Have you ever heard of a beach full of pebbles instead of sand? I had never seen one before so when I first saw it online I was like "is this for real?" I only really thought that beaches were all sand and sea water. I never thought I'd see huge pebbles in the beach, especially not the size of pebbles you would usually see in lakes. Boy, was I so surprised when I finally laid my eyes on an actual pebble beach.

I have always loved beaches and whenever I had the opportunity to  explore new beaches, I just get ecstatic. I was even more excited when the gang and I decided to visit Mabua Pebble Beach in Surigao del Norte. It was my first time knowing of such kind of beach and I was very intrigued. So, fresh from our Sohoton Cove Tour, our group headed straight to Mabua Pebble Beach in barangay Ipil, Surigao City.

Mt. Bagarabon Resort

I booked an overnight stay at Mt. Bagarabon Beach Hotel. We chose this resort because it was the nearest to the Mt. Bagarabon trail going to Looc Beach on the other side of the mountain/hill. Also their room rates were affordable and came with free breakfast plus they offer special promos too.

Room rates as of May 30, 2016

Here's the choices for the free breakfast that comes with your room accommodation

Clean and spacious room. Perfect for a good night sleep

TV is missing. According to the staff, the TV was broken but it wasn't a deal breaker since we were exhausted from the tour we didn't have time to watch TV.

Clean bathroom

 Exhausted and tired, hubby and I retired to bed early. We started the following day with a hike up and down the Bagarabon mountain going to Looc beach. The hike up the hill was excruciatingly tiring especially that I wasn't built for any kind of uphill treks. I never had any training and I was certainly not the hiking type of girl. I could endure walking on a plain terrain but I could never survive a long hike up a hill or mountain. So halfway through the hike I was already catching my breath and all sweating out.

Looc Beach

Panorama view of Looc Beach found on the other side of the Bagarabon mountain/hill.

Panorama view of the Looc Beach shoreline

Another view of the Looc Beach

The pebbles are smaller in this side of the beach.

The tiring hike was all worth it though because what greeted us on the other side of the hill was just as breathtaking. The place was very serene and looked like it was uninhabited. There was a nearby resort but there were no other people apart from the four of us. So it was really a paradise for us. We were able to swim to our hearts desires because there were no other people there. Since it was still very early in the morning, the water was super cold, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the early morning swim.

The pebbles in Looc beach were a lot smaller compared to that of Mabua beach but the quality of the water was just as clear. It was such a delight swimming in the cold morning water. After an hour of swimming, we decided to head back to the resort for our breakfast.

Toast with butter and strawberry jam

Generous serving: scrambled eggs, garlic rice, beef tapa, and orange juice

After breakfast we head back to the beach to continue the fun. We headed straight to the hotel's beach front and we found the pebbles were a lot bigger. The water was just as clear and it was still surprisingly cool even though the sun was already up. It was already around a quarter past eight but the water was still cool which was totally refreshing.

Look how big those pebbles are.

Just pebbles and crystal clear waters

No sand here. Just pebbles.

Beautiful view of the open sea ahead and crystal clear waters below. Spell PARADISE!

The hubby, enjoying the great view

At 10 am, our group checked out of the resort but we stayed at the beach shoreline to take more photos and pass the time. After an hour we headed back to the bus terminal to catch a bus ride back home. And that wrapped our 2 days/1 night Surigao del Norte summer escapade. (For the total expenses per person, please read my previous post)


Thanks for reading and I hope this post convinced you to include Surigao Del Norte in your must visit places in the Philippines.


God bless,