No Laswit in Lagoon

I visited Surigao del Sur around the third week of February with these two places in mind: Cabgan Island in Barobo and Laswitan Lagoon in Cortes. Blogs I had read mentioned that the laswit or splash of the ocean over the 30- to 40-ft tall rocks that surround the lagoon can be experienced from October to March. Man, oh man, were those blogs wrong. There was no laswit when I visited.

No laswit here, just a calm pool

On the other side of the rock wall the Pacific Ocean was doing a good job pummelling the rocky shore (but not strong enough to scale the 30- to 40-ft high rock wall of the lagoon). And that is where the handful of Laswitan Lagoon hopefuls made the most of their visit. My friend and I ,on the other hand, stayed in the lagoon, our private pool, where we soaked and caught up with each other's lives.

On the other side

The Pacific waves hello

My friend's father who lives in Tandag said the best time to go is from November to December, maybe even January. But the ultimate time would be when there's a coming typhoon. I guess I'll have to go back when there's a typhoon brewing.

Expectation. Photo from sarwrites.com

Laswitan Lagoon
8AM to 5PM
Fees:
Entrance fee Php 20
Lifevest rental Php 20/hour
Salbabida (ring buoy) rental Php 20
Open cottage rental Php 200
Table rental Php 100
Toilet and changing rooms are available for free

Location: Laswitan Lagoon is located in the municipality of Cortes in Surigao del Sur. The lagoon is about 3 km from the highway. The road from the highway to the lagoon is rough and uneven. If commuting, you will have to hire a habalhabal (motorcycle) from the highway.

Cabgan Island in Surigao del Sur

After half an hour's boat ride from the sleepy poblacion of Barobo in Surigao del Sur we landed on the beach of Cabgan Island. Not a soul was in sight, only the clear turquoise water, white sandy beach, and the abundant green of trees.

We landed in paradise

We grabbed our plastic bag of lechon manok and rice (hurriedly bought at the poblacion) and looked for a spot to have our lunch (we found a wooden table). I wanted to jump in the water asap so I only explored the opposite side of where we were (it was also a white sand beach), and not the side of the island that faces the Pacific Ocean (that area is a cliff where one can watch the strong Pacific waves hit the island).

The beach opposite of where we were

After the quick exploration, we ate lunch under the shade of trees, and then it was time to turn into a prune in the clear seawater. Ahhh, the island life, it sure makes me lazy!

How to go to Cabgan Island: Take a bus or van to the municipality of Barobo and alight at the old market of the poblacion. Behind the market, find a pumpboat to take you to Cabgan Island (I am not sure what the right rate is, but we paid Php 1200 for a boat that could carry about 8 passengers). It will take about 30 minutes to reach the island.

Reminders: Cabgan Island is uninhabited: no houses, no sari-sari stores. Don't forget to bring food/snacks/drinks. Please please please bring your trash back with you.

Wisdom from the Road #53

On Waze

Waze may give you the shortest and fastest route but it may not be the best route.

Finding our way to an Airbnb house in San Remegio, we didn't use Waze and just took the familiar roads (highways). On our way back to the city, my brother decided to you use Waze and it gave us a different route than the one we took going there. According to the app, it was a shorter route. Shorter, sure. But, man, it took us longer because about half the length of the road (and it was the center section, not the sections near the highway) was a narrow pothole-y dirt road and we had to slow to a crawl.

I haven't used Waze myself. There is probably an option to avoid dirt roads. I should ask my brother to check his app.


For more lessons from the road, please visit Go Learn.