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Surigao del Sur’s Enchanted River: Cool, clear waters worth a visit


If you are still trying to figure out where to spend the remaining days of summer, why don’t you hit Surigao del Sur? About 30 minutes from the town of Hinatuan, in barangay Cambatong, there is a river that has become a tourist attraction.

Only discovered in recent years, Hinatuan River has also become known as the Enchanted River. It flows into the Philippine Sea—six hundred meters away is the coastline of Hinatuan Bay—but no one knows where the water comes from. Is it from a spring? Does some of the water come from the sea?

The shallow part of the Enchanted River is a clear aquamarine color.
The river looks Photoshopped; it reminds you of the movie "Blue Lagoon". The waters are so crystal-clear that you can see the riverbed even at the deepest part. A foreign tourist once plunged into the waters thinking he could reach the bottom, but found he couldn't.

Generally, most people swim in the area where the water's shade ranges from aquamarine to blue; where it is a darker blue, it means the water is already very deep.

One of the most magical moments when you visit Enchanted River is what they call "feeding time," usually at around 12 noon. A caretaker from the Enchanted River Management Office would ring the bell as a way of requesting everyone to get out from the water.

Then the "Hymn of Hinatuan" is played, and a spectacular school of fish comes out from nowhere. The fish gather around near the mouth of the river as the caretaker and tourists throw leftover rice, shrimp, bread and other food scraps into the water. As the fish swirl around trying to beat each other to the food, their silvery scales are exposed to the light, gleaming with a radiance that can momentarily blind you if it hits your eyes.

Once the feeding is over, the fish start to vanish—or at least become more inconspicuous. The wife of my friend can attest to that. She was enjoying swimming, but when she put on the goggles her son gave her she immediately came out from the water.

“What happened?” I asked. “I’m already cold,” she answered. But later when we were already inside the car she told me that she quit swimming because she had seen huge fish swimming alongside her. “I was afraid they might bite me,” she said.

Visitors take photos with the rich blue of the deep part of the river as a backdrop.
 
For the people living in the area, the river means good business.

Entrance fee is P30 per person. There is an area where visitors can park their vehicles, but they still have to walk or take the habal-habal about one kilometer to get to the river.

Huts, tents, tables and chairs are available for picnics. A row of stalls right across the entrance offers a wide array of food and drinks. Visitors can also try the variety of fresh—sometimes still alive—seafood to choose from; the cooking service charge is P20 per kilogram.

For those who want to swim, there are life jackets for rent at P15 per hour. River cruising is also available for tourists who want to enjoy the scenery going to the neighboring islands. It’s P160 per hour with a maximum of 5 people.

Tourists can also go on a river cruise on the Enchanted River.
Lifeguards are on duty and visible within the swimming area. And yes, no one is allowed to smoke inside the Enchanted River premises.

Night swimming is prohibited; in fact, the facility is closed at 5:00 p.m. No one is allowed to go near the river—according to local legend, it is the time for those beings not of this world to use. There is a story of a father and son who saw “two long-haired, alabaster-skinned women bathing under a plump moon” and then disappearing in a swirl of fireflies.

Were they fairies? Your answer is as good as mine!

In an article that appeared in Philippine Daily Inquirer, writer Romel M. Oribe said that it was diplomat and tourism advocate Modesto Farolan who gave the river its name through the poem “Rio Encantado.”

The poem, Oribe wrote, “talks of a ‘crystalline stream flowing from hidden spring,’ ‘rocky brims ’mongst vines,’ ‘orchids and ferns,’ ‘canopy of rich green mirrored in water-tinted blue,’ and ‘gold lined with gems.’”

After visiting Enchanted River, a visitor penned in his blog: “Seeing something majestic almost always leaves people speechless, even breathless! That is exactly how you feel the instant you lay your sights on Enchanted River. The experience is utterly difficult to translate into words when none of it ever suffices to describe its beauty and splendor.” — BM, GMA News
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