Bucas Grande Island

Located behind Siargao Island, it was hard to tell if Bucas is an island with numerous islets or simply a cluster

 of islets. I got more perplexed when the boat was meters aways from the isle.

Bucas is inaccessible by road. I saw floras endemic in Caraga; I spotted a few magcono woods and pitcher

plants not far from the guest house. I didn't see any mammals, but the occasional sounds of primates suggest

 that wildlife abounds.

The water is about twenty feet deep within the isle's territory. While resting in the guest house. I stared at the

verdant mounds. They could be islets close together. They could be rolling hills that define the isle. They

could be both. Miro Ajoc, the island's barangay captain, couldn't tell either. What he's certain of, though, is

Bucas has more than a hundred islets. He then pointed out that it was low tide; he suggested that we go to

Suhoton Cove, Bucas' most popular destination.

A few hundred meters from the guest house is a partly-exposed passageway. It's the path to Suhoton Cove.

Stalactites were a few meters above our heads while the boat passed through; a huge one shaped like a

horseshoe greeted us as we entered the cove. Suhoton is a big lake surrounded by numerous islets, many of

which resemble Bohol's Chocolate Hills. As I observed the tranquil surroundings, Miro told me that there are a

number of caves within the area. We went to Crystal Cave, which is partially submerged. The faint sunlight was enough for me to see and gape at the cave's ceiling. Milky white. Smooth. No stalactites. We stood on a boulder in the middle of the small cave in order to see the bottom of the cave. The water is about ten feet deep, and there no traces of shells and rocks. The white sands seem to glow. It's an otherworldly place - too bad my digital

camera isn't waterproof.

Dusk set in as we left Suhoton. As the boat traveled back to the guest house, I witnessed what Bucas Grande

looked like in the early evening. A canopy of stars lit up the isle and the sea. The noises made by insects were

in unison. It was one of a kind.