Tinuy-an Falls, the Rainbow and the Sunbird

Surigaonons are proud enough that beyond modern conveniences still there are spotless beauties around our province. Few people knew a secret so beautiful being kept by Surigaonons in the vastness of its forest.

That beauty resides, amidst the development of the city, in the inner barangay of Bislig City, in the southern part of Surigao del Sur. I came to know or visit the place in 2005 while we were having an inspection of the coffee plantation in the area. After the said visit to the plantation, we made a side-trip to this much talked about place. It was summer then so we didn’t expect or fear being dragged or drowned by a rushing current of water coming from the mountain river.

I was astonished by the magnificent beauty of the place. I have seen similar features of such proportion but this one had catapulted me to a world I couldn’t imagine. I thought I was in another space and in another time. But the reality is I was in my own province; I was in Surigao del Sur; I was in the Philippines and I am standing in front of Tinuy-an Falls. I was amazed in its splendor.

Honestly, I am still surprise by the many wonders my beloved province kept.

Tinuy-an Falls was considered by many as the Philippines’ Little Niagara Falls. Like I always say, I would never coin places in the Philippines particularly from my province with names of tourist spot in foreign countries. We can sell our places without those marketing tags.

Pagsanjan Falls and Maria Cristina Falls have been immortalized in the paintings and photographs of great Filipino painters and photographers. They even found in prints or books circulated in the elementary school. I would say Tinuy-an Falls deserves the same accolades bestowed to Maria Cristina and Pagsanjan Falls.

I was able to come face-to-face with Tinuy-an Falls first before visiting Maria Cristina in Iligan City. But I was wowed by the beauty of Tinuy-an Falls; not because I am from Surigao del Sur. I suggest you visit first Maria Cristina Falls before you come to visit Tinuy-an Falls in Borboanan, Bislig City; then you tell me that I am wrong.

You can do more things – swimming, kayaking, nature tripping, picnics in Tinuy-an Falls. You can even watch rainbow on top of the falls every morning. It is even said by the locals that the rainbow always show itself daily during 9am to 11am.

 Stories have it also that Sunbird, small specie of bird which can be spotted by using binoculars, are found in the surroundings of the waterfalls. These stories circulated in the early 2000 when foreign guests had ventured into the place in search of this unique and hard-to-find specie of birds.

Tinuy-an falls is a three-tiered falls (a fourth can’t be seen from view) is about 55-meters in height with a breathtaking width of 95 meters. This is believed to be one of the widest water falls in the country today; the widest perhaps. It is an hour ride from the city center but you won’t even notice time on your way there. Centuries-old trees welcome visitors and the man-made lake (Borboan reservoir) is inviting enough for any passersby to ignore. From the distance you can already hear the sounds of the rushing water.

I was fortunate enough during my visit because I was able to climb the three-tiered water falls. I was on top of it and had a good view of the long river that channeled water to it. It was summer then and the water level was not that deep and water current not that strong.

During raining season (wet wet weather, as we Surigaonons always say), the water level and current will be so deep and strong. It is also beautiful to visit during these days but visitors are cautioned that they might be drowned by the current. It is also in these times that you will witness the falls in its full grandeur. Water will fully blanket the three-tiered falls.