rumbar where there is a large proportion of local filipinos - maybe 80%. It basically means that a lot of foreign travellers went to bed. I found it very annoying with all the transitions between the places, driving on motorbikes, hiring a tricycle etc.
As for the resorts, the dining area, hang-out area, beach front is transformed into bar/dancing area - but the music is loud and you cannot really converse. The Jungle and Octopus are very different: They are basically just a roof of 30x20m in size with people dancing below (with a local DJ playing loud music) and with a bar selling "jungle juice" in the corner. They are in the back of a residential area with dirt roads and the talent quality is low. As for gaming/pickup only the resorts are worth considering.
Daygaming
I believe there are 4 spots and all of them are about gaming foreign girls:
a) Along the main road leading to Cloud 9 there are a number of foreign girls you can approach. There will always be some girls walking down the street, parking a motorbike, looking confused etc etc. There are almost no local girls here (except for the ones working in shops). But I believe you cannot do it for long since you quickly will stand out after a few days.
b) In the Bravo resort dining/hang-out area with the pool and beach view. There are plenty of sofas and a number of single girls (travellers) come here to hang out and eat. It is rather easy to approach them here.
c) When surfing and waiting for waves out in the water. When waiting for waves you can check out the girls and just chat them up - very easy because you have a lot in common = surfing. The local surf instructors have the time of their life: They can close up touch and watch foreign bikini girls on a daily basis while instructing how to surf.
d) Tours. Many resorts offer all kinds of tours and very often these single girls are part of these tours. You are together as a group for ½ a day and it is ideal for gaming/isolating since everybody else minds their own business.
You have to remember that many of those solo traveler girls have been traveling for days without anybody talking to them except for staff or waitresses at restaurants - they will be happy if you chat them up.
Girls (talent)
First of all there is no rockstar effect in General Luna. The locals are used to foreigners. Next, I did not do any pipelining, Tinder, Online Dating etc. Everything is based on "real life" interactions:
Girl demographics:
Besides hostels, I would say that 10% of the girls are solo travellers which basically means that you will have a number of single girls staying alone in single resort rooms. Then there is a large number of girls travelling in a group of at least 2, they might make up 30%. The remaining 60% are couples. For the filipino girl tourists, the ratio is about the same.
The white talent is quite decent, almost no fatties, almost no hipster types, few girls with massive tattoos. This place attracts surf girls which tend to be fit and slim - while waiting for waves you see mostly slim, attractive bikini girls in the 5-7 range. If you spot a bikini girl waiting for some waves, it is very likely you will see her again when one of the resorts hosts a DJ the same evening.
The local girls in town were below the white ones talent wise. However, the waitresses in some the resorts where hot - I guess in the 7-8 range. Especially if you go to the Jungle, Octopus or Hotspot where the local girls are dancing in groups - the talent is low ... maybe in the 4-5 range. As a result don't come here for local filipinas - however you might get lucky with some Tinder/Online.
Many of the waitresses work long hours for many many days without having weekends etc - once they finish their shift they usually go back home to sleep and rest.
I circled the island to get a glimpse of the rural filipino municipalities where no tourists go. Now, this is where the talent shows up. In these poor rural areas you will see the cute, slim, adorable, untouched sweethearts but they are probably below the age of consent - but cannot estimate their ages. But I also noticed that the 20-30 year old girls (their older sisters) were almost non-present - I guess they mostly went to bigger cities to find a job. It is my strong feeling it would be a very very bad idea to wife up such a girl even though the material is ideal. The step from their world to your world is simply too brutal.
My own gaming results
Moving away from the "official" datasheet: Now it becomes very personal and officially according to this forum I am screwed forever because I didn't manage to get laid in the country with the easiest pussy. I moved out of my comfort zone (venue change) and in many cases went for the prey - and it felt great. During the 3 weeks I approached and had more interactions with girls than my entire previous life. So from that point of view I should go again to increase my chances further. I would like to mention 3 of my most memorable cases:
a) Airline flight attendant while flying out: This 12h long haul flight is ideal for gaming hot flight attendants. While everybody was asleep I went to the bar area and chatted up this hot flight attendant and we had a nice conversation. Problem was she was on her job and her manager showed up so she couldn't continue. Some valuable information: These hot girls often have a 3-5 days layover in the city. This girl had been inside her hotel room for 3 straight days on the internet doing social media. She never went out. Must be boring as hell. Just telling you guys - there is some real opportunity here. Moreover, during a long haul flight they are allowed to rest/sleep for 3h on the plane before they have to serve breakfast. It basically means they have long periods where they relax and are maybe sick and tired of their co worker and would be happy to talk to a stranger.
On my way back home I tried the same, but now there were 2 girls working together and unfortunately the cute one was cockblocked by the older one, and there was nothing I could do. They told me that the entire crew had a 5 day layover in my city. They were going to do some sightseeing and do some shopping .... just saying. Basically it felt great going up to an 8.5 and start rambling.
b) Was out surfing and spotted this extremely cute UK girl. Slim, great smile and she was really talkative with her surf instructor. Would rate her an 8. As we both got knocked over by a wave I started chatting her up but did not have time to do any elderly or rambling. I had to be much more personal really fast because our instructors were waiting further out. She was really open and chatty and I suggested she should try out the food at Kermit resort famous for its pizza. I did not ask her out. I was not very direct. Later we ended our lessons and my mind was racing on how to take things further because I haven't really been very concrete. When we came back to the surf instructors place things got "confusing" for me - I had never been in such a situation before - I got the biggest smile from her from a distance but could not pull myself up for some reason. She left and later that night she went to a party with the surf instructors. The next day the instructor told me she had been asking for me!!!!! FUCK. Now I tried to remember everything she said about where she stayed, tried to find her name + contacts in the logbook but to no avail. I knew she was staying for only a few days but never saw her again. I should have been much more aggressive.
c) Flight attendant during island hopping. The strangest encounter ever: Walked down the beach and spotted a girl fiddling with a drone. Showed interest and we started talking - she couldn't make it work. I tried to fix it but to no avail. She was extremely kind, open and curious and SHE suggested that we took a walk along the beach - just out of the blue. Convo went so easy and it was like perfect chemistry. Was almost too good to be true (was she a pro?). I asked her about her job ... she was a flight attendant for a major airline and this was her 5 day holiday all by herself. I was shocked - was she a pro - or what was going on. I started asking some technical questions about the aircraft in their fleet to assure myself that she truly was working for that company and not being a pro. She passed the test. On our way back she had to go eat with her group of fellow island hoppers and we split while I went back to my group. Now my brain started racing - I knew I had a slot of 30-45 min before she would jump on that boat and be gone forever. I had to strike the iron while it was hot. I went back to the hut I believed she was staying at ... and found her sitting and eating there with the other guys from her group. Without much hesitation I asked her out right away. To my resort the very same evening - for dinner!!! She accepted but would not guarantee it 100%. So according to this forum I did everything wrong by asking out for dinner - but it felt as the only desperate solution at the time being. For the first time in my life I asked a girl out in real life. But I also knew that she might flake - based on knowledge from this forum. Later that evening I made myself comfortable with the nicest outfit I had and on time she showed up. Hot as hell. At least a 8,5. I had the hottest girl at my table in the entire place. Cool. And no flaking. Convo did not flow perfectly but she was so easy going and was able to start convos herself after 3 seconds of silence. She was laughing all the time and she would not let me pay the entire bill - she wanted to pay her part - and I let her. Later we played/balanced on the slackline and SHE started kino on me and touched me several times. Well, we decided to go to the resort she was staying at and have a drink where we played 2 truths and a lie. She told me the next day was here final day on the island and this is when things really fucked up for me. Suddenly out of the blue my friends showed up and asked me about another island hopping the next day which I agreed to while this hot girl in front of me was complaining on what to do the very same day. At that very moment I thought about the friends and wouldn't let them down and sort of forgot her. We agreed on meeting the next day at 6pm after my island hopping no 2. She never showed up! I could have kicked myself so badly!!! I was so #¤% sad that day at 6pm.
It really makes me sad - these girls were falling into my lap without any work from my side (except that I initiated the approach by opening my mouth), they were hot, adorable and just nice. It was almost too good to be true and I could not "handle" it. I have never experienced something similar in my home country ... ever. And was probably perplexed by it.
Further useful notes/observations etc:
a) Non-party hostel: For gaming, the hostel was a bad choice. The girls were some tough nuts to crack - I would say the filipinas were even more tough. After meeting some 40 travellers in this place, no romance between anyone was happening at all. Even though some of the other guys were ripped and in their prime, nothing was happening in terms of gaming and hookup. When we went to parties it was all about drinking. Normally the guys were more social, listening to music, playing music, smoking, drinking together while the girls were in the common area staring at their phones. The girls were difficult to talk to for some reason. But of course there is this weird dynamics going on - you get along with 50%, the rest are you trying to avoid.
b) Gaming girls at resorts was much better - the girls staying everywhere else but in a hostel. They were much more open and chatty/friendly/curious. Such a delight - I would have thought the opposite before I arrived. This is why I suggest staying at a resort and not the hostel.
c) After a while, I started noticing the single girls traveling alone. I also sensed that they travel without really talking to anyone besides staff and waitresses - so usually they were happy when I started talking to them. So unless you talk to them they will be on their phone or going somewhere. What I liked about this trip was the fact that somehow my prey instinct came alive: When I saw this single girl I would seize her up for a while and then go for the kill - just walk up and start rambling. Something I would never do back home - but in this tropical setting it felt right. It felt great going into the common sofa area at Bravo, spot a single girl and casually pick a seat close by. Order some food/drink and then go for the kill, elderly, rambling etc. Since most men are addicted to their phone, they rarely look around for prey and are somehow satisfied with their Instagram and miss all the cuties sitting around. This is where you have to strike hard - get off the phone and talk to these girls - they feel more lonely now than 5 years ago where wifi wasn't present. Some of these girls have been traveling for many days and feel lonely because nobody talks to them.
d) On purpose I would also chat up couples even though I knew it would lead nowhere - just to get talking and do some rambling/small talk.
e) When gaming I realized that I only went for the attractive ones. I never went for the unattractive ones - which could be good for just training/testing GALNUC material etc. I felt it was a waste of time.
f) I missed my opportunity with the above mentioned girls but from a numbers point of view I am still happy: If I would go again - similar opportunities should arise just from a statistical point of view.
g) For some reason this trip has been all about gaming foreign girls and not locals. Even though I wandered around in the residential areas to look for filipinas I never saw something of interest - and they never showed interest in me. From that point of view I was a bit disappointed.
Final comment
Towards the end of my stay I just wanted to get back home - away from the rain, the flooding etc. I felt that I missed my opportunities and energy was dropping massively. Now that I am back home in my city and have had some time to digest my impressions, I have an ambivalent feeling: It feels even worse here - and I would like to go back to see other parts of PH. In my city, looking forward, my biggest challenge will be to keep up the prey/killing attitude I demonstrated in PH - I already feel it will be a massive problem.
Cebu mini datasheet
I had a 2 day layover in Cebu city while I stayed at a hostel and spent my time checking out the city. I met some cool guys from the UK and we went out eating and were drinking in the common area.
I wanted to see Cebu city based on all the comments on this forum. I did no pipelining/Tinder etc - I just walked out to see what's going on. In total I walked 30 km (18 mi) around in the city (I like walking even if it's hot). I did my deed and saw the fort, Magellans Cross as part of my tour.
Maybe you get lucky by pipelining, but Cebu was awful. I admit your only chances might be Ayala mall or IT park - the rest is not worth mentioning. I felt I was the only foreigner while walking down the streets with no rockstar effect whatsoever, I saw only very few white foreigners with filipinas. Talent very low. In Ayala mall it was crammed with filipino families, children everywhere, I could hardly spot any cute single girls I wanted to approach. Went into a bookstore and started conversing with the clerk (20ish girl) but no chance. No eye contact anywhere, no rockstar effect at all. Siargao was heaven compared to Cebu.
The only place I saw some talent, were girls riding on the jeepneys. But I never figured out where they came from and where they were going.
I guess pipelining is the only way forward in Cebu.
