White Island
You gotta have a selfie here 😉
June 5-7, 2015
After a few months of waiting, our trip to CDO-Camiguin-(Bukidnon) finally happened. Even before our flight, there were so many negative things that happened that I was no longer surprised that we also experienced other unfortunate events during the trip – companions backed out, cancelled flights, over baggage, long travel and missed schedules. Well at least we learned from them and had fun – we enjoyed the places that we visited; we got to travel by air, water and land in the same day; we saw old friends; we ate amazing dishes; and most importantly we bonded a lot. Philippines is truly a gem. 🙂
Port going to Camiguin
The first stop of our Camiguin tour was the White Island. And as the name says, it is just a strip of white sand island with no trees. Good thing there are some mini stands selling food for those staying for a while. It is near the main island – around 10 minutes by boat so people can easily go there anytime. There are Kuyas renting colorful umbrellas and mats for those who want to lay near the water but doesn’t want to absorb the heat from the sun and get sand on their whole body. I really enjoyed swimming at the place and just enjoying the bare and vast white sand.
On our way to White Island
Strip of white sand
Enjoying the calm water
Our next stop was the cliff overlooking the ocean. The green mountain with the blue water on the backdrop is like a beautiful painting. We cannot stop taking photos of them.
Friends 🙂
Mountainside
Overlooking
After a short side trip, we went to the Walkway to the Old Volcano and the Stations of the Cross. The climb was high and we were not really in the mood to do some climbing so we skipped that part and went on to our next destination. The place narrates the Station of the Cross while going your way near the peak of the old volcano. It could have been a nice exercise but we were not ready that time. 🙂
Walkway
Station of the Cross
We also went to the famous Sunken Cemetery. To tell you the truth, this is the first place that comes to mind whenever I hear the province of Camiguin. It is also quite popular for people who enjoy diving and would like to see the cemetery under.
By the Sunken Cemetery
Sunken Cemetery
Then we also visited the Old Church Ruins. What we saw were the wall remains of the church. The ceiling is completely open to the sky. It reminded us of the castles in Game of Thrones. It is a nice place with beautiful scenery outside.
Old Church Ruins
Guiob Church Ruins
Reminiscent of GOT
One of the ruins of the old church
We also went to the Cold Spring which for me looked like one of those pools in Pansol only that the water here is really cold. We also had our lunch here with made-to-order local dishes. One thing that we noticed while eating was that most of the dishes have bell pepper – even the sinigang and adobo.
Then we continued with the tour and went to the Tuasan Falls. It is really enchanting to visit a falls and I found the sound of the water very calming. We enjoyed our stay there just siting by the water, facing the falls, and talking to each other.
Tuasan Falls
Kids enjoying the falls
Chilling by the falls
After the falls, we went to another spring – Soda Spring. I really don’t know why it is a soda spring because it looked the same as the first spring that we visited. We just went in, looked at the place and went out. There were many people enjoying the pools that day.
Then we went to our final stop which was the Ardent Hot Spring. It was really relaxing staying in the warm pools. It calmed my sore muscles and removed the stress from my body. We soaked in until we felt relaxed and recharged. Then we savored our merienda from the stores outside selling grilled banana, corn and local longganisa. They were so delicious.
Ardent Hot Spring
The tour was tiring so we decided to go back to our room to take a bath and get some rest. Then by dinner time, we went out and head to La Dolce Vita which is a relatively new Italian restaurant in Camiguin serving authentic Italian food. How did we know? Well, the chef is Italian. Guests can see him preparing the pizzas by scratch by the counter using brick oven. The pizza was really delicious.
Authentic Italian Pizza
La Dolce Vita
Our stay in Camiguin was really fun. We woke up early the following day to go back to CDO and do the rest of our plans. Camiguin is a humble little island in Mindanao but it offered a lot of activities for locals and tourists a like. The local delicacies were great, the people were very nice and the places to visit were so beautiful and exciting. I would love to visit this island again and probably spend a lot of time at the White Island. I love the simplicity and serenity of the place. Come again, Camiguin! 😉
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