Last Updated on: 18th July 2023, 02:12 pm
I just used to see the island of Siargao in Magazines and on the Internet in the past. I promised myself that I would travel here, and finally, it happened!
Our trip to Siargao with my family is not planned- we were supposed to travel to Korea this June. However, we realized that we don’t have enough budget, and we still need to process a Korean Visa, which is not guaranteed to be approved since we haven’t traveled out of the country yet.
So last March, I suggested to my parents to go to Siargao. My parents were hesitant at first since the flights going to Siargao are quite pricey. But then, my mother saw a Flight to Butuan City which is much cheaper compared to a direct flight to Siargao. My sister and I also promised to pay for our own flights, so last June 3, 2019, for 7 days and 6 nights, we were off to Siargao!
Here’s a travel diary of our first-day trip to Siargao, and we went to 3 tourist spots: Maasin River, Magpupungko Rock Pools, and Tayangban Cave.
Maasin River
Just a 30-minute drive from General Luna (Siargao’s Town Proper), the Maasin River is popular for its spectacular view of coconut trees along the river. We also saw the popular bent coconut tree, where you can swing back and forth from a rope then plunge straight into the water. My father, brother, and sister tried it; however, I chickened out, not because of the jump but because it was too slippery to climb in the coconut tree.
Well, the fun doesn’t stop there. Our tour guide brought us to a “secret lagoon,” which is by the end of the river, and according to our tour guide, freshwater comes out from that lagoon which will change the muddy color of the river into blue-green clear water.
Side Trip: Siargao Mountain View
One of the most wonderful things in Siargao is the Island is full of coconut trees, and you will see them along the road. The Siargao Mountain View is a popular tourist spot because of its Instagrammable location, and you will pass by here on your way to Maasin River.
Magpupungko Rock Pools
Our next destination: Magpupungko Rock Pools in Barangay Pilaring. This tourist spot is a 45-minute drive to General Luna and honestly, this is the destination I was looking forward to. The natural rock pools only appear during the low tide, so make sure to check the tide schedule since it changes daily.
That day, the low tide schedule is 11 AM up to 3 PM. The moment we arrived at the pools, I was speechless. It was 10x more spectacular in person.
The pools’ clear waters and the rock formations are so unreal- it’s like the pools were artificial, but in reality, it’s not. After a few minutes, heavy rainfall began to pour, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. Although the rock pools are deep (around 15-20 ft), you can easily float into the water if you’re not a good swimmer; no need to worry since there are available life vests that you can rent for a low price.
The place was quite crowded and it was hard to do a photo-op without a bunch of photobombers! Luckily, we managed to find some spots that are photography worthy and the results are awesome : )
We also went to the beach, which is just a short walk from the rock pools and the rock formations, + the waves crashing into the shore was a sight to behold.
We did a lot of swimming, cliff jumps, and picture taking. We also enjoyed taking pictures underwater- make sure to bring your underwater camera and snorkeling gears when going here because you will see many corals underwater.
We also had a delicious lunch consisting of fresh seafood, grilled meat, and Pancit. Our hungry bellies were very satisfied!
After our heavy lunch, we were off swimming again! This time, we found a rock pool which is away from the crowd, and we were surprised at how large the area of Magpupungko is. There are tons of small and big rock pools, so you can still enjoy a moment of solidarity despite the crowd.
Tayangban Cave
Our last destination for the day: Tayangban Cave, a 30-minute drive from General Luna. I thought the trek inside the cave was only short since there’s an open lagoon at the mouth of the cave. Apparently, we can’t enter the lagoon anymore since there’s a fight between the two families that own the place. So, we had an hour trek inside the cave, and I’m so glad that we did it! I missed trekking inside caves, and even if I almost slipped at the entrance of the cave (it was raining hard at that time), we got out of the cave, safe and sound.
Inside the cave, we swam into deep water so we had to hold on to a rope. Good thing our tour guide was also a reliable photographer so he took pictures of us using my phone.
It feels so good walking out of the cave- it felt like all of my stress in the past weeks has gone away! Even with muscle and leg pains after, the trek was worth it!
Wrap up
It’s just our first day, but it feels like 2 days because we’ve done so much! From swimming to cliff diving and trekking, travelling to Maasin River, Magpupungko Rock Pools, and Tayangban Cave is an unforgettable adventure. For this day, I think Magpupungko Rock pools would be the best out of the three- it is seriously out of this world!
See also:
Siargao Day 2: Cloud 9, Sugba Lagoon and Taktak Falls
Siargao Day 3: Naked, Daku and Guyam island
Stay tuned for my next posts of my Siargao Travel Series 🙂 And, I’ll also make a Siargao Travel Guide soon, so watch out for it!
awesome
Great post 🙂
Thank you! 🙂