Surigao Del Norte’s Bucas Grande

Day 3 of our CARAGA trip and our destination for day 3 is Bucas Grande. This is located in the town of Socorro which is also located in Siargao Group of Islands. We woke up early and ate our breakfast, it was around 8 in the morning when we started travelling from our lodge house near Claver town center to Hayanggabon port which is about 30 minutes travel by tricycle. We rented the tricycle for 150 pesos for a one way trip. Upon arrival at the port, we inquired at the nearest tourist center for a boat that we can rent for Sohoton or Bucas Grande and the person at the tourist center have negotiated a boat for 3500 pesos. The 3500 rental is for a roundtrip travel from Hayanggabon port to Sohoton and then back to Hayanggabon.

A boat rich in iron

After we were informed that we already have a boat that we can use for Sohoton, we then hurriedly bought foods for our lunch and snacks.  We bought fish from the nearby wet market and then we also bought cooked rice from a nearby restaurant. Our plan was iihawin na lang namin yung mga isda pagdating namin sa isa sa mga isla sa Bucas Grande. So by around 10 am, we were ready to left the port and a couple will be joining our group kasi gusto nila makatipid sa bangka kaya nakisabay na lang sila sa amin. The weather was sort of gloomy weather. Mister Sun is not shinning so brightly but it’s okay ‘coz hindi kami masusunburn ng todo.hehehe!

Hayanggabon Port

We travelled for about an hour on a calm sea and dumiretso na ang bangka sa visitors center in Sohoton where we registered and paid the appropriate fees for our tour. Medjo madami pang babayaran sa Sohoton before you can start your tour. You have to pay different fees for different places that you want to visit in Sohoton. All in all, we paid a total of 650 pesos per person and that includes the paddle boat rental that we will need in order to reach the Jellyfish Lagoon, the tour guide, tourist fee, the boat that we will use to visit the cove, etc. Hindi ko na matandaan yung breakdown nung fees sa sobrang dami ng idiniscuss sa akin, nanosebleed na nga ako sa pagdiscuss nung babae sa reception area.hehehe!

visitors center at Bucas Grande

So after we paid the necessary fee, we then boarded a paddle boat for Jellyfish lagoon or Tojoman lagoon. We use about 3 paddle boats and the boatman paddled for 15 minutes before we reached the lagoon. There are lots of non-stinging jellyfish in the lagoon and most of these jellyfish stays in the lagoon from April to June only. Masaya na hawakan ang mga jellyfish at para silang mga gelatin lang na palutang lutang na sobrang masarap hawak hawakan. The boatman informed us that we should not squeeze nor hold it above the water kasi mamamatay daw sila at mapuputol ang mga tentacles nila. It is also not advisable to swim at the lagoon kasi nadidisturb daw ang mga jellyfish and namamatay daw kapag yung mga lalangoy ay naglagay ng mga sunblock or lotion but we were allowed to swim with the jellyfish na nasa labas na ng lagoon, dun sa medjo open na part na ng dagat.

The small entrance going to Jellyfish Lagoon

Tojoman Lagoon or Jellyfish Lagoon

So after spending a few minutes at the lagoon, lumabas na kami at pumunta sa may bukana ng lagoon, and from there we jumped from our boat at lumangoy kasama ang mga jellyfish. Lumangoy kami for about 20 minutes kasama ang mga jellyfish and it was an exciting experience because it’s not an ordinary thing to hold and touch a jellyfish and swim with them. Kasi kung stinging jellyfish yun, malamang namimilipit na kami sa kati at sakit ng mga sting nila.hehehe! Sa sobrang excitement, hindi ko na agad namalayan na nawala ko na pala yung snorkelling mask ko, pero okay lang kasi nagenjoy naman ako. I just hope that I won’t see any jellyfish wearing my snorkelling mask at ngumingiti pa sa akin.hahaha! 

non-stinging jellyfish at Jellyfish Lake, Bucas Grande, Sohoton

Non-stinging jellyfish of Bucas Grande

Our swimming with the jellyfish was awesome but we need to go back to the visitor’s area to transfer to another boat that would bring us to Tiktikan Cove and then hike to Tiktikan Lake. So after arriving at the visitor’s area, we hurriedly transferred to a big boat that would bring us to Tiktikan Cove. After 15 minutes of travel, we finally arrived at Tiktikan Cove and there’s a small hut with a store near the trail going to Tiktikan lake. Dun na din kami nagprepare ng lunch namin and our tour guides cooked the fish while me and my friend prepare the sawsawan while some of my friends already hiked to Tiktikan lake. After me and my friend finished preparing the hot and spicy sawsawan, sumunod na din kami papunta sa Tiktikan lake. The lake is a small lake and it is just about 10 minutes’ walk from the reception area. Nagpicture picture lang kami and I didn’t bother na lumangoy pa sa lawa. Medjo gutom na din kasi ako so after 15 minutes bumalik na din kami sa reception to eat our lunch. Our menu was ensaladang talong and inihaw na isda. Namnam!!

Matapos namin na maglunch, we waited for the boat kasi sinundo pa nila yung 2 namin na kasama na couple kasi bumili sila ng lunch nila sa ibang isla and then after the boat arrived we then proceeded to Crystal Cave. It’s just about 10 minutes travel from the reception area plus another 10 minutes hike. It is called Crystal Cave because the rock formation inside the cave has some formed crystals. Kumikinang sila kapag naliliwanagan. We only spent a few minutes at the cave ‘coz we need to hurry up bago pa maghigh tide or else we won’t be able to go inside the Sohoton Cove.

Tiktikan Cove

Tiktikan Lake

We then got back to our boat but we need to transfer to the bigger boat that we’ve rented from Hayanggabon Port because the boat na sinakyan naming from Tiktikan can’t go out of the cove during low tide. So after transferring to the bigger boat we then travelled back to the visitors are and then transferred to another small boat. We can’t use the bigger boat because it won’t be able to fit to the entrance going to Sohoton. The entrance is a small cave with low ceiling but can be accessible during low tide. There were a lots of boat transfer in Bucas Grande. Every time you’ll go to other destination, you’ll need to transfer to another boat. Anyway, from the visitor’s area, we travelled for 10 minutes before we arrived at the Sohoton entrance. It’s like an underground river in Palawan but it’s a little bit shorter, mga 1/8 lang siguro nung sa Palawan.heheh!

Crystal Cave

Our first destination is Hagukan Cave or Snoring cave. This is called Hagukan because according to our boatmen it sounds like its snoring when huge waters are coming in and out of the cave. There’s a small opening going to the cave and I think it is just about a few feet in length. We swim for a few minutes but an accident occurred. My friend suffered a long cut in her legs because of those sharp rocks inside the cave. Blood was gushing out of her wounds and we were kinda afraid but luckily, the couple that joined us in the group was a nurse and a doctor. So they said that my friend just need to hold the wound firmly para hindi dumugo at para magclot agad. I have a first aid kit pero iniwan ko sa visitors area. My friend then informed us na okay lang naman sya and we can proceed na muna sa last stop namin which is the Magkukuob Cave. So ayun, dumiretso na kami sa cave which is about 5 minutes boat travel lang naman from Hagukan Cave.

The Magkukuob Cave is much bigger compared to Hagukan and you can walk around the cave. You can also exit on an adventurous exit which is jumping off from a cliff to the sea. I think it was just about 10 feet high and since gustong gusto ko din ang tumalon, eh di tumalon agad ako.heheh! But some of my friends have fear in height so it took them a while before they were able to jump from the cliff. Siguro inabot din ng 15 minutes bago nila nalabanan ang takot nila.heheh! But one of my friends wasn’t able to conquer her fear kaya nagbackout na lang sya at bumalik na lang sa entrance. So a long way to exit for her.hehehe!

My friend with the cut on her leg was a little bit worried ‘coz hindi pa rin magkadikit yung skin sa wound nya at nakabukas pa, so we hurried up to the visitor center para makuha ko na yung first aid kit. The doctor and the nurse couple helped my friend at nilagyan lang naman ng bandage yung sugat at sinabi na ipastitch namin. So after that, we now travelled to Hayanggabon port and then after namin makipagbanlaw sa isang bahay, we then rode a van bound for Claver town. Nauna na yung iba kong kaibigan sa lodge house and sinamahan ko muna ang friend ko na pumunta sa pinakamalapit na hospital which is about 10 minute motorcycle ride from Claver. The hospital in Gigaquit is quite small and hindi nga namin mapicture out na hospital yun kasi under renovation but when we inquired, operational din pala. We talked to the nurse on duty and informed us that there are no doctors at the hospital. The doctors are only available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The nurse informed us that the cut wasn’t that major and it doesn’t need any stitching since nagdikit na din yung wound at sarado na. So upon assurance na okay na yung sugat ng friend ko, bumalik na din kami sa Claver and we dropped by sa terminal para maghanap ng tricycle na marerent going to Bad-as, Placer kung saan dun kami sasakay going to Butuan City.

After namin bumili ng gamot para sa sugat ng friend ko and after being able to find a tricycle that we could rent, we then proceeded to the lodge house to pick our bags and then sabay sabay na din kami umalis ng mga friend ko going to crossing Bad-as, Placer. The tricycle travel time from Claver to Bad-as is 30 minutes. While waiting for the bus from Surigao City going to Butuan, we took our dinner na tinake out namin from the lodge house. I think we waited for about an hour before the last trip of Bachelor Bus from Surigao finally arrived. Mga around 11pm na din dumaan yung bus. Buti na lang madami pang bakante kasi yung naunang dumaan ay punong puno na.

Bachelor Bus plying most of the routes in CARAGA Region

Two and a half hours later, we arrived at Butuan City and from there we transferred to another bus bound for Mangagoy, Bislig. The first trip is 2am so we just waited for 30minutes before the ordinary Bachelor Bus finally left the terminal. It was a long ride. Dun na kami natulog sa bus and we save some money for accommodation. We arrived at Hinatuan town at around 6 am and from there, we are off to our next destination. I’ll be making another entry for our trip to Hinatuan kaya wait lang muna kayo for that entry.hehehe!

Actually, there’s another route from Claver going to Mangagoy or Hinatuan and that is via Tandag City. But the bus leaves Claver at around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. If we were able to catch that trip, hindi na sana kami nagrent ng tricycle to Bad-as, Placer which cost us 500 pesos for the trip, that’s 100 pesos each. On our CARAGA trip, lagi na lang kami naiiwan ng last trip ng bus and that makes our travel more exciting kasi kailangan namin maghanap ng ibang paraan para makarating sa next destination. All we need lang naman is to ask from the locals and most of the time they have the information that we need. So ayan, till next time ulet. That’s it, pusit!

This blog entry is part of my June Travel Series for CARAGA Region and some parts of Eastern Visayas Region.

Day 1 of CARAGA Trip. Surigao City's Basul Island

Day 2 of CARAGA Trip. Surigao City's Mabua Pebble Beach

Day 3 of CARAGA Trip. Surigao Del Norte’s Bucas Grande
Day 4 of CARAGA Trip. Surigao Del Sur's Pride. Hinatuan's Enchanted River and Tinuy-an Falls of Bislig
Day 5 of CARAGA Trip. Davao City. The Final Stop.