Surigao's Enchanted River

We arrived at the Enchanted River around 11 in the morning. The place is located in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. This place is roughly 80 kms south of San Agustin, where we came from. The drive took around 2 hours. Some parts of the road onto the river are not yet fully paved, but we saw a lot of road constructions so in a year or two this place may become more accessible.

Enchanted River. Truly Enchanting.

The river is turquoise blue, and just seeing the river from afar, it is truly enchanting. There is a routine fish feeding activity that happens every 12 noon, and all the people swimming in the river must leave it during the fish feeding session.

The river really lives up to its name - It is truly enchanting. I have seen many rivers in my life but I think this is the first time I saw a river in turquoise blue color and transparent enough to see what is happening under.

Probably because it is directly connected to the sea? I don't know. Most rivers that I have seen in my life is either brown (not necessarily dirty but due to mud), or scary (water is opaque in most cases). 

Instead of swimming directly, we have decided to eat our lunch first. There are food establishments nearby that can cook and deliver your food directly to your cottage. We finished our meals quickly so we can see the fish feeding session. It took about 20 minutes. 

Schools of fishes fed by the caretakers of the river

Surprisingly there are indeed many fishes in that river, large and small. According to the information there, this river is connected to the Philippine Sea and in turn the Pacific Ocean. Due to that, this river is considered brackish (where saltwater meets fresh water). It is not very salty but enough to give you some buoyancy.

From afar, it seems that the river is calm, but when you start swimming in, it has a strong current. It is really difficult to counter the current and just by floating still you can reach the eastern part of the river.

It took some time to take a stable photo while in the river. 
The current is very strong.

We stayed for about 3 hours in the place, with nothing else to do but swim and relax. It was quite crowded during our visit, but good thing the crowd is responsible enough not to spoil the beauty of the place.

Before we left, of course, I should have my required photo op -

Until next time.

Photos courtesy of Tope and Derek