GENERAL LUNA is just a small town at the edge of the world. It is safe, clean and friendly, the laid-back kind of place where you could stop by for two or three days and not want to leave for a year. It is undeveloped and unspoiled, and that's the charm of it.

BOAT TRIPS. Not to be missed is a full-day boat trip to Sohoton Lagoon. A magical place, overhung by jungle cliffs where you can swim into caves with bats, strange fishes, stalactites and rock oysters, weird corals, pitcher plants, cycads, and wild orchids. Take a flashing and go during mid-day when the tide is low. The only entrance to the lagoon is a natural cave tunnel, hanging with stalactites and with strong currents. The cost is around 500 pesos per person, but it is well worth it. Around GL, you should pop across the lagoon to Guyam, the perfect palm-fringed islet, Dako and its white sand beach, coral reefs and friendly villagers. Or visit Pansukian (Naked Island) a white sand with spit with corals all around. A day tirp to all three should cost around 600 pesos. If you are feeling brave or foolhardy, try rocky, jungled Hanoyoy, and see if all the talk about buried treasures and wak-waks (forest spirits) are really true.

SOLO TRIP. You could rent a motorcycle in GL, for about 600 pesos/day, and get around the island yourself. There are few road signs, so take a compass. Otherwise, you could get around by the regular jeepneys, but they tend to arrive and depart at strange times.

DIVING AND SNORKELING. There's plenty to see (fish, corals, sea snakes,etc. ) but no big sharks snorkeling on the reefs aorund Guyan and Daku (you c anjust drift with the current along the drop-off). Around Pansukian, the coral reefs are great, (even better at night time ) and you can explore reefs in front of Tuason Point (but please, not under the break itself), and in La Janosa and Mamon. A huge underwater cave with four to five separate entrances was recently discovered under the first rock islands i front of Tuason, and the Blue Cathedral just off Caridad, north of Pilar. Underwater visibility and topography are outstanding

FISHING. The sailfish and blue marlin seaon - when the big fish (sailfish up to 40 kg. marlin up to 200 kg) cruise the deep water only a mile or two out of GL - really hums form March to early May. But you could fish for coral trout, large sappers and other reef fish anytime, or get a local fisherman to take you out to the Payao, a floating fish attractor about five miles beyond Guyam, and troll for bolis (skipjack) or barilis (yellow fin tuna). You can catch tanguigue (spanish mackerel), huge Pacific tuna, and morang (dolphinfish). In the lagoon, you can get bayo (Long Toms) - they're fun tocatch but a little too bony to eat

SAILING. GL lagoon must be one of the safest, easiet, and most pleasurable places to sail anywhere in the world. See if you can persuade Pirate Pete or Visayan Andrew to take you for a fast sail and a few beers around the lagoon. You could try renting a paddle barota (15 minutes to Guyam if you ever get the hang of it.)

SWIMMING. Well, perhaps swimming in GL at low tide isn't the greatest, but try it at high tide or at down or dusk, when the water is freshest, or at night when the moon is out and the water is phosphorescent. You can get to Guyam in abouty half-an-hour if you are fit. Dako has the nearest very good beach for swimming at any tide. The swimming at Mamon is like being a virgin olive in a very dry martini.

CAVING. There is a huge cave at Consuelo, with stalactites, stalagmites rock crystals, piles of bat guano, a million bats, and even a huge python, but you'll have to be fit to get there. There's another at Malinao, on the way Union.

JUNGLES. Siargao is one of the few islands in the Philippines where tarsiers (small lemurs or bush babies, extinct almost anywhere else) are still common. See monitor lizards six feet long, hornbills, parrots, yellow and black lorikeets, kingfishers, and other birds nobody yet knows the names of.

MOUNTAINS BIKING. Ask the PUB for a mountain bike rental, and try some cross-country biking. There is an International Mountain Bike Competition held in March every year, but to tell the truth, it's more like surfing than biking at that time of year, in the wet season.

SITTING AROUND. Probably the most popular active sport in GL, it's remarkable relaxing, restorative, and healthful. Watch the fishermen at dawn, the clouds and the waves in the day, or the moon at the night. It's up to you if you jsut sit and think, or just sit.

SHOPPING. At Maridyl's, on the main street, you can get general supplies, fruits, vegetables, snack, etc. Rosita's probably has the best medicines. Marcha's stocks hardware, bamboo hats, stationery,and all sorts. There are many sari-sari stores scattered through the town, which sell odds and sods, fresh fruits in season, tuba (coconut wine), etc. and there are bakeries opposite the church and beside Rosita's which do hamburger rolls and fresh sweet breads.

FOOD, DRINK, NIGHTLIFE. At Maridyl's or Lalay's in the main street, you can get cheap beer, Filipino food, and take in the street scene or another action video.. Ruth has great chicken and pork barbercue, just between the two. Out at Cloud 9, you could try San Miguel's beach bar and restaurant, or 5 Lyns cafe in Catangnan,. The Green Room or Jungle Reef and maybe Venerias Karaoke/Disco. In the evening, after nine, try the Melvinbo Disco, for sweaty group-bopping, or Seven-Eleven Karaoke/Restaurant . The restaurant isn't up to much, but the singers are great and you could even try a song yourself, in town. They are a bit primitive but good fun. Opposite Seven Eleven is El Nino Loco, a bit of an up-market bar.

GETTING TO KNOW PEOPLE. GL people ar very friendly and hospitable, if sometimes a little shy. smile and you'll get a radiant smile back. The girls are very beautiful and very charming, but well-behaved. There is no hooker scene in GL, an nobody wants one. Fishermen often picnic by the beach or on Guyam, and may invite you for shot of Tanduay rhum, Kulafu medicinal wine, tuba or pa-oroi (strong nipa wine). Beware, they are more intoxicating than they semm. Try kinilaw, fresh fish steeped in vinegar, lemon juice, ginger, and onions - refreshing and delicious. They might offer you, dog stew, which is worthy trying (once), litson (roast pig) or kambing (roast goat), worth trying anytime. Get a lad to climb a tree for fresh butong, coconut juice straight from the nut. Try halo-halo, a great refresher with ice, condensed milk, fruit, and all sorts of other stuff. Poot-poot, featured as a delicious dish in all the guide books, is actually a tiny fish, salted, rotted down, and fermented, exlusive to GL, and in great demand throughout the Philippines, but perhaps not quite to your taste.