Bakasyon Grande sa Bucas Grande

Before you proceed, I'd like to say that I am no travel blogger. There is no way I can be as detailed as other Pinoy travel bloggers about my trips. But I try. I really do. The thing is, we never had an itinerary when it comes to our getaways. And this trip is no different. So I really cannot help you if you want to have a well-planned and convenient trip. We always do everything spontaneously and I believe that's what makes things exciting as it leaves a lot of room for adventure and off-beat experiences. But if you want to know about our misadventures and how we dealt with it, read on. You might learn a thing or two. ;)

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Our Bucas Grande escapade was just one of our come-what-may trips. We only had a day left before the said trip and we were still not able to decide whether to go chasing waterfalls in Iligan or go island hopping in Bucas Grande. But just when we finally decided to go for the latter, all for one reason: FOOD (seafood to be exact), Bretch injured his ankle - making our chances of pushing this trip slim.

But with a little convincing and lies telling him he would no longer feel the pain when we get there, we went on equipped with only the knowledge on how to get to Hayanggabon Port, Claver, Surigao del Norte. And after that, once we embark the boat, everything is in blank slate - uncertain of what's stored for us. But only one thing I know is certain, this is going to be one hell of an adventure.

It was a sleepless, butt-numbing 14-hour trip from Davao City to Surigao del Norte (Davao-Butuan-Bad-as-Hayanggabon Port). But I really don't mind such long trips knowing that I'm with this guy:

We may have quiet moments, but it's never boring with him around.

We rented a boat for 4,500 pesos at Hayanggabon Port to tour us around Bucas Grande. It would have only been 3,500 for a day tour. But since we decided to stay overnight, we added a little fee. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to Bucas Grande from the port and the first thing we did was look for food. It was already 3 o'clock and we haven't had any lunch during the trip. Kasi nga, kakain kami ng maraming seafood dito.

We stopped over Club Tara in hopes of eating something from there. We know very well that this is a high-end resort. But since we're hungry, how much the food costs was the least of our concerns. But much to our dismay, the resort only serves food to guests. And we had no plans of staying there. 6,000 per night for two? No freaking way! That's already more than enough to take me to a trip to Siquijor.

Club Tara Resort

We immediately left and the staff asked us for an entrance fee of 20 pesos each. We were five. Ha?! Nagtatanong lang kami kung may pagkain dito, may bayad pala? We just shrugged it off. Paid. Laughed about it. And left. So much for that 100-peso worth question. Wala naman palang pagkain. 

Since we paid for the entrance, we took the liberty of taking pictures so we can just pretend we checked in there. No one will know anyway. Haha. Shhh.

We asked the boat driver if there's any place we can eat, so he took us here:

Finally! A semi-floating resto by the sea. What could go wrong? I was already thinking of prawns, crabs, fresh fish, kinilaw, and more - just like the food we ate during our Surigao del Sur adventures.

But much to our dismay, they only offered some small fishes, eggs, instant noodles, and canned goods. Instant noodles. Canned goods. Wow. Seriously? Wait, dagat ito diba? Bakit walang seafood? Okay, let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Baka naubusan lang. The staff offered us a big squid worth 700 pesos though. We were starving, so we took it without hesitations. It's too big (more than 1ft long and about 6 inches wide) it would last us until dinner. We had the half grilled, and the other half pina-adobo namin.

Masarap ba? Let's just say, gutom na talaga kami. And the staff/owner was accommodating and friendly. And the view wasn't bad at all. Go figure. Haha. Don't get it wrong, it doesn't taste bad. But I think I can do better. =P

After filling our hungry tummies, we went to Tiktikan Lake.

Left photo (L-R): Jan, me, Cie, Bretch, Noelyn

The place was okay. It's tranquil. Perfect if you want a nice and quiet time. We might have enjoyed boat paddling/cycling on the lake though but since it's already getting late, we decided to forego any island hopping activities and looked for a place to stay. We were brought at Kanlunes Resort and stayed in their cabana worth 1,200.

Kanlunes Resort Cabana

We ate dinner (the leftover from lunch), chugged down a beer or two while having a hearty laughter about our experiences earlier. We talked about our lives and just about anything, and called it a day.

I know, we almost haven't eaten anything but I never considered it a bad day (knowing most of us are easily pissed off when hungry). Although we were not yet impressed with the place and the food so far, we shared a lot of tummy-aching laughter from our mishaps along the way. Sa sobrang gutom namin, pati ang salitang 'Tinoya' (an item from their menu) pinagtawanan na namin. Eh kung iisipin ko ngayon, sa totoo lang hindi naman pala nakakatawa. I think that's the best thing about unplanned trips, you'd never know what would happen next and you can just laugh it off  if something mildly unfortunate happens afterwards. After all, we are used to getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. And it is adventure, or should I say, misadventure we've always been looking for, right?

Right.

The following morning greeted us with rain. And in fairness to their cabana that's just a notch better than a tent, we had a good sleep. The beddings were comfortable, temperature was just right, there were no insects or whatsoever, and we woke up to this:

Your camera's really awesome, Bretch!

It was beautiful.

At 6:30am we ordered breakfast, but much to our dismay (how many times do I have to say this?), WALA NA NAMANG PAGKAIN!  #CapslockParaIntense

Sige, kape na lang okay na kami. We decided to order just rice since we still have that adobong pusit from yesterday. Fortunately, a fisherfolk arrived with fresh catches and offered us a huge fish. And so we had it grilled. It's too huge it could last us until lunch. Ayun, naechapwera nanaman si pusit. We can still have that squid until lunch though. That's one good thing about adobo, it doesn't spoil easily. We ate and took the left-overs with us. Given the situation of food being scarce everywhere we went, who knows when we'd be able to eat lunch? Walang hindi masarap na pagkain sa taong gutom. Okay na yung tira-tira.

At 8:30, we left and headed to the alluring islands of Bucas Grande.

I didn't know this could be long. I still have a lot to tell. But I don't want to overwhelm you and I still have to catch up a few episodes of One Piece. Haha. So please, stay tuned for Part 2: Touring the Sohoton Cove. :)


Bucas Grande Escapade:
Part 1: Bakasyon Grande sa Bucas Grande
Part 2: Sohoton Cove
Part 3: Revisiting Sibadan Fish Cage and Enchanted River