Tra-Abel: CARAGA Northeastern Mindanao – Siargao (Day 2): The Three Islands

Island Hopping is one of the many activities you can try at Siargao Island aside from surfing. There are three islands included in the island hopping activity. The Big, Small and Naked Island, each have its own beauty that will surely captivate you!

Our first stop for the island hopping was not really an Island, it was a snorkeling site. The boat stopped in the middle of nowhere and the guide told us that there are colorful fishes and corals in that area. I forgot to take a picture of the underwater action though because I was busy playing with (following) the fishes.

Naked Island! You have to be naked to enter!

First island for the island hopping tour was Naked Island (Time to get Naked! LOL). The island is called "Naked" because it is a dome of sand in the middle of the lagoon. The local name of this sandbar is Pansukian. We were really lucky when we went there because we had the island for ourselves. There were no other people during that time. The island was really bare and only a small coconut tree was present. The best time to visit Naked Island is in the morning when the sun is not too hot and still not harmful.

The only one present when we went to Naked Island! LOL

After an hour of playing in the sand, we left Naked Island and went to Big Island (Daku Island) to eat lunch.

Daku Island! Time to get Big???

Daku in Visayan means "big", hence the name for Daku Island. You can snorkel here as there are some beautiful corals around with powdery-white sand, palm-fringed beaches and well preserved marine flora and fauna, a complete hide-way in this part of the Pacific. A small community can be found at Daku Island. There are some “sari sari stores” near the shore where you can buy chips, softdrinks (not cold) and other things needed for cooking.

We cant afford a nipa hut so we just sat under the coconut tree for free!

The other side of Daku Island!

We were wandering along the shore when we saw family ‘tinkering’ something. We got curious and approached them to ask what they’re doing. We found out that they were harvesting edible sea urchins for their lunch. The family was kind enough to let us taste the urchins and it tasted like “bagoong” (fishsauce) and was really salty.

Guyam (Small) Island!

Our third and last destination was Guyam Island (Islet?). It was really small, hence the name Small Island. This was my favorite among the three islands. From afar, the view was really stunning. It’s definitely one of my favorite islands in the Philippines.

Just can't get enough of this wonder!

We ended our island hopping tour at 4pm and went back to Ocean 101. Thinking that it was our last day at Siargao Island made me sad because there are still lot of my places I would love to visit like Mapupungko Beach and Sohoton Lagoon! (Maybe next time)

Things to remember before the island hopping:

Bring your own lunch – The island hopping tour of Ocean 101 does not include lunch (I don’t know the case with other hotels offering island hopping), but they offer packed lunch. You just have to order in advance for them to prepare it before your trip.

Secure a snorkel – if you don’t have your own snorkeling gear there are snorkels for rent at Ocean 101 for Php 100.00 good for one day.

Apply sunblock – the boat is not covered so don’t forget to apply sunblock, you don’t want your skin to get toasted or worse, have a skin cancer!

Bring extra money – don’t forget to bring extra money, especially if you’re planning to cook your lunch at Daku Island. There is a small community there where you can find ‘sari-sari’ stores. There is also an environmental/entrance fee collected at Guyam Island (I don’t think this is serious though, because when we said we didn’t have money, they seem not to care).

Siargao Island bade us goodbye with a beautiful sunset!