Surigao City
— — the port the surfers pass through.
Not only on a wall.
“A coastal city at the head of the Surigao Strait, where the Pacific meets the Mindanao Sea and the ferries leave for Siargao. The wharf moves before dawn — outrigger bancas, hot bread, the day's catch laid on banana leaves. Inland, the lowland breaks into karst hills and small white-sand coves. The Mabua pebbles roll under each wave with a sound the locals can identify from the road. Most travellers are here for a night, on the way somewhere else. — from the studio
Surigao City, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Surigao City is the capital of Surigao del Norte and the northernmost city of mainland Mindanao, situated on the Surigao Strait that separates the island from the Dinagat group to the north. It is the administrative and commercial seat of the Caraga region and the principal ferry port for Siargao Island, an hour and a half across the strait by fastcraft. The city covers roughly 245 square kilometres of coastal lowland and karst hills. Its 2020 population was about 171,000. Tagalog, Cebuano and Surigaonon are all spoken on the wharves.
The Surigao Strait is the eastern entrance to the Philippine archipelago, deep and tide-driven. In October 1944 it was the site of the last battleship engagement in naval history. The water today carries the small daily traffic of fishing bancas and the inter-island ferries. Mabua Pebble Beach, eight kilometres north of the city centre, is a long curve of rounded grey stones that rattle audibly as the waves draw back. Day Asan, a stilt-village in the mangroves on the city's southern edge, is reached by paddle banca through narrow channels.
Surigao is reached by daily flights from Cebu and Manila to Sayak Airport on Siargao or directly to Surigao Airport; the ferry from Surigao port to Dapa, Siargao runs several times daily and takes about two hours. The city's dry months are March through May; the typhoon season runs June through November and the strait can close ferry service for days at a time. The Bonok-Bonok Maradjao Karadjao festival, held every September, is the city's largest cultural gathering, drawing performers from across Caraga.