EXPLORING SURIGAO DEL SUR,
#thexuixuiWay
How we got there?
My
unexpected journey to Surigao Del Sur is one of the most memorable adventures I
ever had in my life. But before I’ll take you to the different tourist attractions of Surigao Del Sur I will tell
yall first how we got there…
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| Tinuy-an Water Fall of Bislig City |
Midnight
of April 1, 2015 , Holy Wednesday, when we departed Agora Terminal in
Cagayan De Oro City to Butuan City via public air-conditioned bus. It took us 5
hours to reach Butuan and the fare is 350 pesos for regular and 280 pesos for
students (S.P) From Butuan we transferred to another public air-conditioned bus
bound to Davao and travelled another 2
hours for us to reach San Francisco, Agusan Del Sur. The fare is 180 for
regular and 130 for students (S.P).
After
a delicious breakfast at our friend’s house in San Franz, Agusan Del Sur, we
went back to the terminal and rented (Pakyawan style) a van going to Poblacion,
Hinatuan for 1,200 pesos (that’s 100 each since we are a group of 12). By the
way, let me remind yall that there are no public air-conditioned buses from San
Francisco, Agusan Del Sur to Hinatuan (vice-versa).
Actually,
we went to Poblacion, Hinatuan for our free lunch since there is this very
hospitable person we know who is currently living in Hinatuan, that’s why if you don’t
know anyone living in Hinatuan to help you explore the place, it is advisable
that in San Francisco you can already arrange a deal with the van owner/ driver
to take yall directly to enchanted river or where you want to go first.
Hinatuan is not only blessed with awesome tourist attractions but also with the best sea foods and that’s why our friend who lives in Hinatuan served as crabs and shrimps for lunch like it’s just an ordinary “ulam” to them. XD
About
12 noon in Poblacion Hinatuan, we decided to rent another van to take us all to
our first destination, the Enchanted River, but before going there, we already
booked a very unique lodge near enchanted river called the C-Fish Cage and Sand
Bars Resort and we were told by our Hinatuan Friend that for us to save money
for foods, we can just buy first in the market and let the resort cooked it for
us for dinner and breakfast on the next day and so we did it and fortunately it
was successful.
We
rented the van for 1,200 pesos on the first day to take us all from Poblacion
Hinatuan to Enchanted River and 2,500 on the next day to take us from Enchanted
River to Tinuy.an falls and finally back to Poblacion, hinatuan. Actually, that
3,700 pesos for the whole trip wasn’t so bad considering we are a group of 12
and the road going to those places are so bad.
Finally, we went to our first
destination –
THE ENCHANTED RIVER!
PART 1- THE
ENCHANTED RIVER AND ITS SIDE TRIPS
THE ENCHANTED RIVER
Finally after more than 12 hours
of travelling from Cagayan De Oro City, we reached our first destination the
enchanted river and of course the rest of the story is so fuckin’ epic!
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| Groupie at the Entrance of Enchanted River |
The Hinatuan Enchanted River is
a lagoon-river on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It flows into the
Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean at Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan, Surigao Del
Sur. It is found between the boundaries of Barangays of Talisay and Cambatong.
It earned the moniker "enchanted river" from the diplomat Modesto
Farolan who described the river in his poem entitled "Rio Encantado".
(Wikipedia)
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| At the Enchanted River |
I was even more amazed after
knowing that the origin of the water in the river and the depth of it is still
unknown as of March 2015 exploration and no tourist has ever died in the place.
That’s was very remarkable!
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| Groupie with the Enchanted River at the Back |
The entrance fee is 30 pesos and if you
have private vehicles there are spacious areas where you can park them however
it is about half to 1 km away from the river so what you need to do is to go
near the entrance first then park.
There are also life jackets for
rent for 15 pesos per hour if you want to go swimming but it’s not really
required to have that. Lifeguards are also on duty and very visible within the
swimming area.
To preserve the beauty of the
place, no one is allowed to smoke and bring food in the river premises. There is
a specific area near the main entrance where you can do your picnic thing. You can
rent cottages, tables and chairs. Amount varies depending on your needs and
budget.
What
can I say about enchanted River?
It
is absolutely the most enchanting river I have been to. The water of this river
is so majestic and it leave me speechless or even breathless… it gives justice
of being so called “enchanted” because I was.
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| What to do before swimming? Take Selfie :P |
The brackish water of this river
is so refreshing and though the depth of it is a little bit scary, still it is
very safe. I will surely be glad if I will have another chance to be in this
place.
ENCHANTED RIVER SIDE
TRIPS
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| Boating and Island Hopping after enjoying the enchanted river |
If you want side trips, you can
try motor boating and island hopping for very affordable 150 pesos per hour with a
maximum of 5 person per motor boat. The destination will be a drop
by at C-Fish Cage and Sand bars resort, and island hopping in Pangasinan Island at Portlamon, facing directly the Pacific Ocean and more…
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| Along the way to C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort |
Where
to stay in Hinatuan?
Staying at C-FISH CAGE AND SAND BARS RESORT
Our
Hinatuan Friend informed us that there is this very unique lodge near enchanted
river, in the middle of the sea, facing the Pacific Ocean, which offers a cheap
overnight stay for tourist. It was only about 15-minutes boat ride from
enchanted river.
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| Docking at C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort during High Tide |
It was actually a very small resort floating in the
middle of the sea and perhaps needs much of improvement. The resort is purely
made of dry woods, common nipa for roof and bamboo post but still very safe and
they also have air conditioned rooms where you can relax over the night ranging
from 600 to 1,200 pesos per room, depending on the accommodation
you want.
For the food, they have the best and freshest sea
foods including their one of a kind lobster for about 1,700 pesos each to 2,600 pesos per kilo (about 2
pieces of it). Also, if you want to save money, you can just buy goods
first and let them cook it for you.
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| Game face on while on the boat goin to C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort, Surigao Del sur... and while they were all busy taking their selfies too.. haha #IslandHopping #SurigaDelSur #CaragaRegion #summer2015 #thexuixuiWay |
When
we were still at the boat on our way to the resort, the driver said that during
low tide about 10pm to 12 midnight, long sand bars appear near the resort where
you can play basketball and volleyball. It was just so funny that by the time
he told us about it we don’t believe him since it’s almost impossible to dry
the place considering the depth of the seawater. But still we hope it’s really
true so waited…
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| Groupie At Portlamon, Pangasinan Island |
We
continued our island hoping and reach Pangasinan Island in Portlamon and took
some selfie and groupie photos … because we don’t have much time we were not able
to enjoy so much the white sand beach of this island but still we were so happy
to have stepped into it!
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| Selfie At Portlamon, Pangasinan Island |
While
waiting for sand bars to appear, we ate our dinner then we had fun talking with
friends, chickas here and there and other little funny talks while sippin’ some
‘Empe Shots!” By the way, the resort does not have any Wi-fi and not even
mobile signal for Globe users and very minimal for SMART so that means if you
were there it feels like you’re isolating you self to the world for one night. You
can’t even play Clash of Clans out there! Ha-Ha
It
was almost 10pm and still no long sand bars have appeared in the sight, so my
hope vanished and decided to sleep early for a new adventure next day…
However, about 10:30pm mysteriously the long sand
bars appeared near the resort where my friends enjoyed it while I was asleep… damn, they didn’t
even tried to wake me up ha-ha… that shit Emperador Light knuckled me off
before I even saw that effin’ sand bars! XD
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| C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort During Low Tide |
Next day, I decided to wake up very early (5am) so I can
be the first one to use their comfort rooms and do the shower thing. Thank God,
I have managed it right and I was not so disappointed even though the water is
not so fresh! : P
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| Sunrise at C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort Facing Pangasinan Island and the Pacific Ocean View |
Early morning on the next day, we were greeted with
this very beautiful sun rise at the dock of the fish cage… and fish of
different sizes and colors appeared at the bottom of the resort (well, of
course it’s floating in the middle of the sea Ha-ha)
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| Improper Summer Outfit at C-Fish Cage and Sand Bars Resort |
After a satisfying Filipino style breakfast composed of dried fish, egg etc. we then prepared to depart the place and headed back to Enchanted River where our van waited for us to take us to our next destination, TINUY-AN FALLS!
Been there already? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments section or message me on Facebook!
This is very interesting. Planning to go there. BTW you had an awesome experienced.
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