104 places · 7 areas

Places of the Bangsamoro

Islands and white sand, lakes in the highlands, mosques, falls and the old forts and houses of the sultanates: what is there, how to get there, and what to know before you go.

Ervin Malicdem · CC BY-SA 4.0Photo by Ervin Malicdem, CC BY-SA 4.0. Open the source file.

Beaches 6

Islands 11

Mosques 10

Lakes 5

Falls 5

Mountains 7

Nature 21

Heritage 22

Museums 5

Cities 2

Markets 2

Memory 8

Every place is traced to the pages it came from, and the guide’s own entries are the travel workspace’s. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons or English Wikipedia under free licences, each credited on the photo. 7 areas: Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City and the Special Geographic Area.

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White sand and turquoise water at Sangay Siapo

Places · Island

Sangay Siapo Island

Simunul, Tawi-Tawi

Also known as Sangay Siapoh, Sangay Siapuh, Maldives of the South

MimiAhid · CC0Photo by MimiAhid, CC0. Open the source file.

Overview

A small white-sand resort island near Bongao with a boardwalk and shallow, clear water.

Sangay Siapo is a privately owned resort island with overwater cottages linked by a boardwalk. Large fish gather on one side of the boardwalk, and the water around the island is shallow.

It is usually visited on a boat day from Bongao together with Simunul and Panampangan Island. Photos on Wikimedia Commons place it in Simunul; travel guides describe it only as near Bongao.

Things to do

  1. 01Swim off the boardwalkThe boardwalk crosses shallow water to the white beach, and large fish can be seen beside it.
  2. 02Add it to a Simunul and Panampangan boat dayA 2022 itinerary reached Sangay Siapo at 4:30 pm after Panampangan and Simunul and was back in Bongao by early evening.
  3. 03Watch the sunset with Bongao in viewFrom the island you can see parts of the capital across the water as the sun goes down.

Food to try

  • A bowl of near-black beef soup beside a red onion and dried chillies.TausugTiyula ItumBlack beef soup, colored by burnt coconut.Photo: Nurfadzrie Abubakar
  • Tausug satti: grilled meat skewers with a bowl of spiced sauce and ta'mu rice cake in woven coconut leaf.TausugSattiSkewered meat in a hot red sauce, with a block of rice — the breakfast of the archipelago.Photo: Anak 1 at en.wikipedia
  • TausugKulmaA mild peanut-and-coconut curry, close to a korma.
  • TausugPianggangGrilled chicken in burnt-coconut sauce.

The food is halal. Named eateries come from dated listings, so check they are still open.

Places to stay

By phone or Facebook page, or through the provincial tourism office, which is the single most useful contact in the province and will also arrange island trips.

Each is named in an official or dated source; none could be checked against an accreditation list. No prices: rates change quickly, so confirm and book directly before you go.

Sourcestransitpinas.com ·lakwatsero.com ·philippinebeaches.org