Loloy, who looks like he’s in his mid-
twenties, shows up with his eight-
year-old nephew, Johnrod. Whenever
he’s available, Johnrod joins Loloy
in leading guests on mangrove tours
—
Loloy makes about four trips in a
week on a good season — and serves
as his uncle’s first mate. Loloy steers
from the back of the small, motorized
outrigger, while Johnrod navigates from
the front. In the shallow areas, such
as through a narrow pass that leads to
the sea, Johnrod kneels on the prow of
the boat, checking the clear waters for
rocks to avoid.
Johnrod knows the tour drill and is
quick on his feet. We cruise past forests
of mangroves, and every now and then
we glide past a lone hut built on large
rocks, a perimeter of water fenced with
green nets. Further out in the sea, we
power our way through little whirlpools
called
lilo
formed by crosscurrents.
When Loloy says scuba divers from
the city often visit, Johnrod whips out a
meter-long wooden tube, fitted on one
end with a magnifying glass, and we
poke the surface of the water to view an
impressive array of coral.
The underwater attractions might
perhaps save Surigao and its bid to
become a tourist destination. At his dive
shop in Punta Bilar, Jake is gearing
up for an afternoon dive. He owns one
of two dive shops on the strip, and
although Surigao doesn’t get the influx
of divers that other places do, word of
the high-quality dives is spreading.
But Jake has bigger ambitions.
He takes us to a small room where a
table takes up the most space. There’s
a sepia-colored naval map imprinted
on the surface and it shows the area
around the Surigao Strait. With little
warning he launches into what sounds
like a well-rehearsed speech about
the Battle of Surigao Strait, and it’s
enough to make any World War II or
navy buff salivate. By all accounts, a
pivotal battle had been fought off these
waters, Jake tells us, one that helped
change the tide of the war. And just off
these waters are six sunken Japanese
warships, about 500m deep, that have
never been explored. If the city plays
its cards right, these approximately
68-
year-old wrecks that are now part
of the underwater landscape could
bring in even more visitors. Now that’s
something worth diving into.
Cebu Pacific flies from Cebu to
Surigao.
S U S T A I N A B L E S U R I G A O
Clockwise from top
left: Doing right by
the dive-perfect
waters of Punta
Bilar; local boys in
the 'hood; small-
scale fishing is still
a main source of
livelihood in these
parts; Jake Miranda
tells the little-
known details of the
Battle of
Surigao Strait
94
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