SUMMARY: Camiguin

To make travel-opolis; city of travel more helpful for readers, my friend Jamie have recently thought about having a sort of point-by-point summary of each place I've been to. Like providing a list of must-see's, notes, and other important stuff to remember in order to guide you further. We'll start with Camiguin today but I will prepare follow-up articles in Palawan and Cebu as well, hopefully after I finish my Northern Mindanao related entries.

PLACES YOU SHOULDN'T MISS!

1. Katibawasan Falls
2. Walkway to Old Vulcan
3. Sto Nino Cold Spring
4. Sunken Cemetery
5. Ardent Hot Spring
6. White Sandbar
7. Mantigue Island
8. Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery

TIPS-slash-NOTES:

• When riding a ferry from Balingoan Port to Benoni Port and vice versa, be there an hour before your targeted schedule of trip.
• For customized and hassle-free accommodation and tour, you can contact Paguia's 0917-5446311 or 0917-5391622.
• There are a lot of inexpensive eateries around Camiguin, you can eat with only P50 in your wallet.
• Not sure if there were ATMs available so it's better if you withdraw prior to prevent being short.
• Bring your swimwear with you in Katibawasan Falls, there's a big chance you'd want to take a dip!
• Make sure to bring your own or rented snorkel gear for the island hopping since it would be expensive to rent from the area itself.
• Don't miss out on the chance (like me!) to see the underwater life in Mantigue Island and Kibila Conservation and Ocean Nursery.
• Bring your positive self and keep the good vibes coming. It's a gorgeous place to fill in with negativity!

If you have other tips, feel free to write it on the comment box below! Do you have more places in mind that we might have missed out and suggestions that we'd also learn from? :)

Love,

Faye

Discovering the Islands of Camiguin

A cab-bus-ferry ride away from Cagayan de Oro is Camiguin which I have mentioned in my previous entry as one of the heavenliest destinations there is in the Philippines. It is also next to Batanes as the second-smallest province in the country both in population and land area. It only has a total of 81,293 inhabitants and the province consists primarily of Camiguin Island and two surrounding minor islets which you will know about as this entry goes on. Every October, they have a week-long festival for the fruit that they are most known for, lanzones. Actually, the festival was just about to happen in a week when we went there! Too bad we missed it! Yay that's another reason to come back! lol

Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I tell you our second day in one of my most favorite travel destinations (from the ones I had so far!) - Camiguin.

We woke up at around 6am for our island hopping tour scheduled that day. If you have read my previous entry, you will know that we have availed a customized tour from Paguia's Cottages Camiguin and what we did was we dedicated our whole second day discovering the islands and beaches. A whole day is not enough as I think about it now but because of the limited vacation leave... It's best if we take it from there lol

Since the White Island Sandbar is just a 15-minute boat ride away from our accommodation, that was our first destination. I knew it was gonna be good since the first time I saw it on a travel blog but I didn't expect it was that GOOD. Oh boy, it's a beauty. You can stay there the whole day just looking at the stunning Mt. Hibok Hibok and Mt. Vulcan as it matches coherently with the white sand and the contrasting light and dark colors of the sea.

5 minutes walk away from our cottages is our drop-off point :D

Such a sight even from afar!

Mt Hibok Hibok and Mt Vulcan facing the sandbar

Since it can be really hot in the area esp during summer, a few kuyas from the baranggay who monitors the sandbar also provides colorful umbrellas (fourth picture) and tarp-like banigs to lie on (in case you forgot to bring a scarf or a malong with you!) for rental. The umbrellas are worth a hundred peso and the banigs are for P200. Both of it is pretty big because the four of us fit in there considering the three of us were big boned lol

If you also look closely in the fourth photo, behind the kuyas is another small sandbar. You can swim to go there but make sure you bring a life jacket if you don't know how, you might panic if you happen to pass thru a few deep parts. If you get bored (which will be unlikely haha), you can also try snorkeling on the other side of the sandbar, read a book while you wait for sunset, schedule a diving trip with your friends (YES, there is a diving site near the sandbar), or you can make yourself full with the sea urchins that the locals from the baranggay are also selling apart from the umbrella rentals!

We went back to Paguia's at around 10am to get our things and wait for our service, since we'd have to travel by road to get to our next entry point to Mantigue Island. It's a good 20 to 30 minutes multicab ride then another 30 minutes ride via small outrigger boat.

Even from afar, you can already see the trees and gorgeous white sand surrounding Mantigue. They have a marine sanctuary on the right side facing the island but before you go there, you'd have to register inside and pay for the entrance fee (P50) and the unlimited snorkeling fee of P100. Make sure to bring your own snorkel gear or rent from your chosen accommodation since it's pretty expensive in the area (P150). 

We were supposed to have snorkeling first then go back inside to eat our lunch but since we had a bit of miscommunication with our boatmen we ended up going back to our entry point after snorkeling! lol but it was a satisfying 45 minutes stay nonetheless. By this time I have already learned how to swim but upon seeing how dark the water were to get to the snorkeling area, I opted to stay beside the boat and look at the few fishes and sea urchins while my friends went to see the giant clams and more.

Since the miscommunication happened, we went back earlier than expected at our previous entry point but we figured it was just right since we had to catch the latest scheduled ferry back to Balingoan Port at 4pm. 

Shortly after our service arrived from lunch we went to the opposite side of the island for the Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery which was our last destination in Camiguin. It is an area where they cultivate different species of clams and they had this ocean nursery where you can check out the clams from the smallest to the biggest! It's worth P200 but my friends (Eds and Mar) since they're the only ones who tried it said it was definitely worth it we should've come! The pictures were in Jamie's waterproof camera so unfortunately I won't be able to share it with you but make sure you don't miss out on this as well when you visit Camiguin!

Aside from that, they also served us delicious food from lunch which you can buy from one of the houses nearby. The hut is worth P50, entrance fee is P25, and the food that we ordered amounted to a total of almost P1,000 I think. I was too hungry I forgot to take pictures but it was really good! If you don't feel like checking out the clams, you can also dip in the clear waters while you wait for your food.

We hurriedly went to Benoni Port after eating lunch. Jamie and I were able to take a shower but we left our clothes in the service and was too lazy to go back for it so we changed our clothes on the way to the port instead! Hmm hmm yes! On the way there! lol that's some traveling skills we've proudly acquired haha and since the ferry for 3pm was delayed for an hour we had the cutest blessing in disguise! Mind you, it was priceless!

It was one of the sweetest moments of our trip. I loved how the colors went from bright, to yellow, to purple-ish pink. We were all in awe of the magnificent view in front of us. We took countless pictures. It was really beautiful.

We got back in Balingoan Port at around 5 or 6 in the evening. Apparently it was difficult to get a bus back to the city proper since it's not really the terminal so we waited for about 45 minutes to be able to finally ride one! And that's not even a smooth process haha you'd have to push and shove! Oh for the love of traveling.

Since we can't move on yet from our extra rice disappointment, we agreed to eat at Jollibee for dinner! All I can say is, after that dinner I loved my friends more for being themselves. PERIOD. Upon arriving at our hotel Rich Manor Pension House, they had made an incorrect booking so we had to wait for a while before they find another room that can accommodate us. We were supposed to be in just one room but we ended up in two different rooms. It was still a good experience though! I loved how the room was clean and the bed was soft and how everything is within a short distance. Our oldies vibe sunk in as soon as we arrived so we all opted to sleep already.

Overall, Day 2 was a beautiful experience as Camiguin! Couldn't wait to share our third day with you guys! Meanwhile, here is our sample itinerary and expenses list.

DAY 2: SAMPLE ITINERARY

• 06:00am - Freshen up/prepare things/breakfast
• 07:00am - Go to White Island Sandbar to swim, snorkel, and chill
• 09:30am - Go back to Paguia's; service on the way to the entry point for Mantigue Island
• 10:00am - Arrival at the entry point; leave for Mantigue
• 10:30am - ETA at Mantigue Island
• 10:30am to 11:30 - Snorkel at the marine sanctuary; buy food for lunch
• 12:30pm - Lunch
• 1:00pm - Depart from Mantigue Island
• 1:45pm - ETA at Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery
• 1:45pm to 2:45pm - Snorkel and swim
• 2:45pm - Wash up
• 3:00pm - Departure from Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery
• 3:15pm - ETA at Benoni Port; buy tickets and pasalubong
• 4:00pm - Departure from Benoni
• 5:00pm - Arrival at Balingoan Port; ride bus going to city proper
• 8:30pm - ETA at Agora Market and dinner
• 9:30pm - Go to hotel/socials/beer night

DAY 2: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is in our case 4)

• Island Hopping Tour from Paguia's Cottages (includes boat and multicab transfers, environmental fees, and the other fees except entrance fee to Mantigue Island, snorkeling fee, and hut rentals, accommodation w breakfast) - P1,350
• Umbrella and banig rental from White Island Sandbar - P75
• Entrance fee and snorkeling fee at Mantigue Island - P150
• Lunch at Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery - P250
• Snorkeling with the clams - P200
• Hut and entrance fee - P37.50
• Ferry from Benoni Port to Balingoan - P130
• Bus from Balingoan to Agora Market (air-conditioned) - P130
• Dinner - P150
• Cab to Rich Manor Pension House - P50
• Accommodation (1 night) - 350

TOTAL: 2,872.50/PERSON

Again, these are only rough estimates and this is purely based on how I budget my money when traveling (notice the allotted money for lunch and dinner lol) so you can still minimize this or maximize according to how you prefer.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

Awe-filling Northern Mindanao

The "City of Golden Friendship" as it is described by many. Home of the friendliest locals, who without a doubt embodies their city's brand. Cagayan de Oro is one of the provinces of Misamis Oriental in Mindanao and it is one of the highly urbanized cities there is located down the archipelago. It serves as a regional center and business hubs for Northern Mindanao. The place is most famous for their whitewater rafting as well as kayaking adventures along the Cagayan de Oro river. Apart from this, it can also be a gateway to one of the heavenliest places there is in the Philippines - Camiguin! Goodness cow, these two places when combined can give you a hell of a good time! It's surely one of my trips to remember!

Good news is I have planned this with my friends beforehand! Which means... there will be an itinerary waiting for you at the end of this lol and a budget! I hate to call it budget since I'm not a heavy budget person but it is what it is. Or maybe I should call it out-of-the-ordinary expenses list. Hmm hmm, let's see! 

I have also decided that to shorten my entries (ahem* since most of my readers are working or studying) I will be blogging about places one day at a time! Should I explain this further? Day 1, Day 2, etc, etc... Going back! We arrived at Laguindingan International Airport at around 6 or past six in the morning. Yes because we took the earliest flight at around 4:40 or 5am, I think. It's a breeze when you arrive earlier honestly, since you have the luxury to walk in pace, especially if you were like us who dedicated half of their day on the way to an island 5 hours away from the airport. You might be thinking right now 'WHY THE HECK DID SHE SPEND HER TIME DESCRIBING CAGAYAN DE ORO WHEN SHE ACTUALLY WENT TO CAMIGUIN FIRST' lol pretty much because it's were we landed! Hashtag writer problems, sorry

Anyway, so we rode a cab to Agora Market where the bus going to Balingoan were all located. Travel time takes approximately an hour, rate ranges from P180-P200. From there, you ride a bus going to Balingoan Port (P130). Be sure to pick a comfy place for you to sit on since it'll take more than 2 hours - almost 3 if I remember it correctly. From the drop-off point of the bus, you can either walk going to the terminal which will take about 5-10 minutes or take a tric (like all of us lazy people) for P10 per person. From there you'll see a ferry which leaves every hour, earliest from Balingoan Port (CDO) to Benoni Port (Camiguin) is at 4:30am and the latest is at 2:45pm and fare is at P130/person. IMPORTANT REMINDER: Be there an hour before - you'd be asked to pay some stuff and have your baggage checked so no last minute wrap ups! Ferry ride takes an hour even if you can already see Camiguin from a distance lol something I would never understand.

We have made prior arrangements with Paguia's Cottages Camiguin for the tours. One reason we picked them is because you can customize the whole thing from deciding what will be the places for day 1/day 2 and they have affordable rates, a decent place to stay in, and your private multicab with the most upbeat songs! We basically forgot about our phones and just went through their music lol

See? Camiguin from a distance!

© Marianne Matic

Shall we begin with Day 1? After that long and tiring introduction lol we started off with lunch before we head on to our first destination which is Katibawasan Falls. Just a little bit of segway, food is cheap in Camiguin you can actually eat with P50 on your wallet depending on how #baboy you are. In my case, I prefer it within the P100 range.

Katibawasan Falls

The falls, even in its simplest form, is a sight. The green trees surrounding the cold water, the sound of the birds that go perfect with your ears, and the serenity that would make you want to stay for hours either swimming or just sitting there thinking nothing more than how some places can be this amazing - no matter how simple and plain it is. Too bad, we left our swimsuits inside our bags but we had a dip if that changes anything lol

Shortly after Katibawasan, we headed to Sto. Nino Cold Spring. But we made a quick stop as we passed by the landmark of Camiguin's Old Volcano. You'll know why when you finally get there! The view is gorgeous, as usual. I bet it's a natural thing for Camiguin having all these gorgeous places.

Camiguin's Old Volcano

The way the sun beams and reflects on the water is such a magnificent view. I actually like how Camiguin is surrounded everywhere with water. There's a sea on the side for every road you pass on. It glistens along with the radiating sun. Ugh I love this place I can be here for weeks!

Anyhow going back... So we went to Sto. Nino Cold Spring which is by the way as natural as the beauty of Camiguin. Everything here is effortless and pretty natural lol it's a great place to relax and chill from the long day that you just had. Pair it up with a buko juice and you're good to go!

Sto Nino Cold Spring

After our relaxing swim at the cold spring, we hurriedly proceeded to the Sunken Cemetery before Mr. Sun totally says goodbye. I don't know why but the huge marker cross on its own is already a sight to see. We weren't able to ride the small paddle boats anymore to go to the cross but we surely had magnificent pictures stored in our minds. I am in awe of how Camiguin was built into this really amazing location with nothing but breathtaking scenery.

Sunken Cemetery

We spent around 5-10 minutes just looking at the view and taking pictures. After that, we passed by at the restaurant where we'll have dinner before going to another relaxing swim at Ardent Hot Spring. The first step we had at the water, it was so relaxing we forgot to take pictures lol missed on the food for dinner too! But we ordered mostly grilled stuff like chicken and pork, it's actually good. However, the one thing that disappointed us the most is when we asked for another cup of rice their reply surprised us with rage. "Naubusan po kami ng kanin" and we were all like WHO DOES THAT? SERIOUSLY! lol you don't mess with hungry people in all ways more than one. We waited for a good 30 minutes because they said they would try to look for rice but ended up cancelling the order since they obviously didn't address the problem at all.

Anyway, we had beer night to cap off our first day! That is to celebrate on how amazing the place is ..and to lament on how the eatery we'd gone for dinner didn't have an extra serving of rice lol

DAY 1: ITINERARY

• 06:45am - Arrival at Laguindingan International Airport
• 07:45am - Agora Market - board the bus going to Balingoan Port
• 07:45am to 08:30am - Waiting time for bus to board passengers
• 08:30am - Departure from Agora Market Bus Terminal
• 11:30am - ETA Balingoan Port - ride ferry going to Benoni Port
• 12:30pm - ETA at Benoni Port
• 12:30pm to 1:30pm - Lunch
• 1:30pm to 8:00pm - Camiguin Tour: Katibawasan Falls, Sto Nino Cold Spring, Old Volcano, Sunken Cemetery, Ardent Hot Spring
• 08:30pm - Dinner
• 09:00pm - Socials/Beer Night

DAY 1: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is on our case, 4)

• Cab from Laguindingan International Airport to Camiguin - P50
• Bus from Agora Market to Balingoan Port - P130
• Ferry from Balingoan Port to Camiguin - P130
• Half Day Tour from Paguia's Cottages (an estimate only since we had a customized tour on our whole stay; includes a multicab rental, going around the city and entrance fees that you'd have to pay) - P600
• Lunch - P100
• Dinner - P100
• Beer for socials (2 bottles) - P60
• Accommodation (1 night) - P375

TOTAL: 1,545/PERSON

I repeat these are rough estimates and based on how I budget my money when traveling which is not high maintenance but not strict either. If you're just like me, this is good to go.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

And I'm back!

I am very sorry for not updating my blog for the past 4 weeks as my laptop went through a hell of a time but I'm back now with a new posting device which is apparently my phone! But it's a long story so... we better change the topic.

Anyway, this will be more of a warm up since I don't think I already have the right words for my next entry yet which will be about Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin. It's a really great place to write about so it better be close to perfect! Some of the readers were asking for a few changes on the posts, say including a budget or providing them with a sample itinerary, which of course I will be glad to write about. The previous trips were all non-itinerary based aka more of yolo decisions which my friends and I are very good about (Cebu) and some of it I'm with my Mom and friends so I pretty much go by as to what they deem fit (Anawangin and Palawan). I should prolly sort my trips to those categories - yolo, planned, and hmm... oldies? Lol but kidding aside, don't you worry, I'll have the entries sort out nice and quick so you'll get to browse easier and will provide more of itineraries and budget estimates! You should know prior though that I'm not exactly the super 'backpacker' type but not one of a high maintenance traveler too. Somewhere in the middle should be great!

Here are a few eye candy pictures from CDO and Camiguin to keep you company while I prepare my next entry.

Katibawasan Falls

Sto. Nino Cold Spring

Sunken Cemetery

White Sandbar

Mantigue Island

Camiguin: View from the ferry

White Water Rafting

Pineapple Fields, Bukidnon

Cagayan de Oro City

It's a gorgeous place and the locals are one of the friendliest I've met! Will get back to you once I have redeemed (?) my words.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye