On December 16th, 2021, the unimaginable happened. Our small island of Siargao was hit by Typhoon Odette — one of the strongest storms on Earth that year and declared Category 5, with winds that reached over 260 kph. 95% of Siargao was completely destroyed, including the homes, businesses and livelihood of the local communities. With signal down for days and no communications from the island, Lokal Lab, a non-profit organization based in Siargao, led the charge and took action to get relief...

In the Philippines, food and love go hand in hand. In this episode, I chat with three incredible Filipino chefs from Siargao, each with unique styles, different experiences, perspectives and philosophies on food. You’ll first hear from David del Rosario from the wildly popular kinilaw-only spot in Siargao called Cev about leaving his corporate job to pursue his passion and purpose as a chef. Then we speak with vegan chef and owner of Malasa, Ramon Pastelero, about how his way of cooking...

For international residents who considered Siargao home, but were unable to return due to the country's lockdown — what is life like for them now? In this episode, we chat with Alex Goldyn, founder of Siargao's non-profit animal rescue organization, Puppy Puddle. Alex is of Polish descent, but has been living in the Philippines for 10 years and Siargao for five of those years. She's built a life here on the island and considered it her home. So when she left for a quick trip to the U.S. in...

Gayle Villaluz Casaccia is the owner of White Banana Beach Club, a gorgeous resort and restaurant in Siargao, which she helps to run along with her husband. She’s also a mother of four girls — three of which she had with her partner from a previous marriage. Gayle is also a former employee of an Only Fans growth management agency, where she trained others on sex talk, fetishes, sexting and flirting. What a job. When you see Gayle and her husband together, it’s as if they are still in the...

It's a rainy, late night slumber party kind of vibe as I chat with the lovely Summer Puertollano. Summer is a creative entrepreneur here on the island, and she moved to Siargao from Manila in 2015, when she was just 24 years old. She’s the founder and creator of Para Sa Diwa, a brand that makes handcrafted skin care, soaps and home products. Summer is also the co-founder of Gawa Gawa, a beautiful new creative community space in General Luna, where we record the Siargao Love Stories podcast....

This next guest needs no introduction. Verity Wigley, known on the island as "Hippie," was the first woman foreigner to ever set foot in Siargao over 20 years ago… and she hasn’t left since. Not only is Hippie the owner of the famous Cafe Loka on Cloud 9, she is also the fiercest fitness trainer on the island, as owner of the Sisters of Siargao workout studio in Malinao. In this episode, we talk about the Hippie origins, her experiences and her past and present life in Siargao. We talk about...

It’s our last episode of Season 1 of Siargao Love Stories, and what better way to close it off than with Chris Alfaro a.k.a. Free the Robots. Chris is an LA-based music producer who found himself living in Siargao right at the beginning of the pandemic. He’s the creator of our intro and outro track “Daku (432 hz),” and he talks in depth about the inspiration behind this beautiful song. In this conversation, Chris talks about his past life in the city as one of the pioneering artists in LA’s...

Born and raised in Siargao and owner of Very Good Nice surf shop, Jun Jun Nogalo is arguably the best surf instructor on the island. Not only is his attention to detail when it comes to surfing and his teaching style so good, but he has this warm...

Mara Reyes is one of the co-founders of Virago Soul — an online community and blog created as a way to connect with unconventional mothers and to share things that are rarely discussed — the not-so-picture-perfect side of motherhood.Originally from...

In this solo episode, Siargao Love Stories creator and host Desiree Gamotin has a lot on her mind...Triggered by news of the recent hate crimes against Asian Americans, Desiree shares her personal journey of healing and returning back to love by...

Our first international guest on the show, Fini Hida is from Albania, but was raised in the U.K. An avid world traveller, she moved to the island a few years ago after falling in love with Siargao — and falling in love with a local surfer...

Good Karma Naturals creator and small business owner, Caye Simpoo, has been in an eight-year tumultuous (and very public) on-and-off relationship with a local Siargaonon, Bryan, a surf instructor and one of the best surf photographers on the island....

Mary Dizon moved to Siargao from Manila in July 2019 — two months after her father passed away. Now she helps run one of the busiest restaurants in Siargao, Wild, and she's behind some of the local projects, including Siargao Unknown and Island...

At 22 years old, Philippine pro surfer Ana Mae Alipayo (a.k.a. Mae Mae) is a fierce charger on the waves. But there’s also this soft side to her, a calm energy and pensiveness that makes her so dynamic and layered as a human — slash mermaid.In this...