day-asan floating villages

We read about it here and said, lets do it. So we drive with a multi-cab to day-asan. There we find Julito and hire him for the boat tour. He is a funny guy and a good guide. After visiting the floating village and tour thru the mangroves we landed on a small coral-beach where we did a little swimming and snorkeling. The site was not so fabulous but still you find starfishes, some corals small fishes and more. Later we proceed to the real great coral reef which was described here before. Unfortunately the current was so strong that we could not go for snorkeling there. But Julito had an idea. Just hang on on the ropes from my boat while i will drive slowly over the corals. So we did and what we saw was breathtaking. Corals so large and colorful and unharmed by tourists. Lots of fishes and other animals. Really beautiful! Thank you Julito for this experiance.

This isn't really about the village so much as about the boat tour through the village, the mangroves and the snorkeling. We read a review and were most interested in the snorkeling so we took a tricycle from Surigao out to the village to find Julito Catarman. We asked the tricycle to stay to take us back and he was happy to do so. Julito is the man mentioned in an earlier review. He'll take you for a ride through the village and out through the mangroves to the most amazing coral beds you've ever seen. You hold onto a rope that's tied onto the side of his boat and he pulls you over the coral bed for about 45 minutes. We were kind of late in the afternoon but I'm sure if you wanted to swim a bit on your own he'd hang around so you could explore on your own to take some photos. I wish we had more time. We took video and that's where the attached pictures are from. Afterwards he took us to a picturesque island for a few photos. Then we stopped at the lobster house to see the lobsters. One quick stop at his personal home and back to where we started. It was a highlight of our trip to the Philippines. I don't remember the exact prices to everything but it was incredibly cheap and we ended up paying him twice what he asked for and left him our fins on top of that. We bought bottled water before we left at one of the stands nearby the boat launch. Also incredibly cheap. This is a trip we would do again and again.

We took a trike the hotel to Day-Asan and talked to a nice older boat operator , his name is Julianoif I remember correctly, we went out for about two and a half hours, I did a little snorkeling, and lots of pics with the girlfriend....very nice time...be sure to bring water...and a splash proof camera....we paid 500 pesos which is what we agreed on .....a very good deal ...

Day-asan Floating Village is a community of people living along the shorelines of Surigao whose livelihood depend on fishing and wood picking. They inhabit the vast mangrove protected area of Barangay Day-asan erecting houses over shallow waters or on top of mangrove itself using available woods as posts to keep their commune above waters. Some used rocks and stones - from nearby mining concession - as foundation. They utilized wooden bridges as a means to move about. Except for a "floating restaurant" that's no longer operational, there were no floating houses at all. Some enterprising locals were engaged in aquaculture of high-value lobster keeping fish pens beneath their houses for security reason. Getting around the mangrove through channels and / or man-made small canals by boat was a lot of fun, at the same time educational. Our Boatman con Tour Guide, Mang Julieto, was accustomed with the place. He shared numerous accounts of his life in Day-asan including his having served various personalities. Mang Julieto is an accredited tour guide by the City of Surigao. He brought us to a white beach island, the snorkeling area with beautiful corals, out to the open sea and back to mangroves of Day-asan passing beneath a wooden bridge and an opportunity to actually see live lobsters in fish cage and how life in Day-asan really was.Go to Day-asan by motorcycle-back-ride from Surigao City and back. Ask for 'habal-habal' terminal near the city market and pay only 20 pesos per person. Tricycle peg for as high as 300 pesos one-way ride to Day-asan. Look for Mang Julieto at Day-asan and enjoy the boat ride.

this is a nice place, a long foot bridge i have a lot of fun here... taking picture and looking the long bridge that connect the two barangay.

Rode a 100 peso habal habal from the city center. And took a 500 peso boat ride touring around the mangroves. We rented snorkels (A MUST!) because they have the most pristine corals in the Philippines. Must bring food & water on trip. And a camera. You won't be disappointed.

I took a 10 min ride on the back of a motorbike for around 100peso from Surigao City to Day-Asan Floating Village. There is a banca there that offers rides for a fee around the village.But i found it better to take the free walk around the village which only takes around 20minutes & at least you have some partial shade rather than being sunburnt in the banca.Tourists dont seem to have affected the way of village life here possibly because of small numbers.Get to see the people doing there normal everyday activities on the village which is centred around embankments to the water connected by several wood bridges.A small school was also interesting to see . I wagered 100peso for the best Gangnam Style dance!Then later shared some Red Horse Beer , refreshments & general conversation with some of the friendly locals. Catch another motorbike ride back to Surigao, very easy. A very nice day trip.

Went here for a day tour with friends and we had a great time. You'll sleep in a wooden room near mangrove forest. Wonderful and friendly staff.

Pick a sunny day and pack snorkeling gear, waterproof camera and sun lotion.To get there from Surigau City, hire a motorcycle with driver for 100P.Once in Day Asan, get a banka and choose the whole package: floating village, mangroves, sand beach and snorkeling for 500P. The banka captain was very enthusiastic with a big smile, not much english. Be sure to ask him about hanging off the outrigger and getting pulled over the shallow reef by the boat while exploring the corral through your diving mask - it's a blast!If you want to be extra nice and it's the end of your vacation, leave your snorkeling gear with the banka as a gratuity instead of paying to take it back on the plane in your luggage.Combine this trip with the nearby Sulip caves.

To get here from Surigao City we had to hire motorbike taxi. Me the Mrs and our daughter all on the passenger seat. Yeah scary, hold on tight and pray!!!! At the jetty you can hire great guide with his motor boat who was the most friendly helpful and honest person in the whole Philippines. He even gave us some shells as a souvenir He lives in a tiny self built house in the middle of the river as its free if you do this apparently. He even makes his own maps of the area so people can navigate safely. Actually it was worth the trip just to meet this man who was about 60 yrs old maybe but would put guys 30 years younger to shame.!! For a modest charge he gave us a day tour of the whole area including the floating village. We actually didnt get on to the village as you could see everything from the boat and the charge per head was too high just to walk about for 5 minutes.. There is a resaurant on it but this only opens if you book it in advance so you would need a big group to make this economic. We toured around the area in the boat among the mangroves great scenery and no-one else about ......... passed the odd person paddling a home made canoe ..........makes you feel like a real explorer. Arrived at a tiny coral island ....fantastic for snorkelling and looknig a the fishes , never seen such clear water. with just us there. Bring a picnic and plenty of water and you could stay happily for hours. What a fantastic trip ..only cut short by us because we didnt bring enough food or water for a whole day . Many thanks to our boatman/guide , I even think he was trying to chat up my Filipino mother-in-law who was along with us!! If you see him pass on my regards!! Hope he's keeping on keepin on!!