What to See and Do When in Siargao (6-Day Itinerary): Day 5 (Sohoton Cove, Tiktikan Lake, Hagukan Cave, Magkukuob Cave, Non-Sting Jellyfish Lagoon, Dinner at Wild)

Siargao 6-Day Itinerary

Below I’ll be sharing our vetted itinerary, as well as where we stayed, what we did, how much we spent etc!

• Day 1: Arrive at Siargao, lunch at Surfing Temple, sunset bridge, dinner at Kermit
• Day 2: sunrise at Malinao Beach, breakfast at Siargao Corner Cafe, island hopping (Naked, Guyam, Corregidor) with Galatea, dinner at Bayani, party at Hang Loose
• Day 3: Breakfast at White Beard, Sugba Lagoon, Kawhagan Island, Coconut View, Maasin River, lunch at The Greenhouse or Bravo, sunset at the Secret Beach, dessert at Buonana, dinner at Las Barricas, drinks at Manu
• Day 4: Breakfast at Lunares, Tayangban Cave Pool, Magpupunko Rock Formation, Lunch at Trogon’s Perch, Alegria Beach (to swim) or Burgos (for café hopping), Taktak Falls, Dinner at Haole
• Day 5 (Sohoton Cove, Tiktikan Lake, Hagukan Cave, Magkukuob Cave, Non-Sting Jellyfish Lagoon, Dinner at Wild) – Goldie Goes Global
• Other Activities to do in Siargao

 

In this article, we’ll be discussing Day 5!

For Day 5 – we decided to do a joiner’s tour. Only me and my brother wanted to go to Sohoton Cove, which is on a different island and takes A LONG TIME to get there. But we figured, might as well try right? If it sucks, then we never have to go back again.

So how does a joiner’s tour work? It’s exactly what it sounds. Siargao hotels are usually tied up with a tour agency which conducts joiner tours. These hotels get a commission when their guests sign up for the tours, whereas guests who are traveling solo or in small groups can still go to these tours without having to pay for a private one.

Would I recommend a joiner tour? Well obviously a private tour is so much nicer because you have control over your schedule. BUT if a private tour isn’t an option, then a joiner tour becomes a very convenient option. So just ask your hotel, and they should be able to present joiner tour options for you to choose from. Having said that, don’t be surprised if each hotel can priced the tours slightly differently – which I think is unfair. There should be a standard price for the joiner tour…

Anyway, on to our Sohoton Cove adventure. Since Sohoton is quite far, we were actually picked up by the joiner tour jeep at 7:30AM from Kermit. There were already other tourists onboard during this time (guess they were picked up at 7AM), but after us, there were 4 more stops! So we finished picking everyone up at around 8:10AM already. Thankfully, we had a packed breakfast from Kermit which we ate as the jeep was picking up the other guests.

Once done, we were headed off to the port! The car ride to the Caraga Port took around ~30 minutes.

At this time, I really wanted to use the bathroom because apparently, to get to Bucas Grande Island (where Sohoton Cove is) would take another 1 hour boat ride. Keep in mind, the bathroom here all need payment, so make sure to bring some cash with you.

The boat ride was VERY loud. Thankfully, we were given headphones which helped mute the motor sounds a bit.

Finally, after an hour, we arrived at Bucas Grande Island.

Now at this point, the normal tour would have been to ride another 45 minute boat ride to get to Tiktikan Lake. Unfortunately, because of the rains, it was deemed to be a bit risky to do the boat ride, so we were rerouted to Dagatan Bay instead – which is supposedly connected to Tiktikan Lake, so should be the same. The pros of this is that the land tour (via car) only took 15 minutes, 30 minutes shorter vs the boat ride. The con is – I heard the boat ride is beautiful AND is more expensive, and since we had already pre-paid for the tour, medyo lugi. Ohwell, we were subject to the whims of the weather!

From Dagatan, another 15 minutes boat ride to get to Sohoton Cove. Note, this short boat ride seats 6pax per boat, so that would be an ideal group size. Logistics aside, the mangroves at this point were just beautiful to behold!

To enter Sohoton Cove proper, there are lots of rock croppings on top, so make sure to lie low as your boat passes through the entrance!

 

 

Hagukan Cave

Our first stop was Hagukan Cave, It’s called the luminescent cave because of the way the water seems to turn luminescent when you splash the water. I thought this sounded pretty cool, but in reality, I quickly realized it was just that the water underneath was of a clearer blue, whereas the top part of the water was shrouded in darkness so it seemed closer to black. So when you splash the water, you disturb the surface and see the light water underneath – which was an electric blue color seemingly. Not much of a mystery after all.

What I like though was how to get intothe cave pool, you need to hold your breath for ~10 seconds, so that your guide can dive underneath the rocky cropping, with you pushed underneath him. Seriously, our guide literally grabbed me, then swam with him above and me below. I just had to be dragged along for the ride

 

Magkukuob Cave

Next stop, we had the Magkukuob Cave. This cave is known for its 5-meter cliff jump. You trek your way through the Magkukuob Cave (literal ~5mins trek), then you exit at the opening at the top of the cliff then you jump. Sounds scary? Not really! Practically zero chance of injury since it’s such a short height! Good to try for those scared of heights!

Jellyfish Sanctuary

The next stop was the Jellyfish Sanctuary, which was hands down, the coolest part of the tour. I have never seen jellyfish up close before because you’re normally warned AWAY from jellyfish. But in this sanctuary, the jellyfish are non-stinging! And because jellyfish like calm waters, they naturally migrate to this area. There are two types of jellyfish – the white jellyfish and the yellow jellyfish. Supposedly, during the time we were there, it was the season for white jellyfish, of which there were plenty.

But we were super blessed, because we also saw a yellow jellyfish! This was seriously so cool. My brother and I even got to hold the jellyfish, although just make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after before touching anything else.

 

Lunch at Dagatan Bay

Finally, it was time for lunch! We headed back to Dagatan Bay where a boodle lunch was prepared for us. I was rather disappointed because the seafood (mussels and shrimp) weren’t fresh, but the fruits more than made up for it. The mangoes and the pineapples were SO SWEET. I gorged myself on them.

After lunch, you can swim in the bay, jump off the diving board, rent crystal kayaks or paddleboards etc. Because we were rerouted to a land tour instead, our guide offered us free use of two kayaks, which was quite nice of him.

 

Swim at Kermit

Finally it was time to head back to Siargao! We arrived at Kermit around 4:30PM and decided to take a dip in Kermit’s beautiful swimming pool. Afterwards, it was off for dinner at Wil!

 

Wild

Wild has this very eclectic menu, which is a mishmash of super random stuff (Wild nga raw haha). But my faves here were really the Porchetta Salad (not on the menu, but you can order it!!) which had A LOT of porchetta and minimal salad just the way I like it, the cocktails (they put in a liberal amount of alcohol), the wagyu burger, the carpaccio, and the SUPER DELICIOUS and inventive mochi bibingka!

After eating, you may want to burn off some calories or just check out the axe throwing stall at the back of the restaurant. It looks really scary to try at first, but once you’ve done it, you walk away feeling very accomplished when you throw an axe and it sticks to the wall – or so my brother says, since he was the one who tried it and I just documented!

And that’s a wrap for today!