Exploring Surigao del Sur, Philippines

Tisoy Traveler Part I

Goes to…

1. Tinuy-an Falls
2. Enchanted River
3. Britania Group of Islands

 

Surigao del Sur is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region in Mindanao. Its capital is Tandag City. Surigao del Sur is situated on the eastern coast of Mindanao and faces the Philippine Sea to the east.

The main tourist attraction is the Tinuy-an Falls, known as the little “Niagara Falls of Caraga”. It is also known as the widest waterfall in the Philippines. “Deep-blue water” of the Enchanted River is found in Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. It is called “enchanted” because no one has ever reached its bottom, and that according to them., and Britania Islands a “group of beautiful, untouched and breathtaking islands” in Surigao del Sur in the municipality of San Agustin.
Surfing in Surigao del Sur is widely known and has been one of the local tourist attractions. This extreme sport is often practiced in Cantilan and Lanuza the “Skimboarding”.

 

Tinuy-an Falls (The little Niagara Falls of Caraga)

 

Deep-blue Water of “Enchanted River”

 

Britania Group of Islands (Buslon Island)

 

Britania Group of Islands (Hagonoy Island)

 

Hiyor-Hiyoran Island

 

How to get there:

1. From Manila, there are daily flights either to Butuan City, Surigao City, and Davao City which are entry points to Surigao del Sur.
2. If you’re coming from “Davao International Airport”, to reach those places you can ride a “taxi” which the easiest way and tell the driver that you’re going to Ecoland Bus terminal for almost Php200 fare and from there you can ride a bus or van going to Mangagoy in Bislig, Airconed Buss Php300+ and Non-Aircon Bus for about Php265 but mostly the bus going there are non-air so you don’t have any choice and the travel time going there are about 6hrs.
3. Or you can ride a public jeepney in the highway in front of the Airport just take a route going to Roxas for Php13 fare and from there you can ride a jeepney going to Ecoland Terminal, the route is Ecoland of course for php8 fare and tells the driver you have to drop off at the terminal. Or else you can ride a bus outside at the Airport right across the street with a sign “Davao” and those buses are likely going to Ecoland Bus Terminal.
4. When you reach Mangagoy, right at the terminal there’s a lot of motorcycle or “habal-habal” in the local term, they probably ask you about your itinerary. Actually, they already know where you go and then start negotiating you but I do suggest the motorcycle who has an ID because they are the one who is following the local guidelines, about the price per head or group and they do have discounts too, and they are actually the local tourist guide from the area.
5. From the center it takes about 45min-1hr to reach Tinuy-an Falls the little “Niagara Falls” by motorcycle and we stayed there for almost 2hrs and then right after we are heading to our next destination which is the”deep-blue water” of Enchanted River in Hinatuan the next Municipality after Bislig, and it takes about 2hrs of travel and its okay because the driver will stay till the contract of payment is done. After Enchanted River staying there for 2-3hrs and have our lunch there too, we tell the driver to drop us to the highway where the bus/van pass and we pay Php400 per head for the whole travel.
6. From the highway, we ride a bus from Hinatuan to Britania where those Islets located or Britania Group of Islands for about an hour and we pay Php95 per head and stay there for a night because we reach there late afternoon.

 

Accommodation:

If you follow that itinerary you will be staying your night there too and you can start your Island Hopping by early morning. When you reach Brgy. Britania you have a lot of choices because there’s a lot who offers accommodations in the area range from Php700-Php1200, but in our case, we prefer to use our tents like I do most in my travels so that we can save some of our money, since the area nearby the sea.

 

Activities:

Tinuy-an Falls. Php50 per head entrance fee, I forgot how much exactly but I guess it is, you can do what you want there like going up where the waters come from, there’s a tour guide from the area who will assist you and or you can ride a bamboo boat i dont know whats the name of that in there like it’s a lot of bamboos were tied up and float like a boat too that can carry huge number of person where it can go to the area where the water drops and stay there for a while.
Enchanted River. Php25 per head entrance fee, you can swim all you want to their bluest clear water together with different kinds of fish, that’s it.
Britania Island. We pay Php1000 for our Island Hopping trip, actually, there’s a lot of bangkero out there who can negotiate with but this one is the cheapest we’ve seen and he is a very courteous boatman, that is kuya Andy and you can contact him thru this number +639305353703. You can go 4-5 islets that have shoreline out of more than 20 I guess of islets, namely Hiyor-Hiyoran Island, Naked Island, Buslon Island, Hagonoy Island and Twin Island.

 

Travel Notes:

1. Search the area first before going there. (safety and security, availability of transportation, accommodation, foods and etc.)
2. Create your itinerary for the sequence of your travel. (where first, stop for your meal, activities in the area, the time you’ll be spending in that area, the most important is where to sleep and etc.)
3. Budget or Money. (the cost or expenses of your travel.)
4. What to bring. (camera, phone, power bank, charger, necessities or travel kit, your medicine, the tent just in case, and much more important to bring.
5. If you travel with group better to seek a rented van or what depends on you so that you can go with your itinerary directly and less budget of course.
6. If you’re a solo traveler, you own your time so better to have a map or guidelines and extra money of course.
   (Solo or Group has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to travel.)
7. Take note of the travel time and how long you will be staying in that particular area.
8. You have to consider the events (summer, influx of tourists, crowd) and the most important is the weather.
9. Lastly, preparation (when, where and what to do) so that everything will be okay.

 

Hope that this information I provide help with you as a travel guideline and be safe always. in your travels. Do not hesitate to ask me questions, just comment down below or feel free to message me. Thank you and God bless!

I will post my Surigao del Sur Exploration Part II, soon and keep you updated on my travels.

 

If you have some questions about this blog, just comment down below or feel free to message me at; albarandojakejoseph@yahoo.com or jakealbarando@gmail.com.

 

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