Surigao Adventure: Day 1 - From Butuan to Surigao Del Norte

When I was still researching about our trip to Surigao or Caraga Region, I know it will be an adventure trip. Why? Because, the famous destinations are quite far from each other which means we will endure a lot of commuting from one place to another especially when our flight will be from Butuan City. I prefer this to be our start and end point because aside from the fare being cheap, it is situated at the center which would somehow lessen a bit our travel time in some destinations.  You can refer to my previous blog for the map location of Butuan City and other famous destinations. Also, this trip will be an adventure because we don't have any hotel reservation on the first and second day!

Initially, our itinerary for day 1 was to travel from Butuan to Bucas Grande Island, Surigao del Norte which is about 3 hours away.  It wasn't hard to find a van from Butuan airport which will take us to Surigao del Norte since there are a lot of vans available at the parking area outside of the airport.  As mentioned in my previous blog post, all the while I thought you need to catch the 12noon last trip ferry from Surigao del Norte to be able to reach Bucas Grande Island. Our flight arrival in Butuan plus the travel time going to Surigao del Norte will not be able for us to catch the last trip. Good thing I learned that you can hire a boatman from Claver, Surigao del Norte to take you to Bucas Grande Island.  So this was our first destination, to reach the municipality of Claver.  This was our final itinerary for day 1.  You may refer to my blog post here for the detailed transportation info.

Upon reaching Claver, we were glad that the Revlun Pension House, the only accommodation I have searched to be near Hayanggabon port in Claver (starting point going to Bucas Grande Island), was very near the last van stop and bus terminal.  What made us even happier is that, they have a lot of available rooms!

Below are our expenses for Day 1 (good for 2):

Snack at airport - 150
Van from airport to Badas Junction - 400 (2 hours travel time)
Pepsi - 11
Van from Badas Junction to Claver - 120 (40 minutes travel time)
Revlun Pension House - 600 per night
Lunch at G-ann - 370
Tip - 20
Mineral Water - 30 (2 small bottles)
Dinner at G-ann - 430
Tip - 20

TOTAL for Day 1: Php 2,151

We survived the first day of our adventure. You may read my review on Revlun Pension House here.

Surigao Adventure: Itinerary

Here is our itinerary for our Surigao Adventure happened last Holy Week, March 28-April 1, 2013.  Some of the time indicated are estimates.

Day 1:
9:30am - Arrival in Butuan
Travel to Surigao City, alight in Badas Junction
Travel from Badas to Claver
Check in Revlun Pension House
Late lunch at G-ann
Rest

Day 2:
7am - travel to Hayanggabon via habal-habal
8am to 5pm - Bucas Grande Tour
Tiktikan Lake
Crystal Cave
Bolitas Cave
a beach (I forgot the name)
Hagukan Cove
Magkukuob Cove / Diving Cave
Jellyfish Sanctuary
Coral Reefs Snorkeling
Island hoping: Club Tara, Hidden Resort, and one island (forgot the name)
Back at Revlun Pension House

Day 3:
6am - check out Revlun, travel to Tinuy-an Falls in Surigao del Sur via Butuan
3pm - arrival in Tinuy-an Falls
5:30pm - depart for Britannia
(see transportation details here)
Check in at La Entrada in Britannia, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur

Day 4:
8am - island hopping in Britannia
12noon - check out La Entrada, travel to Hinatuan via habal-habal
2pm - arrival in Enchanted River
4pm - depart in Hinatuan for Butuan
8pm - arrival in Butuan, check in at Juliann's Inn

Day 5:
6am - check out at Juliann's Inn
8:15am - flight back to Manila from Butuan

For details of transportation from one province/location to another, please refer to this blog post.  Tinuy-an Falls and Enchanted River visit is feasible in 1 day.  If only we were able to leave early in the morning to travel to Surigao del Sur, we will be able to visit Tinuy-an Falls and Enchanted River the same day.  This was our initial plan so that on the 4th day, we'll just relax in Britannia Group of Islands.

Here are the details of our Surigao Adventure trip:
Day 1
Day 2