On the last weekend of September, I flew once again to the island of Siargao for my birthday trip. I spent four days in this island - my favorite place in the world, to explore more of it and go surfing. One of the places that I haven't visited during my first trip there was Bucas Grande. 

Bucas Grande is an island in Surigao del Norte and is a part of the municipality of Socorro. Bucas Grande is known for its lagoons with turquoise waters, enchanting caves and rock formations, and jellyfish sanctuary, all set in a labyrinth of little islets covered in lush greens. Easiest way to go to Bucas Grande was via boat. We booked a tour with Kuya Bebot, who's a Siargao local and a well-known tour organizer in the island. There were only six of us in our group. At around 7am, we boarded a boat from General Luna going to Bucas Grande. It was more than two hours worth of boat ride. Upon reaching our destination, we had to register and then we started with our activities. 

First up was the jellyfish sanctuary. For this, we regrouped into two's and boarded a smaller boat to get us to the jellyfish sanctuary where I got to swim with clear sting-less jellyfish. It was fun, but I got a bit panicky whenever I would feel a jellyfish touching my skin because they have a weird slippery texture.
happy kid with a jellyfish on her palm

At one point, I was told by the bangkero to go back to the boat because for some reason, a weird dangerous jellyfish got lost in the sanctuary. It didn't look familiar so to be on the safe side, we steered clear of it. 

swimming with sting-less jellies
and here's the scary looking jellyfish, with two small fish swimming under it

After the jellyfish sanctuary, we went back to the registration area to grab some helmets and regroup again. We were back to our original group of six. We boarded a boat which would take us to Sohoton Cove, which is the main attraction of Bucas Grande. 

To enter the cove, we had to pass through a cave with low ceilings made of rock formations (thus the helmets). Inside was a maze of more islets. Inside were a couple of activities. The first is going inside a cave with an underwater passage. The cave was very dark so I wasn't able to take photos inside. The only source of light was the very small underwater opening and some glowing green plankton. They were very beautiful.

After that, we headed to another cave. We had to be submerged in water to enter this second cave. The water was up to my neck and we had to walk on rocks, so we had to be extra careful. It was also very dark but there was someone guiding us with a flashlight. We then had to climb some rocks to reach the exit and the cliff-diving spot. The "cliff" was around twelve-feet high. After jumping, we climbed back on the boat and headed back to the registration area for lunch. 

before going inside the dark cave

sorry for the blurred photos, we only used a GoPro here

When everyone in our group was done with the cliff-jumping, we climbed back up on our boat and then made our way back to registration area to conclude our tour. We also had our lunch there which comprised of grilled fish, garlic butter shrimp, daing, deep-fried crispy pork, cucumber salad, rice, and ice-cold Coca Cola, all of which were included in our tour package. Everything was sooo yummy especially the fried pork and the garlic butter shrimp. Too bad I wasn't able to take a photo of our food.

After having our hearty lunch, we boarded the first boat and started the two-hour ride going back to General Luna. We did a side trip to the three islands: Naked, Daku, and Guyam. It was a fun trip and definitely value for money. The tour package costs Php1700 per person inclusive of all boat rentals, fees, use of gear like snorkeling gear, helmet, and life vest, and of course lunch, with absolutely no hidden charges.

My only complaint about this tour is that Bucas Grande is too far and two hours is such a long time for a boat ride. Bucas Grande is beautiful and I still think it is worth the trip, although I would probably not visit it again next time. As for the tour package itself, I would recommend availing them from Kuya Bebot because of the low price with great value. At first I thought it was too good to be true, but because of recommendations from other tourists I was sold.

Once again, Siargao has cast its magic on me and I fell in-love with this island even more. If my posts still weren't enough to convince you to visit Siargao, stay tuned for more.