In an attempt to submit myself to some travel conformity, I joined the troupe on a day trip that would take us past some ‘must-see’ attractions. I can’t say I had a terrible time, yet I had preferred to have spent my time and money in different ways.
The Tale of the Ripoff Island Hopping Tour
It started off with some disorganisation. We left our resort at around 7 in the morning to go to the small harbour in General Luna, which is about a 10-minute scooter away. Upon arrival there was only one small boat available. As we were a group of 10, we needed either a bigger boat or a second boat of the same size. After some waiting a second boat became available. As we had experienced on our surf trip, the engines of the small fishing boats can be incredibly loud and luckily Rick reminded me to bring some earplugs. This totally saved the day in terms of not going mental due to severe noise population. My eardrums might have been saved, the loud engine prevented us from holding any conversation. These fishing boats are not really built for touring. The benches are hard and uncomfortable and despite pretty mellow waves, it’s easy to get soaked in an instant, to stay wet for the duration of the trip. Now, I’m not made of sugar, but considering we spent about four hours in total on the boat, this was an added nuisance.
Cave Complex Health & Safety Hazard
We travelled south for about two hours to visit the Sohoton Cave complex and jellyfish sanctuary in Bocas Grande Islands. When you arrive at the pier, from where you board another boat to take you to the caves, they make you sign a waiver. Once you reach the cave complex it is clear why: health and safety measures are minimum and the risk of injury quite high. The place is predominately visited by Filipino tourists and the guides speak very little English, which is not insignificant. Before boarding we were given helmets and life vests. The boat travels for about five minutes to reach the cave complex going underneath a rock formation that is so low, you almost have to lie down not to hit your head, hence the helmets. At a particular point all boats moor close to an under water cave entrance. The first ‘adventure’ is to swim through this cave, emerge from it in one piece, do a bit of a climb on the rocks above, descent, and jump of a ridge back into water. Our guide said the ridge was 12 metres above the water level, which with my fear of depths, was immediately a massive no-no. The height turned out to be 12 feet, which is about 4 metres, a significant difference, but I am quit happy I stayed in the boat. As Louis is a bad swimmer he remained on board as well.
After a few minutes Rick emerged from the top of the rock absolutely livid. And he still had to make his way down and jump into the water. Once he got back on the boat he told us that the whole affair was done in a highly irresponsible manner. Before he and others swam through the under water channel the ‘expedition guide’ gave a short explanation, but only in Tagalog, so as a non-Filipino he had no idea what was going on and just followed the herd not knowing what to expect. You need to swim through the cave under water in the dark with several other people, which is obviously not without danger, especially if you have no idea how long you have to be under water for. Through the pressure your helmet comes detached from your head not offering you any protection, yet the cave roof is very low and is easy to hit your head or other body parts. One member of our group bumped his head against the cave wall when emerging from the water and Rick had a massive scratch on his back from which he was bleeding. You had to climb slippery rocks barefoot and descend on the other side before you could jump into the water to get back to the boat. There are no railings, nothing. In addition to my fear of depths I can get rather claustrophobic in tight spaces. Swimming underwater in the dark with other people in a small cave not knowing where the fuck I am going, is definitely not my idea of an adventure. Rick decided to stay on board for the second ‘expedition’, which appeared to have been similar. Filipinos of all ages seemed to have the time of their lives, but this ‘attraction’ is clearly not meant for Western tourists, as guides speak poor English and health and safety measures are rather insubstantial.
Stingless jellyfish and More Boat Nuisance
Within the same complex is a jellyfish sanctuary, which was quite cute, but nothing spectacular. These jellyfish don’t sting and you can have them on your hand and swim with them in clear water. They differ in size. Most of them are small, but some can be the size of a small young coconut. After swimming with stingless jellyfish it was high time for lunch. We had our meal on a large ship which is permanently moored at a stone-throw’s distance from the pier and the food was good. After lunch we went back on board of our boat with the obnoxiously loud engine. We sailed for an hour and half or so, sitting on the same hard benches not being able to talk due to the noise and I just got soaked some more.
Mad About a Sandbank
The next stop was the Naked Island, which apparently was another ‘must-see’ and is just a sandbank. The sand is white and fine and the water very clear, but it is really just a large sandbank with nothing on it expect people. I was so underwhelmed it clearly transpired from my face, which Rick noticed and he made a dry remark about it, which made me laugh. Other visitors, predominately Filipinos, were terribly busy taking selfies or posing otherwise for pics. These images needed to be retaken at least a dozen times, because nothing but the best unspontaneity for Instagram. We had fun on that Naked Island however. We had some tasty snacks and an opportunity to talk and have a good laugh, which was must needed, at least for me.
On our way back to the harbour of General Luna we had a quick stop at Daku Island, where we had surfed nearby a few days before. Daku was just another island and didn’t impress me that much. We returned to the harbour at around 5 when it was low tide and we had to wade a few dozen metres through the water to reach the beach as the water was too shallow for the boat.
Did I have good time and some good food? Sure. Would I do it again or recommend the trip? Fuck no, especially not considering what I paid to spent a very large part of the day on a loud boat on a hard bench getting wet.
To me Siargao is not the island paradise that many portray it to be, but at least I have now experienced it myself and l have learnt some lessons in live and travel.
Images: K F S Amor
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