Surigao City's Basul Island

After travelling for almost 2 days from Camarines Sur province, I finally arrived at Surigao City in CARAGA Region. It has been a tiring trip since I did a cutting trip from our house in Camarines Sur to Surigao City. To count those transport transfers, that’s 2 RORO/ferry ride, 3 bus ride, 2 van rides, 1 jeeney ride, 2 multicab rides, 1 tricycle ride, 1 pedicab ride and 1 habal habal or motorcycle ride. It was an exhausting travel but I learned a lot from that trip.

basul island, surigao city

I travelled to Surigao City to meet my friends for our CARAGA adventure. Matagal tagal din kasi ako na di nakapaggala kaya gumala na naman ako. Me and my friends are gonna visit the Enchanted River in Hinatuan town, the Sohoton National Park of Socorro town, the Tinuy-an falls in Bislig City and Basul island in Surigao City, before heading to Davao City for our final destination.

On day 1 of our travel, nagkita kita kami ng mga friends ko sa Surigao City. Yung flight nila was from Manila while ako naman, nagland travel na lang ako from Camarines Sur since masyadong magastos kung magpiplane ako from Naga City to Manila and then Manila to Surigao City, kaya nagdecide na lang ako maglandtravel para mas makatipid, kasi kuripot ako eh.hehehe! So by around 2pm nagmeet na kami sa Surigao City ng mga friends ko and on our first day, after we left our bags at Siargao Pension House, we immediately proceded to the city pier to look for a boat that we could rent going to Basul Island. Surigao City is just our jumpoff point for our other travel list but since there’s a nearby beautiful island sa Surigao City, nagtour na din kami sa isla.

basul island

Basul Island is just around 20 to 30 minutes boat ride from the city pier. We rented a small boat near the city pier and the boat owner agreed on the 650 pesos boat rental for half day. So bumyahe na kami papunta sa Basul Island on a calm sea. Di nga namin alam na may Low Pressure Area daw pala malapit sa CARAGA Region. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Anyway, the island boasts a cream sand or light brown sand and there are also coral gardens near the shore but we weren’t able to swim ‘coz there were a lots of jellyfish na palutang luting sa tubig. I was about to swim to the water, tinanggal ko na nga yung t-shirt ko pero nung papatalon na ako sa tubig, bigla ko nakita yung sobrang daming jellyfish. Buti na lang nakita ko kaagad kasi kung hindi, malamang titiisin ko ang hapdi, sakit at kati ng jellyfish sting. I was kinda disappointed kasi hindi kami nakaligo at nakapagsnorkel kaya we just roamed around the beach na lang at nagpictorial or photo shoot session na lang.hehehe! By the way, there’s a 50 pesos entrance fee at the island plus 100 pesos boat docking fee.

Basul Island

After beach combing and photoshoot for more than an hour, we then decided na bumalik na sa city because it was getting dark already. Dumating kasi kami sa isla around 5pm na. But as we are about to get ready na bumalik na sa downtown Surigao, may dumating na mangingisda na may mga fresh catch na dilis or fresh anchovies. We watched them as they removed the fish from the net and it was our first time to see how those little fish are being removed from the net. Pinapalo lang nila ng stick ang net at nahuhulog na ang mga dilis sa lambat. And since it was a fresh catch, humirit yung friend ko na bibili sya ng dilis at kung pwede ipaluto sa bahay ng boatman namin and buti na lang, our boatman Manong Lito agreed.

fresh catch of dilis, basul island

If you’ll be looking for a boat for Basul Island or for island hopping sa Surigao you can contact Lito Asan at 09291590393. He has several boats na pwede nya iparent. He’s from Purok 7, San Juan, Surigao City. Just in case hindi nyo sya macontact pwede nyo sya hanapin sa Purok 7.hehehe!

Anyway, back to my story. So my friend bought a kilo of anchovies or a.k.a dilis and because the fisherman doesn’t have a weighing scale, he just scooped a huge amount of fish which is, I think, is worth more than 2 kilos. Sabi ko nga sa friend ko pwede na namin patuyuin yun at gawin na pasalubong na lang.hahaha! My friend just paid 30 pesos for those kilos of fish.

caretaker's pet, basul island, surigao city

It's the crab!

ang pinakamakulit na caretaker's pet, basul island, surigao city

It was getting dark already so we left the island at dumiretso na sa bahay ng boatman namin na si Manong Lito. Medjo nahiya din nga kami kasi nakaabala pa kami sa family nya but they are much more than willing to cook our meal. They are very hospitable family. Welcome na welcome nga kami sa bahay nila at nakipaglaro na kami sa mga anak ni Manong Lito. They’ve cooked the anchovies as okoy or tortang dilis and we bought all the ingredients for that, we also bought rice para sa buong pamilya na. Sobrang dami din kasi nung dilis kaya sobra sobra pa nga for the family. We were thankful for Manong Lito’s family hospitality ‘coz they welcomed us to their humble home and this is what I really loved about our country, about our fellow Filipinos. It’s the warmth and the hospitality that they show in welcoming visitors.

basul island

After namin magdiner, we finally said goodbye to Manong Lito’s family and thanked them for the hospitality that they’ve showed. Kinuha na din namin ang number ni Manong Lito for future reference para maiendorse na din namin sya sa mga kaibigan at sa mga tao na gustong pumunta sa mga isla malapit sa Surigao City. So that’s it for our day 1 adventure na pwede kong tawagin as the Surigao Gate Crash.hehehe!

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.