No words as the DOT local tourist campaign slogan that described the Captivating island of Camiguin. Truly Camiguin is a charismatic island not just known to be a tourist spot with a wild variety of places to go, but also for the charming people, amazing culture and its colorful historic volcanoes.
The second smallest province in the Philippines lies between Bohol and the mainland Mindanao. Located in the northern part of Mindanao, this small island is considered to be one of the portals of Mindanao and Visayas Region.
Well, talking about our trip, it was not a planned trip at first. One airline (PAL) offers a seat promo in the mid of September. As my co-workers were a fan of seats sale, they found out our next destination, the province of Camiguin. We got our ticket amounting to P949.00 for a round trip which the travel date would be around January 2019 for a 3 nights four days in camiguin. (I would suggest you go with Cebu Pacific. Flights were set usually in the early morning so that it will give you a whole day to travel the island. )
Although I was skeptical at first they just booked my ticket right away. We also look and book for a place to stay during our vacation. For first timers in the island, we realize that the place would not matter since we would be going out most of the day and would just want some place to rest in the night. Also money/budgets matter. But if you want some excellent place to stay with a complete accommodation, you can also fine some hotel and resorts. We found a good place to stay. It is on Pabuas Cottages “where friends meet friends”. The Place is good, we took 2 rooms that can accommodate 2 persons each. The location for this Inn is really near to the White Island port, to food stores, restaurant and pub. They can also arrange for your boat to White Island and the multicab you’ll be using for your trip to the island. You can also ask the caretaker how to get around the area.
As you are about to land in the airport, you can definitely identify the White Island and the Mantigue Island in the sky. We were really worried since we search the internet for the possible weather conditions of the island with respect to the date of our awaited vacation and found out that it would be a rainy with thunderstorm one. But as we’re about to land, it’s just not the case. Although there are rain showers in the early morning, but still the sun shines in the late morning.
At the Camiguin Airport there is a stall where you can ask for a brochure of the things you can do in the Island for your stay. I suggest grabbing one copy since it’s really a nice souvenir and remembrance for your stay. The next thing we do is go somewhere to eat and buy some necessity.
We, research and we found out a mall located at the Mambajao. Although we didn’t find any Fast Food Stall so that we could now eat our lunch, but instead we found a restaurant. It’s really a good one since it offers food for ½ kilo, which is a bit much for 4 people. The price is also reasonable plus the environment is for awesome. It also has a souvenir and pasalubong shop where you can buy take home delicacy. Although the chicharong pusit is a no no when you only have a hand carry allowance for your plane. Then we headed for our inn.
We got there around 2:30 on a motorela . The minimum price ride for a motorela in the area is 9.00 and also the motortrike is color coded according to their route. There were actually three colors: red, orange and green. There were going to the west and east side.
Realizing there much time left, we headed for our do it your own tour. Planning to visit the west side, for the historical sites, we rented a motorela for a price of 600.00. But I guess the price is too much since the place is not that far from our stay.
Our first destination is the glove. Just ask your driver. It’s just along the way. You can just pose for a pic there and enjoy the view and enjoy finding it hehe.
Second is the Walkway to Jesus, Station of the Cross. It’s a path to trek the old volcano as they say. My estimate since we did not reach the last station is that it would take one hour and a half to take that path back and forth. The scenery here is good. It would provide a green view with the tall trees and plants. Also the place is so clean. Peaked season for this place takes place in holy week.
The third one is the Church Ruins. This together with the sunken cemetery was destroyed during the eruption of the old volcano. What we’re left here were the walls of the church and the seminary, the bell towers and the centennial old tree. Also the tour guide for the church ruins was kind enough for us to have our beautiful group pic together in every nice view of the ruins. The ruin is located near the sea. Our last but not the least destination for the day is the sunken cemetery. We rented a boat there for 100.00 pesos good for 4. We were lucky enough that there were not many Tourist who wants to go in the cross as it gives us time to take our pictures well with the help of our actor guide who happens to also be our boatman.
From the cross you can clearly see the Mt Hibok Hibok and the old volcanoes. You can also go snorkelling if the weather and current of the sea permits where you can find tombs, but were already covered with the amazing corals. That ends our first day in Camiguin.
For our day 2, we start it off in going to the White Island. We plan this so that we will avoid the scorching heat of the sun and also to enjoy the morning view the island has to offer. As for our transportation, we already talk with the caretaker of Pabuas yesterday and that they will arrange out our boat going to White Island. Pabua’s owned the boat we are going to ride. The terminal for the boat which is just beside the Paras Resort, is just a walking distance to the place you stay even if you goggled with it. At 6:30 we are already travelling to the Island. The waves were rough enough to splash our face with water. We were already drenched with sea water before we arrive to the Island.
At the arrival, we took some pictures with Mt. Hibok hibok and the old Vulcan. We also enjoy our breakfast there. We just made a tuna sandwich. There were also locals who are selling Cooked Sea food for the tourist. Also, you can rent umbrella or cloth to sit with. You can snorkel around the area if you have the gears or you can rent it there. As I have noticed, The Camiguin Seawaters is rich with marine life so I suggest leaving nothing but footprints.
Our second Destination is the St. Nino Cold Spring. I guess , we visit the spring on a wrong timing. The weather is not that good. It rains from time to time and the water is really really cold. We really haven’t enjoyed the place because the surroundings is already cold. We just took some pictures and swim a little bit. We just enjoy ourselves in the Fish Kiss section. Its just a small part of the spring where you will put your feet and then the small fishes will kiss it.The fishes will give you a tickling sensation of your feet. You can enjoy this service for an amount of P10.00. Way too different price in the City.
Tuasan Falls is next. It’s really raining already when we reach there. It resembles the falls I saw in the Agusan. Again ,we weren’t able to enjoy the falls since we are already chilling because of the coldness the rain brings. We just took pictures as a proof that we’ve been there. But before you can really leave the area, have a stop first on the road for a
Thres Marias pleasing view. Here, We had a pic here, thanks for a peaceful road. There’s not much vehicle going in and out this area.
We took our lunch in the Bora Soda water. They’ll offer you food for a kilo with a reasonable price. If you’re going to have your lunch there you don’t have to spend money for the cottages. You can leave your things inside the restaurant. We didn’t much enjoy the water here since we are already cold. Instead, we just taste the water here if it’s really a soda like taste.
Our last but not the least is the ardent Hot Spring. We were really excited because we know we can enjoy the spring. The water here is not that hot, but it’s warm. Some locals say that the spring was way hotter in past years than now. We enjoy swimming here also relaxing in the hot side holes where the warm temperature of the water came from. Although don’t stay here too long if you don’t have any anti mosquito repellent because the mosquitoes here are very big and rampant.
We also enjoy the Lanzones Ice cream. Store outside are dent sell this kind of food. We were really curious of the taste and beside its not found on our City.
Third day came and we are ready to explore the east side of Camiguin. We first had an Education tour at Giants Clams Sanctuary. You can enjoy snorkelling (you can rent equipments and have a tour guide for P300.00) or just listen to the tour guide for the lessons about Clams species. As we were not able to bring our snorkel gears (Hygiene purposes), we just prefer to listen to our tour guide. In the exhibit, you can see the 8 out of 11 species of clams found in the world. This includes the biggest clamp the Tridacna Gigas. You can see also, a large variety of cultured sea life .
And then we headed to the Mantigue Insland. The boat there is a bit costly around 650.00 (minimum of 4 hours of stay in the island) for four pesos. But In my opinion, it’s really worth the price since the travel time is about 20 to 30 minutes before you can reach the Island. We arrived at the white sand Island. We go through the island white sea shore for 15 minutes and decide to eat lunch. By the way, we just bought our own foods there and luckily we did because the stores there were close since it’s not peak season.I guess there was one store who happens to be open at the time. Stores sell food here for kilos also. So the price happens to be reasonable and you can have plenty of food.
The last one for our itinerary in camiguin, was the Katigbawasan Falls. I marvelled the beauty of this Place. The fall and the green scenery view of the tall trees and plants. Also, there is a big wording of I <3 CAMIGUIN at the entrance where you can take pictures. The fall is really good for swimming and it’s refreshing to witness the scene. It’s one of the best place in Camiguin.
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