Island born of fire: Travel to Camiguin Island

Last Updated on: 14th June 2019, 09:34 am

I never thought that I would travel here, I mean I only used to read about this wonderful island in magazines and brochures. After our trip here in Camiguin, I realized that as much as I want to travel outside my country, I need to explore the whole Philippines first because it’s really more fun in the Philippines! 🙂

My parents already booked our flight last January and so far, this is our most expensive trip because we also included Cagayan De Oro and Bukidnon in our trip.  We were worried at first to travel because of the commotion happening in Marawi City caused by the Maute group, and the whole Mindanao is under Martial Law. Fortunately, our whole trip went well. Here’s a diary of what happened in our trip to the island born of fire.

May 29, Monday 4:30AM- Departure

• We arrived early at the airport around 2:00 AM and we can already feel the excitement.  It’s been 4 years since I boarded a plane so I really enjoyed our 1 hour flight. I even got a glimpse of the wonderful sunrise.

  

  

  

We arrived at the Laguindingan Airport around 6 in the morning and we took a van to get us to Agoda Terminal. The travel is almost 1 hour and after arriving at the terminal, we boarded a bus to take us to Balingoan Port. The bus travel is almost 2 hours and we took a heavy breakfast in a restaurant just beside the port. Travelling can make you really hungry!

From Balingoan Port, we took a small ferry boat that will take us to Camiguin. I also realized that we traveled by all means of transportation (plane, van, bus and ship). It’s been years too, since I board a ship, the last time was during our immersion in Mindoro back in 2013.

After an hour or so, we finally arrived at our destination. The travel was worth it.

Our home for 3 days and 2 nights was at Cabuan Beach Resort in Mambajao, Camiguin and the whole resort was ours ! the area was really nice too and view of the ocean is really awesome.

We took a few hour rest first in the resort then we had a hearty lunch in a Chinese restaurant. A BUFFET restaurant for only 200 Php! (5 dollars) Travelling and Eating is my perfect combination, to be honest. 🙂

During our travel to the next destination, we had some picture taking to some popular destinations in Camiguin.

We headed to Tuasan Falls after and had a refreshing swim. This falls is one of the best I’ve been too, honestly.

Our next stop: Sto Nino Cold Spring Resort. My mom and my brother had enough of cold springs so its just me, my sister and papa who enjoyed the fresh water pool.

Our last spring for today: Ardent Hot Springs. Actually, i thought the temperature would be the same as Maquinit Hot Springs in Coron, Palawan but no. The water is only a bit warm and i think that’s why there are many people bathing in the resort. Still, we enjoyed it!

• May 30- Tuesday

We woke up at 4AM to view the sunrise in the highlight destination of our trip- the famous White Island! Just a 15-20 minute boat travel, the white island is a huge patch of white sand in the middle of nowhere. My father called it as the ” almost island” because we thought that it was supposed to be an island but never materialized. Nonetheless, the view was spectacular.

Everything has been just picture worthy- the fine white sand, the view of the mountains and the deep blue ocean. Nature is indeed magical.

Up next is Mantigue Island, which is a spot for snorkeling. The view is great, however, because of the strong current we didn’t get to snorkel that much.

After Mantigue, we had lunch first, then proceeded to our next destination: The Giant Clams Sanctuary in Guinsiliban, Camiguin. The entrance fee is 25 Php and to view the natural habitat (which is a snorkeling tour), you will have to pay 150 Php. They also included an educational tour of the giant clams in a man made pool sanctuary, which we thought at first to be the “main tour”. LOL. I really enjoyed our snorkeling tour and its my first time to see giant clams and the small ones. Sadly, our underwater camera has run out of battery so no pictures of our snorkeling trip. 🙁

We headed to our last destination which is at Katibwasan Falls. This is much taller than Tuasan Falls, however the place is quite the same: very relaxing and the view is really awesome.

• May 31- Wednesday – Last day. 🙁

I’m really glad that despite the popularity of the place among tourists, Camiguin has retained its natural beauty and I hope that it would stay the same way for a very long time.

Planning to return here in the next 3 or 4 years. Till next time Camiguin!