I heard about this place in Surigao where you can
touch the jellyfish, and they won’t sting! I heard this from a fellow traveller
in UBBE Palaui way back in 2010. The place was not that popular yet. Summer
2012, pictures of these jellyfish in Sohoton Natural Park plagued my Facebook
timeline. Flashback moment: Oh, I’ve heard about this!
In July 2012, I chanced upon Airphil’s
Php 188 seat sale and booked an RT flight from Manila to Surigao. The base fare was
Php 376.000 but adding all the add-ons, the total fare amounted to Php
1,334. Ganun na talaga ang "seatsale" ngayon.
I excitedly started researching about my itinerary
and projected costs. Ooops, it seems that the costs are quite pricey for a solo
traveller. For one, I will have to rent the entire boat myself (gulp!).
So I shared the details of my trip to my travel
buddies in my GenSan-Saranggani trip. Abangers mode ng seat sale. By November 2012,
they were able to book their own flights. Yay! There was a total of 6 pax for this trip.
So... getting a package was an option.
The table below reflects the estimated costs if we do it DIY all the way. I got the group costs from various blogs and forums
over the internet. I can't vouch for the accuracy.
|
NOTES
|
GROUP COST
|
COST/PAX
|
Sohoton
boat rental
|
|
3,500.00
|
583.33
|
Boat
docking fee
|
Php 100 per boat
|
100.00
|
16.67
|
One-time
entrance fee for all attractions
|
|
|
25.00
|
Life
vest rental
|
|
|
30.00
|
Pumpboat
rental and boatman's fee for Sohoton Cove
|
Good for 3 pax
|
500.00
|
166.67
|
Tour
Guide Fee
|
2 guides per boat - P 330 per boat
|
660.00
|
110.00
|
Snorkel
Gear
|
|
|
100.00
|
Sohoton
National Park
|
Includes various entrance fees,
environmental fees, and boat transfers
|
|
635.00
|
Lunch
|
Lunch during tour is usually
"paluto"
|
|
300.00
|
TOTAL of DIY Option
|
|
|
1,966.67
|
I researched tour operators for Bucas Grande Islands and it seems that Sir Ed of Island Vacations is quite popular. I texted him inquiring about the package tours and he referred me to Sir Tata Bulabog.