Backpacking to Surigao?
A lot of things to do in Surigao and you should also be
prepared with all the long travels and transferring from another bus to another. But all the trip to this place are worth it. Just seeing the beauty of the
place and the hospitality of the people here are indeed wonderful.
One thing to keep in mind is to pack some food as their stores closes as early as 6 PM. And for non meat eaters like me, it was a challenge looking for food in the area so packing something to eat might help you from starving.
So we booked a ticket to Surigao airport which is a bad
choice. But if your itinerary includes Bucas Grande or Siargao, then landing to this airport is a good one. For us, since we have been to these 2 places, we
should have booked to Tandag Airport. Enough with the regrets. 😊
So here is how we went to the beautiful destinations.
Arrived at Surigao airport and we directly took a van (since
it was way cheaper than bus) going to Butuan for 2 hours. From Butuan, we stopped by first
at a karenderia since the next trip will took us 5 hours going to Mangagoy .
We finally arrived at Mangagoy, but we saw a signage
that Tinuy-an Falls is still closed and we asked the locals and they said that closure was extended. Arrived at Mangagoy hungry and exhausted, we just decided
to sleep at Hinatuan and just have a tour at Enchanted River. Lucky enough we
got the last van ride going to Hinatuan at 7PM. The duration of the ride from Mangagoy to Hinatuan is 1 and a half hours.
Surigao to Butuan - 230 PHP bus aircon or Van - 170 PHP
Butuan to Mangagoy - 334 PHP bus aircon
Mangagoy to Hinatuan - 50 PHP Van
Tricycle to Marky's Hostel - 5 PHP
Day 2
Libuacan - Plan B to the rescue. Our first destination and taking a morning dip feels so refreshing. No entrance fee but there is a donation for maintenance
purposes.
Change of clothes also has a 5 php fee.
Enchanted River – Marvel with the beauty of nature and how
mysterious this beautiful river teased you to take a dip but there is a section
where people are allowed to swim. Lots of fishes that can easily be seen through naked eye.
Entrance Fee - 40 PHP
Life Vest rental fee -15 PHP
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| Marvel with the beauty of nature |
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| Fish Feeding |
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| Reality |
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| You can actually swim at Enchanted River but not on the blue part area |
Island Hopping - 500 PHP in 7 destinations
Entrance Fee - 20 PHP in every dock site
Habalhabal (Hinatuan to Libuacan to Enchanted River back and forth) 700 PHP; if only to Enchanted river - 400 PHP
Day 3
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| Meet and greet with the stingrays |
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| Chill out at this cute resto at Rock Island |
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| After a tiring day exploring the beautiful places...time to fill our tummy |
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| Swim with the baby sharks |
Isla Britania - During our bus trip going to this place, it was martial law so we need to get down to the bus to show our IDs to the soldiers guarding the area which might be a hassle for the locals but I think it was also good for the safety of the people. Got in and out 5 times specially for men that they are strictly checking.
Time for island hopping. The name Britania came from a Latin word which means a collective of islands. The place is a beauty and not much tourists that time. We arrived at this place at around 8AM and the tour can start as early as that. The road at the place was still under construction so be ready on the bumpy but safe road. Rented the bangka for 1,500 PHP which is a bit expensive as the islands are not that far. So much happened at this place and you'll know on the below travel drama.
Hinatuan to San Agustin- 95 PHP bus non aircon. Catch this one time bus at Hinatuan bus terminal at 5 AM that goes directly to San Agustin. If you can't catch this bus, you can still go to Isla Britania by transferring to one bus to another.
1. Go to Hinatuan bus terminal and find a bus going to Butuan but drop off at Barobo terminal.
2 From Barobo bus terminal, take another bus going to San Agustin terminal.
3. Take habal-habal or tricycle.
Britania toll fee - 30 PHP
Island Hopping - 1500 (but met another contact that gives a discounted price of 1200 PHP)
Tricycle - 165 PHP (25 each going to the island hopping site) (30 each from the docksite to the city proper)
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| Boslon Island. This island is where most of the people took lunch and enjoy the water rides |
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| Hagonoy Island. This is my favorite island among the 4 but we stayed at this beautiful place in just 10 minutes 😥 |
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| Naked Island |
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| Hiyor Hiyoran Island |
Cagwait - the mini Boracay of Caraga Region but the place was not that crowded same as in Boracay which is good. The sand is fine and the calmness of the sea entice you to take a dip. Limited stores around the place so take your dinner as early as 5 PM as the stores closes early.
Tricycle to Cagwait Beach - 15 PHP
Tricycle from Cagwait Beach to Merkado - 20 PHP
Tricycle from Cagwait Beach to Terminal - 20 PHP
Day 4
Lanuza Surfing Camp - Surfing time and excited to glide into the waves even though we are a bit tired of all the land transfers. Sadly, traveled for 2 hours but the waves are too small and cannot be surfed. That is why there are no tourists that time and locals told us to visit again by November where waves are best to surf. We decided to just eat our lunch there and just head back to Surigao since Laswitan for sure also do not have big waves. Waited almost 2 and a half hours for the bus going to Surigao del Norte but some buses do not pass in this place.
Bus ride from Tandag to Lanuza - 80 PHP
Tricycle to Lanuza Surf Camp - 10 PHP
Vhire from Lanuza to Surigao del Norte - 200 PHP.
Places you may want to visit
Laswitan - located at Cortes at Surigao del Sur just 1 hour bus ride from Tandag. It came from the bisaya word Laswit which means big splash in English. Best time to head to this place is on November to December where big waves are expected. The strong waves that can go as high as 60 feet creates a waterfall effect on the 40 - 50 ft limestone of the place. For the first time, wishing to have a rainy and windy day at that time but definitely will visit this place soon.
Pebble Beach - just 20 minutes from the Surigao airport and we also planned to visit this place but heavy rain suddenly poured down.
Accommodation
Hinatuan
Marky's Hostel - Stayed here for 2 nights and the place is so cozy. Common CR but it was clean, there is a kitchen with complete utensils but cooking needs approval from them, the lounge area sells snacks too. The staffs are very friendly and very accommodating that they even let us hitch in their car going to the terminal just to catch the 5 AM bus going to San Agustin. Highly recommended place.
Fee: 1,200 PHP good for 6 pax (On our case since we are just 3, we paid 400 each)Cagwait
LGU Cagwait - A good place to sleep as it was really cheap. With own bathroom and the room is air-conditioned too.
Fee: 700 PHP good for 3 pax |
| At first I thought there is a campaign but this is the poster of the resort |
Lanuza Surfing Camp - we didn't stay at this place since we decided to just head back to Surigao but you may want to stay here as it is just near the surfing area.
Fee: 1,000 PHP good for 3 pax
Hotel Solibao
Hotel Solibao - a good place to stay and the bed was really big. With Wifi, own CR, fully air-conditioned room and with free breakfast. We are a bit tired and we want the place to be near or few kilometers away from the airport. We have inquired with the nearest one but it was quite expensive. I think this place is cheaper
Fee: 1,600 PHP good for 3 pax |
| The only decent food I had for the entire trip. For those who are asking, I gave the tosino to my carnivore buddy 😜 |
Travel Drama
Aside from not able to visit Tinuy an Falls and not able to surf at Lanuza, a lot happened in Surigao. One of it was the incident in Isla Britania that we felt scammed. So here is the not so short story to tell. Arrived at the island hopping site as early as 8AM and I asked what is the limit to stay at the beautiful islands. And Joan said we can stay as long as we want. Joan was the contact that we got from locals in Hinatuan. So the tour started and our first destination was Hagonoy Island. Waves are strong but I think not too strong to let us get back to the bangka. The place is really nice and we want to stay for a while but the bangkero said we should only take pictures and 10 minutes is the max time to be in the area so we followed him since we think that locals knows best. The next destination was Naked island and we asked if we can take a dip but he is always behind us and after 15 minutes, he called us again to get back at the bangka. At the next stop, they told us what will be our last destination and we said that there are 4 islands to visit and they said they need to pick up some guest so they need to leave us at the island for a while and pick us up again. So that was when the rage started. They are in a hurry because they have someone to pick up and they should have told us from the start. We told them to at least let us see the 3rd island and leave us at the last island where we can take a dip. On the last island, which is Boslon, we texted to pick us up since the mood was already bad. And then the bangka was already there, but we waited for how many minutes since their customer has a pictorial and still on a retouch. And there we are, making all the adjustment when we rented the bangka for whole day and we are not aware we are sharing it with other guests with different time. Upon hopping at the bangka, the guest shouted to look and guard for their things. And we were what? We understand the guest since it will also be our assumptions when there are strangers riding in the bangka they rented with their things cluttered. And the bangkero murmured to his self that we are maldito. He thinks that we can't understand a Cebuano language but we just make it passed. So my point is, we wouldn't been mad if they have told us that they have already guests to pick up so we can look for another bangka to tour us in the area without all the restrictions. And we do not know that the max time to visit the place is only 5 hours. That Joan should have told us from the start and not making a statement that we can stay as long as we want. Our island hooping tour ended so quick and we told Joan about the incident and called Dodong who joined us in the tour. Dodong even get mad on us since he said we texted them to pick us up but are they not thinking that is because they leave us for how many hours in the last island? We told them that complaining to them will not be our benefit anymore because it was already happened. This is for their next customer who wants to enjoy the beautiful islands but they are ruining that simple joy. Maybe the worst island hopping service I ever had. There is a small store at the area and there you can find Dodong and Joan. We left the area with heavy heart and shared the frustrations to the tricycle driver and told us if we wish to visit the place again, he offers a tour for only 1,200 and promises good service. Here is his number 09381384474.
So the next travel drama incident was the tricycle we rode going to the airport. We assumed that the price will just be 10PHP same as the fare we paid the last night we rode a tricycle. But then, the driver told us to pay 100PHP and we were shocked since the distance was not that far. We asked the security at the airport and told us that 100PHP is really high for a short distance. The driver got mad and left immediately without taking our pay. So the moral lesson for this? Asked first before assuming.
for more pics on our travel, you may check #JessRoamsAround #JessRoamsAroundSurigao in Instagram
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