As I was going through my Camiguin blog series, a lot of thoughts were running through my head, and one of the most persistent was the idea of whether I could ever really come back. Because I know I (well, we) kinda resolved to climb Mt. Hibok-Hibok “next time”. But you know how Pinoys are (or humans, in general) when it comes to “next time”. Will I ever get to climb it, or will she be one of those “that got away”?
The nearby Cagayan de Oro City has become a favorite venue for various conferences and seminars for the agency and profession I belong to, and since I can remember, Camiguin has always been mentioned as a “side trip”. Like, you should devote one day for a tour of Camiguin.
After this trip, I definitely think that a day is not nearly enough to explore this beautiful island province.
But for someone like me, who is from the northern part of the Philippines, getting to Camiguin is not easy.
It took us almost a day…
We left Baguio City at midnight on a bus (5-6 hours), boarded an early morning flight to Cagayan de Oro’s Laguindingan Airport (1h 30min). Then, from there, we boarded a van to the Agora Bus Terminal (1 hr, no thanks to traffic). We practically had to beg the van driver to give us at least 30 minutes as we grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby fastfood. (Fastfood has never been consumed this fast!!)
(Tip #1: Make sure to have some snacks with you. We didn’t have any, which is why we were close to trembling out of hunger, since we didn’t have breakfast, and it was already lunchtime.)
And then we took the 3-hour ride from Agora Bus Terminal to the Balingoan Port.
Just in time to catch the 3:30pm trip of the ferry from the Balingoan Port to the Benoni Port. Travel time from port to port is 1 hour.
(Tip #2: If you cannot get a direct flight to Camiguin, using Bancasi Airport in Butuan as your point of entry is definitely a better idea. Unfortunately, when we booked the trip, Camiguin was not yet in our itinerary. So… yeah.)
While we were aboard the ferry, we marveled at how, in a span of less than 24 hours, we have tried the three major types of transport: on land, by air, and over water. XDD
We have already coordinated with our hosts about our arrival times, so the whole time we were travelling from Cagayan de Oro, we were sending updates via SNS. So when we arrived at the Benoni Port in Camiguin, there was a multicab waiting for us to take us to our accommodations.
By this time, it was already 5pm.
We were already exhausted. And it’ll take at least another hour from the port to where we are going to stay.
(Tip #3: Ask for assistance from your hotel or guesthouse, or the hosts if you’ve booked via Airbnb. It’s definitely a plus if they are very accessible or can be contacted directly.)
It was already dark when we arrived at Pabua’s Cottages, our home for the our two days and three nights in Camiguin. Check out their website here. Also, check out a discount opportunity at the end of this post if you book with them through my link.
If you’re looking for accommodations in Camiguin, no doubt you’d find recs for places like Paras Beach Resort. But if you’re on a tight budget like us, then you’d look for somewhere cheaper. Guess what. Pabua’s Cottages provides great value for your money… and it’s practically behind Paras Beach Resort. So the location is pretty much the same.
Our hosts were very nice and accommodating, providing hearty breakfasts and listening to our requests. They were also helpful in arranging our tours and making suggestions on alternatives when the storm pretty much binned our Mt. Hibok-Hibok climb.
Speaking of which….
(Tip #4: Ask for the assistance of your hosts (or hotel) when it comes to tour options. Chances are, they have cheaper options for you. Our host introduced us to the multicab driver that took care of us for our one-day tour the next day.)
If you haven’t read my previous posts on the places we have visited on our two days in Camiguin, then here’s a rundown.
- The White Island Sandbar
- Walkway to the Old Volcano
- Tuasan Falls
- Sto. Nino Cold Springs
- The Old Spanish Church Ruins
- The Sunken Cemetery
- The Katibawasan Falls
- The Taguines Lagoon
So what about shopping?
Unfortunately, shopping was low on our list of things to do, so we didn’t put any effort into finding out where to shop, or what to shop for. But after our wet and not so wild adventure at the Taguines Lagoon, we headed back to Mambajao and dropped by for a while at the Vjandep store.
And yes, when we talk of pasalubong from Camiguin, it has got to be Vjandep Pastel.
After an inquiry with a couple of locals, we took a multicab and dropped by a pasalubong center, where we bought a few trinkets to bring for friends and family back home.
And did some fooling around as well.
This will always be in my memory as the day that I walked straight into a glass door. Because WHY NOT? Heck, that’s a compliment to the store keepers, because the glass was just so darn clean!!!
What about places to eat?
Where we stayed at, in the Yumbing area of Mambajao, there were several restaurants and bars that you can choose from. We had breakfasts back at Pabua’s Cottages. Had lunch on the first day at the Sto. Nino Cold Springs. So dinners were fair game.
> Checkpoint
Our first night, we walked beneath a slow downpour from Pabua’s to Checkpoint, which seems to be one of the more popular dining places in the area.
Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Lighting sucked. My phone camera equally sucked at night shots. And I didn’t bother taking photos with my other camera.
Their offerings were typical Filipino dishes, lutong-bahay style. The clientele ranged from local and domestic tourists to families and group of friends that are obviously local.
> Luna Ristoranti
The next night, we walked further down the road to Luna Ristoranti, which is supposedly famous for their brick-oven pizzas.
It was decent, but after having had better pizzas (brick-oven pizzas, if I may add) back home, it was not all that spectacular. It was filling, though. And we weren’t really all that hungry; otherwise we could have tried their other pizza and pasta dishes.
I mean, this place is quite well-known, and highly recommended, after all.
> J&A Fishpen Restaurant
And, of course, there’s the restaurant in a fishpen. I definitely enjoyed this meal. Simple dishes, but the ingredients (seafood!!!) were fresh, which is a given, since it’s practically on a fishpen!
Dine while enjoying a view of the Taguines Lagoon. Or, you can even do some fishing on the fishpens! I’m pretty sure you can have your catch be the main ingredients for your meal.
Camiguin is definitely a place that you should visit, since it has sooo much more to offer than the ones I presented here. If I were to have the opportunity to go back, I’d definitely finish that hike to the top of the Walkway To The Old Volcano. Maybe get on a boat to get a closer look at the Sunken Cemetery.
Climb (finally!) Mt. Hibok-Hibok. Yep. That’s number one on the list.
On our third night, we made arrangements with our host, who referred us to another driver. The storm signal has not yet lifted, and that means ferry trips are not yet allowed. But we took our chances. So we packed, got ready to get up and leave at a moment’s notice, then went to sleep.
At around 2am, we got a message from the van driver, saying trips are allowed, but we have to be real early. We woke up, threw some water on our faces, picked up our bags, and got on the packed van that took us to Benoni Port. An hour later, we were on board the ferry back to the mainland.
With this sunrise view wrapping up our Camiguin adventures.
Now, the juicy part! Want some discount on your hotel booking?
If you book at Pabua’s Cottages, or ANY hotel, guesthouse, inn, or bread and breakfast ANYWHERE using my link over at Booking.com, you can get a 15% discount on your next booking after your stay. Sounds good? Then make your booking by clicking this link right now!
Next posts will be about more waterfalls when we went back to the mainland. See you then!
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