Photo: AGUSTIN MENDEZ, Tubod Founding Hero · CC BY-SA 4.0
A bare crescent of white sand rising out of turquoise water — no trees, no huts, nothing but sandbar and sea, which is exactly the point. It's the classic first stop on General Luna's tri-island hopping run, ideal for a swim and wide-open photos with 360-degree ocean views. The sandbar shrinks and shifts with the tide.
A tiny teardrop islet crowned with a mop of coconut palms, floating just off General Luna — the desert-island cliché made real. You can stroll its entire circumference in a few minutes, snorkel the surrounding coral, or claim a patch of sand with a coconut in hand. It's the usual final, sunset-ish stop of the tri-island tour.
The biggest of General Luna's three offshore islands ('daku' means large), with a long white-sand beach, swaying palms and a small fishing village. This is the lunch stop of the island-hopping circuit — local families grill fresh fish and serve boodle-fight spreads under shady beachfront cottages. The swimming and snorkelling just off the beach are excellent.
At the northernmost tip of Siargao, Alegria unfurls some of the whitest, softest sand on the island beside shallow, glass-clear water that's calm enough for proper swimming — a rarity on the reef-guarded east coast. The long ride up through rice paddies and palm forest is half the experience. Few tourists make it this far, so weekdays can feel private.
A turquoise lagoon ringed by jungle-covered limestone hills, reached by a gorgeous 30–45 minute bangka ride through the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Philippines. A two-storey pavilion floats in the middle with a jumping platform, kayaks and paddleboards for hire. The water shifts between blue and green depending on the light and is calm enough for even hesitant swimmers.