Buhatan River Cruise and Fireflies Watching | Sorsogon, Bicol

After our adventurous morning with the Whale Sharks of Donsol, we had a chill afternoon just cruising Sorsogon's Buhatan River. Finally, time to relaaax! 

Buhatan Eco River Cruise

I was super impressed that the Buhatan Eco River Cruise is actually a 2014 clean-up project of the late Ms. Gina Lopez as the then-Chairman of the ABSCBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation. Initially, their goal is to clean and rehabilitate the Buhatan River which was already dying at that time. 

Later on, with the help of locals, they took several steps further and developed and maintained this as an eco-tourism site that can give livelihood to the community. What a dream project!

Since 2015 to this day, visitors can now enjoy the lush views of mangroves, river, and natural sceneries while in comfortable floating cabanas of the Buhatan River. 

Rates

Rates for the Buhatan River floating cottages vary according to the number of guests, with an estimate of Php 750 per head with minimum of 10 persons, to Php 3000 per head with a minimum of 2 persons. 

This includes the Buhatan River Cruise Entrance and Environmental fees, firefly watching, a DOT-accredited tour guide, and dinner at the floating cabana. Activity duration is about 6 hours, but ours was cut-short because of other commitments for that night. 

You can also kayak and fish, but I think with separate cost.

For more information, kindly message Donsol Eco Tour.

My Experience + Tips

Before we hopped inside our bamboo raft, we also watched a cooking demo of a local delicacy called baluko, or a meaty seashell cooked in coconut milk with lots of chili. The dishes were also served as merienda for the group, enjoyed with pancit, lumpia, pili nuts, and cold drinks.

Later on, the group was divided in two bamboo rafts, each pulled serenely by a boatman with his small bangka. It was a quiet ride, an acoustic duo serenading us with OPM songs. Later on, the girls decided to take pictures around the floating raft with the help of one of the bangkeros. He happily took our pictures and videos from different angles, even dangling our feet on the river--pwedeng pwede mag vlog si kuya! Hehehe. 

We were just in time for sunset, so we had a nice view heading back to where we came from. We even spotted a rainbow! If we stayed a little bit later, we could have also watched fireflies during the sail. Best time to avail this activity is around 4:30pm to catch the sunset, and later on see these fireflies at night! Dinner is usually fresh seafoods.

At the moment, the Buhatan River Cruise is just starting to recover from 2 years of pandemic lockdown. Hearing its origin story, I am glad to have experienced this eco-tourism project thrive, and encouraging you to support them too when you get to travel to Sorsogon. ❤

Buhatan River Eco Adventure:

Maharlika Highway, 4700 

Buhatan, Sorsogon City, Philippines

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Special thanks to:  

Sir Noel Amata, for some of the photos used in this post

TPB Philippines, for having me on this trip!