DIY Camiguin

March 2-3, 2015

Camiguin is deemed as the "Island Born Of Fire" because there are seven volcanoes around this small island. In fact, this island is so small that you can visit the tourist destinations around in only a day by covering the 64km circumferential road of the island. They do have a festival in the island called Lanzones Festival which is celebrated during the 3rd week of October.

How to get to Camiguin:

You may check here the schedule of ferries going to Camiguin (Benoni Port) from CDO (Balingoan Port) and vice-versa. It is highly recommended to be at the port one hour before your scheduled departure because sometimes it gets full or the time is simply not followed.

Accommodations and Restaurants at Camiguin:

Here is a scanned list of  places where you can eat and stay at Camiguin. You may click on the photos to get a clearer picture.

We stayed at Camiguin White Island Beach Resort for a room which was good for 4 and costs 1000php. It is situated beside Paras Beach Resort so we were able to witness the magnificent sunset of the place.

Touring around Camiguin Island:

We were able to cover 6 tourist destinations that day:

1. Katibwasan Falls
2. Sto. Nino Cold Spring
3. Old Church Ruins
4. The Sunken Cemetery
5. Ardent Hot Spring
6. White Island
You may check out the map on top of this blog post to see all the tourist destinations in the island.

Upon arriving at Benoni Port, there are many people who will offer tour services in the island. We hired a multicab that we found in Benoni Port for 1300php. But as soon as we rode the multicab, the driver told us that he had to pay 300php for the fixer who was at the port. We said it was unfair for him but he said that was the norm there. So travelers, I suggest you WALK OUTSIDE THE BENONI PORT, away from the fixers and then hire a multicab parked from the street. There's no difference I think on the kind of multicab except that you will save yourselves 300php because the driver doesn't have to go to the fixer!

There are many tourist spots at Camiguin as seen on the map above but we went only to a handful of them. The first one that we went to was Katibwasan Falls which is on the way coming from Benoni Port to the accommodation.

It has an entrance fee which costs 30php for adults and 15php for children below 10years old

The water in there was very cold and the falls was so tall that people are not permitted to go near the basin where the water falls directly due to the strong impact from the falls. Also, according to our guide, boulders of rocks sometimes fall from the falls. After going to Katibwasan falls and doing some photo-ops, we found this stall which sells kiping near the ticket booth. It only costs 5php but it tastes heavenly! Or maybe we were just hungry since we haven't had our breakfast but I swear, the coco jam on top of the kiping was so gooood.

After going to Katibwasan, we looked for a place to stay. We opted for Camiguin White Island Beach Resort because it was walking distance from the jump off point of white island which was the last destination for our tour that day. This means that we don't have to take another ride to get to our accommodation after our last destination which is very convenient.

When we've secured our things in our room, Kuya Rodel, the multicab driver, brought us to Sto. Nino Cold Spring where we would have our lunch. Upon arriving at the place, there were like a group of people offering food and all that to us. We let our driver/guide choose among them since he knows the place well. He referred us to the store which, according to him, serves the tastiest food there.

These were the rates for the place:

There was a sari-sari store at the edge of the place where they also cook food for you.

This is their menu and waiting time was around 1 hour. You can opt to order for only half a kilo.

While waiting for our food, we went to the natural cold spring and some of my companions took a dip. I tried going in but the water was just sooooo cold for me so I just sat at the side of the pool. Suddenly, fishes started biting the skin in my feet! It was instant fish spa for me! I don't know if they placed those fishes there or they were endemic but the thought of having a fish spa for only 30php was just so great! :) I stayed there until our food was served.

After one hour of waiting, our food was brought to us. I don't know how they prepared the food but it was so tasty despite the little ingredients it had. It's amazing. I'm thinking maybe because the ingredients were fresh? Regardless, we had a very hearty meal there.

After eating, we had to leave the place and discover other parts of the island. There were stalls outside the hot spring which sells souvenirs and I bought one ref. magnet for 20php and got it customized.

After going to Sto. Nino Cold Spring, we went to the Old Church Ruins. The place was so rustic and according to our guide, it was destroyed due to the volcanic eruption hundreds of years ago.

It has a vacant lot filled with grass and tall trees.

After briefly roaming around the place, we left and went to our next destination: Sunken Cemetery. The place is so called "sunken" because the place was destroyed and sank during the great volcanic eruption of 1871 - the same reason why the old church is now in ruins.

It was great that our guide/driver knows some camera tricks for the place.

After the sunken cemetery, we went to Ardent Spring.

The entrance for the place is Php 30 for adults and Php15 for children below 10 years old.

The place was well-developed and there were even cottages or houses where you can stay while you are in the island. The water in the spring was just lukewarm, not hot like in other springs where you have to acclimatize first before dipping in, and it was perfect for relaxing. Moreover, the water was so clear, you can see everything underwater.

According to our guide, it is highly recommended to swim at the uppermost part of the resort because when the place gets crowded, the water at the lower part starts to smell funky (mapanghi) because the water becomes stagnant. Luckily, when we went there, only a handful of people were in the area. Nevertheless, we stayed at the uppermost part.

After taking a dip at the hot spring, we went to the jump off point to White Island and we paid the following:

Pumpboat-450 for 5-6 persons
White Island User's Fee - 20Php/head



Before leaving, Kuya Rodel entrusted us to the boatman and he taught us how to go back to CDO. He even offered to book us for a hassle-free land and boat transfer to CDO but we refused because the call time for the trip was too early(5am). I think that transfer is catered for those with tight schedules. He was a really caring guide and I highly recommend him. Here's his number: 09362494760.

The ride to white island is just around 5 minutes. This island's long stretch of sand bar is a nice sight to behold.

 We watched the sunset from the island and took some photos. Sadly, before 5pm, the people there were telling us to go to the boat and leave the island. We were very hesitant to do as such because we wanted to see the sunset from there. However, we had no choice.

We arrived at mainland Camiguin and waited for the sunset from there. It was one of the most beautiful sunset I've witnessed.

At the end of the day, we got ourselves a treat and dined at the Luna Ristorante Italiano which is walking distance from our resort. The food and service was ok.

Going back to Cagayan De Oro

 

 

The next day, we had to leave the very peaceful island and go back to CDO city to catch our flight. We first rode a converted tricycle which cost us 10php each. It was a short 20-minute ride going to the van terminal.

We just told the driver to drop us off at the famous Vjandep Pastel Bakery. It was conveniently located across the street from the van terminal going to Benoni Port so you can buy your goodies and pasalubong  while waiting for the van to be full.  I'm amazed that the bakery was just a small one yet it is able to produce such number of pastels that it is even brought to Manila. I bought their pan de leche and it was very tasty and tasted freshly baked. It was really good.

The van going to Benoni Port costs Php30 each and it was a 35-minute ride coming from the terminal. I was surprised that there was no terminal fee at Benoni Port. I wish all ports were like this. We just bought our tickets (Php170 each) from the desk and then went aboard the ship. You can actually buy tickets once you're aboard so that you won't have to go through the desk at the port. Inspectors roam around the ship to check your tickets so keep it in a safe place.

Upon arriving at the port, we disembarked from the ship and then rode the van. We were asking the van to drop us off at Lim Ket Kai Center but then they were asking for another Php50. Good thing I didn't accept their offer because when I checked the Google maps, it was really near from Puregold where the van will pass by. Again, we were about to be ripped off. Tsk! Travel time from Balingoan Port to Lim Ket Kai Center is 2hours. The van fare was Php 100.

We were supposed to meet someone in that place but due to time constraints, we met with her in a place which is on the way to airport.  There are vans which offer land transfers to the airport. Here is a leaflet that they gave us with their scheduled trips.

Instead of riding vans which cost Php200/head, we talked to a taxi driver and hired him for our trip to the airport for Php600. He agreed to our offer and he also brought us to Panagatan where we had a brief stop over for a lunch meal.

The prices of the meals at Panagatan was just right. The food was also pretty tasty especially the Ginataang Gulay.

After eating, we went back to the taxi driver and off we went to the airport. Our ride to the airport felt like we were in a drag race. The driver drove so fast so that he will be able to reach the airport in time for the passengers coming from Manila. These passengers can hire him going back to the city proper of CDO so in that way, he earns money going back and forth the airport rather than just bringing us there and going home with no passengers. But I've never seen anyone drive like that, it was really, really fast. In less than 30 minutes, we were already at the airport. We checked in and then paid the Php200 terminal fee and just waited for our flight.

While aboard the plane, we passed by Mt. Kanlaon.

We also saw Taal Volcano, the lake within the lake.

All in all we had a great time in Camiguin.


Here's a summary of how we did it: