The Province of Surigao del Sur is the 56th Philippine province and is located in the Northeastern coast of Mindanao facing the Pacific Ocean. Surigao Del Sur has 2 cities and 17 municipalities most of which are located in the coastal areas with Tandag as its capital. These municipalities are subdivided into 309 barangays and have two congressional districts. Capital Tandag City. – surigaodelsur.ph
During the pandemic, every one of us experienced being stuck on our place due to the travel restrictions imposed by different countries. Nobody is prepared when that situation happened. In my case, I was forced to cancel my vacation last 2020 because that’s when the time that there’s still no vaccine and the numbers of covid cases are alarming. I even loss my job that time and literally started to zero once again. It was a memorable moment for everyone. It greatly impacted us and dramatically changed our lifestyles. Nobody is an exemption from this happening. Anywhere you are in the world, you’ll be affected by it up until this day. Two of the industries that has been greatly affected by this is the travel and hospitality. Most of companies was forced to let their employees work from home, so that the government can combat the spread of the virus. During this period there’s a lot of companies that was forced to shut down due to lower profit and the rest ended up cutting down their staffs to let the company continue. Everything happens in just a couple of years and even until this day, there are some companies that are yet to recover.
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As the year 2022 started, a lot of countries administered vaccines to their residents. Because of this, the number of cases is getting better. In return, travel restrictions from each country slowly lifted up and quarantine periods are now not required. This became a big step to let all of us start over again. Both public and private sectors are now working together to improve their current situation. In our country Philippines, as soon as the vaccines were administered and few cases were recorded, they started to open local travel destinations. This is to promote different provinces so we can somehow generate spendings within our country which may help our economy. With almost four years that I didn’t went home, me and my sister both work together to come with an unforgettable travel plan. It was actually a plan for the year 2020 but we just postponed it and did everything last September. Our first choice was Davao and we just brainstorm together so we can add another province which is known for its tourist spot. That is how we ended up adding in our itinerary the province of Surigao Del Sur
Since I decided to discover new places that I never been here in Qatar, I started searching for different iconic destination within the area. Last March, I saw an Instagram post that was taken in Education City Ceremonial court, there I started to look for more details about that place. By searching this place, I found out that there’s a lot of great spots in this area not only the one that I saw in Instagram. Since most of my travel, I am with my cousin, I invited her to visit Education city. This place is very ideal because it’s quite near also from her accommodation. Without hesitation, she agreed and we set the date right away.
“A vacation is like love – anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.” – Unknown
Surigao del Sur is a province in Caraga region situated in northeastern section of Mindanao. The capital city of this place is Tandag. This province is considered one of the best in the Philippines for its hidden gems. Since eastern side of this place is the Philippine Sea, you can expect that there’s a lot of natural water resources that you can check on. This place accommodates amazing sceneries including beaches, lakes, Rivers, islands and waterfalls. It has been one of the famous destinations in Mindanao and it all started when one of its destinations became well known in the whole world, and that is the Enchanted River.
To give you a summary of Surigao de Sur History, it all started fromm its natives which are Mamanua and Manobo. So even before the Spaniards came in the Philippines, there are few settlements already done by our natives living there. Later on, Malay from Visayas region settle together with the natives staying there. From the arrivals of immigrants, the province acquired its very own namfrom, Saliagao, who mostly lived near the mouth of the river. The natives started their life in Surigao belongs to racial groups of Malay-Indonesian ancestry which took place a thousand years ago. Times passes by and the natives separated their ways to seek adventure and to search for food. They scattered across the archipelago while retaining their culture, customs and dialect. On June 19, 1960, Surigao de Sur became the 56th Province of the Philippines and then later on formally separated from Surigao del Norte on September 18 of the same year.
If you want to know more about the province of Surigao del Sur, you can view their official website where they share information about their history, municipalities, government, different sectors (Economic, Infrastracture & Social), accomplishments, employment and current news in their place. Here’s their website:
https://surigaodelsur.ph/
As a first-time traveller, I really feel excited to discover new places in my own country. Before, I’d been wanting to travel overseas but I realized that there are a lot of places that I still need to discover in my own country. From 81 provinces that our country has, for sure there are more hidden gems that I didn’t yet discover. With this experience, it made me realized to appreciate the things in front of me. Rather than seeking it somewhere else, there are places in the Philippines that deserves appreciation from us. I am happy that somehow, my fellow Filipinos shared their travel experiences which helps to drive visitors in different provinces in the Philippines. Unlike before when everyone chooses to go overseas, a lot of people prefer to travel within the country due to the reason that it is more cost friendly and at the same time an ease of access.
Here are some highlights of our adventure which I will also share in this blog:
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”
Now, here are some information for everyone who would like to visit this province or include it in their itinerary:
Due to the current situation across the globe, travel advisories and regulations changes from time to time. That’s why we need to do our own diligence to prepare all the requirement that a specific place requires. You can simply check the status of a place and its updated regulation in this website:
https://philippines.travel/safetrip
Another method that you can do is to check it with your tour guide the requirements needed in those places that will be included in your itinerary. As a tour operator, they know for sure all the things you needed. You just need to confirm it with them so you can rest assured that you’re ready.
In Mindanao, the summer season usually starts on the month of June to July. If you don’t mind the hot weather, then this will be the ideal period that you’ll come here. In our case, we went around on the month of September and gladly we didn’t experience rainfall even there’s a storm advisory In the Luzon area. Based from our tour guide, it was actually rainy before we visited the place but we are just lucky to got a nice weather on that day.
If you want to experience their festivals, you can also visit this province during these dates:
- Kaliguan Festival (Cagwait) – June 21-25
- Pahinungod Festival (Carrascal) – July 15
- Sirong Festival (Cantilan) – August
- Lanuza International Surfing Festival (Lanuza) – 4th week of November
These festivals are celebrated throughout the year so you have a lot of chance to go back and experience their rich culture.
Getting here is so much easy and far from what you expected. You can easily choose to do it by air (if you are coming from Luzon and Visayas Area) or by land (if you are from Mindanao area). If you’re coming from Manila, you have three options based on your convenience and itinerary. First is to to Butuan (Agusan del Norte), second is Surigao City (Surigao del Norte) and the third one is from Davao City. After your flight, you can take a bus bound for Mangago which is the commercial center of Bislig.
In our case, we avail a tour package which includes the transportation. Our point of meet up is from Davao City and then it took us six hours to travel (private vehicle) to Surigao del Sur.
Our day started after we arrived from our flight around 18:00 in the evening. As soon as we reached Davao, we went directly to the condominium that we booked using Airbnb. The place is cozy and at the same time ideal for big family like us. For a three-bedroom place, the price cost only P2500.00 per night which is very budget friendly.
This place is only 15 minutes away from the airport and also close to shopping centers which helped us to save time. As soon as we settled there at around 19:00, my siblings decided to buy food for our dinner and the breakfast for tomorrow. Prior to the start of our travel trip, me and my sister already fixed all the amount intended for tour package, entrance fees and foods. Because of this it was easy for us to manage everything so the rest of us will just focus on having fun. After we bought meals, we went home had our dinner together. Since we are quite tired bringing our things, we prepared our stuffs tomorrow and went to sleep at around 22:30.
The next day, our adventure in Surigao del Sur started as early as 4:00 am. The whole trip will take a total of six hours that’s why our tour guide decided to make it earlier. As soon as everyone of us woke up at around 3:00 am, we hurriedly fixed ourselves and had our breakfast. I can feel how excited we are for the whole trip because we didn’t take a nap in the entire ride. We keep sharing stories together and the driver also told us a lot of information about Davao and Surigao. We are all happy that we came to know such a beautiful places in our country and that inspires us to discover more destinations.
At around 9:00 in the morning, we arrived on our first destination which is Tinuy-An Falls. Since there’s no one else on that area, we took the opportunity to have a little photoshoot.
Here are the photos that we took at the entrance of Tinuy-An Falls.
After that, we went to the reception and paid for the entrance fee which cost P50.00. Since this place is a government owned property, their fees are quite cheap compare to the private ones. There are few people who went there and we feel like we are quite lucky to visit that day. We took our time to take photos and avail a bamboo raft experience where we can get a close glimpse of the falls. That experience cost P300.00, but I can say that it was all worth it since we took great pictures together.
Here are the photos that we took upon getting there:
Here are the photos that we took during the bamboo raft experience:
We were also offered to come at the top of the falls so we can see more falls from there. It is actually not paid but we just gave a tip for the Guy that guided us there. At first, we are all skeptical to do it but little did we know is that it will be the best decision that we did on that day. There are more falls that we discovered as soon as we went there. That place is really worth an effort to see.
Here are the rest of the photos that we took with the falls:
Aside from photos, I also made a short vlog on the place which I shared on my social media accounts. Here’s my short vlog in Tinuy-An Falls:
It’s actually my first time to see a big falls. You can imagine how excited I am to take tons of photos and videos of this place because I badly wanted to share the beauty of it. We spent a couple of hours taking photos while enjoying the scenery. After we decided to go on our next destination, we took our chance to check also the souvenirs shops around the area. My Mom and aunt actually bought a lot of things than us, and that shows how excited they are!
Once they’re all settled with the things that they bought, we went directly on our second destination which is Enchanted River located in Hinatuan. Before that, we took our time to take pictures in the Bislig City Proper. Here are some of our pictures taken by our tour guide.
Enchanted river is one of the wonders of the Philippines due to its depth that even today, no one still knows the exact measure of it. This place is located in Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur which is an hour ride away from Tinuy-An Falls. This river is also known as Hinatuan Sacred River as a way for the locals to imposed restrictions on the place so they can ensure that it is protected. This river is strikingly clear where you can see the depth of it at the same time the fishes living in it.
In the past, the locals called it Libway not until the diplomat Mr. Modesto Farolan made a poem titled “Rio Encantado” and named the place as Enchanted River. Due to its magnificent beauty, locals believe that its’s a home of mermaids, majical fairies and spirits which protects the river. That’s why up until this day, the place imposed a 17:00 closing time wherein no one is allowed to enter the waters. Some regulations that they’re implementing are the following:
1. Life Vest is required especially for those who don’t know how to swim.
2. Every afternoon, swimmers are asked to exit the water when the Fishes are fed. There will be a bell sound which is a signal for everyone to exit the waters.
3. Unlike before, visitors are now not allowed to swim in the deep end of the river any longer but are allowed to swim in allowed areas where lifeguards are present. (This is their precautionary measures).
4. The river is closed strictly at at 17:00.
5. Island hopping and river cruises are offered in this place.
We arrived on that place around 11:00, since our tour guide wanted us to see how they feed the fishes at around 12:00, we settled first on having our lunch located on their waiting area. That area is where all private vehicles are allowed to park. There are also variety of food options where you can ask them to cook or reheat it and also souvenir shops. We ordered grilled squid, calamari, adobong pusit, Grilled fish, Rice and softdrinks. All of our orders cost only around P1200.00 which is good for six pax. We even have left overs which we just took out so we can eat later on.
From reception, you need to pay the entrance fee which cost around P100.00 and it already includes the life vest which you can get once you arrived in the area. A shuttle will take you from the place which will only take around two minutes. As we arrived on the place, we observed that there’s only few visitors on that day. Because of this, we were able to maximized taking photos on the area. We were also able to see their afternoon ritual of feeding the fish matched with the Rio Encantado sone. It was amazing because in that short program, they were able to tell the importance of marine preservation and how we can give back to our nature. We’d seen some foreigners on that day and I can tell how amazed they are to see that place.
We took our time to also swim, and the experience was so amazing. The water is quite cold and salty, and there’s also areas where water is colder. We can literally see fishes swimming besides us, and it was really a moment to remember. At around 16:00, we decided to pack up since we still have six hours ride back to Davao City. The only challenge that we experienced there is the lack of shower area. So, all of us ended up taking a bath outside and just change our clothes in the cubicle available only as toilet area.
To sum up all the experiences that day, it was really a day to remember for all of us. We enjoyed every single time that we are there and from the pictures that we took, anyone can see how delighted we are to gain a lot of adventures. In that six-hour ride, we made a stop to take an afternoon meal. All of us bought also some delicacies for our friends and relatives.
Aside from photos, I also made a short vlog on the place which I shared on my social media accounts. Here’s my short vlog in Tinuy-An Falls:
We avail this package months prior to the dates of our flight. My sister made a thorough research and even took time to check the reviews of each so she can come up with the best option. From accommodation, tour package, flight & meals, everything is DIY. Since my sister has been travelling for quite some time, it’s easy for her to communicate with tour operators. As a newbie like me, I now feel motivated to learn from her. Now that I have an experienced from this trip, I’m pretty sure that I can do better next time.
For recommendations, here are some links for you to check on:
Accommodation – Fully Furnished Condo Unit
Amount Paid – P6000.00/ 2 Nights
No. of Pax – 6
No. of Rooms – 3 (1 master bedroom, 1 queen bed and 1 Double bed)
Inclusive of Internet, Utensils, Electricity
Contact Person: Hosted by Arlyne (Airbnb)
Tour Package– Davao City Tour Package by Alan
Amount Paid – Surigao Tour P8,000.00 (6 Pax)
No. of Pax – 6
Inclusive of private vehicle, pick up and drop off & Gas. Exclusive of entrance fees and food
Contact Person: Mr. Allan
+63 915 302 6919
davaocitytourspackagebyalan@gmail.com
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