Day One
We flew in on Good Friday, only to find that the usual transportation system was not the usual. The buses weren't running from the city to the port, and no one could tell us for sure if there was a ferry to take us to Camiguin.
I decided to call Karen's mom to ask for more information only to be most pleasantly surprised when she offered to take us to the port! Wilting under the Good Friday sun at the almost already deserted airport after an early flight and no sleep the night before, I never felt more relief in my life.
And so Kar's mom and brother took us to the Port of Balingoan, more than an hour away from the city, where we caught the last ferry leaving for Camiguin Island. We really got lucky that day.
That's how we felt on the ferry anyway.
When we got to the island, we went around different resorts but all were fully booked. Let me tell you, I am not going on another Holy Week vacation without making reservations for accommodations! We had imagined that there would be no one going to Camiguin with everyone else going to Boracay, Puerto Galera, Baguio, etc., but we could not have been more mistaken.
It was almost evening when, tired, cross and hungry, we finally found this small place in promixity of White Island, the main tourist attraction of Camiguin. We probably paid thrice as much as we should have on a normal day, but well, it wasn't a normal day.
We felt lucky again. We're easy to please. :)
Day Two
We woke up quite early for the first item on our agenda: diving. All three of us hadn't gone diving in so long so we were kinda apprehensive. (Or maybe it was just me.)
Without any briefing, off we went in the direction of White Island. I didn't (and still don't) know our instructor's name, nor the dive site we went to. Maybe I should have asked?
Anyway, to cut the story short, I went down so fast the first time, I think I nearly ruptured my eardrums. I tried again but I really couldn't equalize under. I wanted to wait awhile and get my groove on but the instructor seemed quite impatient so I told him to go ahead without me instead.
I was on my way back to the boat when Jay surfaced as well. He said he couldn't find anyone under. I told him what happened to me while we waited for the instructor to come up after him. But the guy didn't show.
Jay and I decided to go down by ourselves. Maybe it wasn't a very wise decision considering we didn't know the area. But why waste the chance to dive again? So down we went, with Jay pulling me along as I wasn't feeling so confident. We circled the area and were lucky enough to see a lion fish, some Nemos and a sea snake. But there really wasn't much to see.
Still, it was good to be under water again. It's good to know I haven't forgotten how to do it. It's just a darn shame that we couldn't find Jay's underwater camera casing! No proof we went diving, haha.
After diving, we asked to be dropped at White Island. My jaw dropped when I saw the place.
It's just this sand bar in the middle of the sea. But my goodness. It's pure white sand surrounded by the loveliest aquamarine waters. Beautiful, beautiful. Despite the holiday crowd, it was for me the prettiest sight I had ever seen.
Hmm. I think I wanna get married there, haha. Okay, if not that, just have a private party there. That would be the nicest, funnest thing ever. (Karen, no need for your Thai island. White Island na!)
We would have wanted to stay longer but the boat came to take us back. We still had the Camiguin Island tour to make. Even though it wasn't recommended, we opted to do it anyway.
The driver took us to see the Sunken Cemetery with the Cross Marker. All we saw was the cross as the tide was high and we didn't want to venture into the water to see the graves. We also stopped by the ruins of the Gui-Ob Church, an old Spanish church that was wiped out by a volcanic eruption. Next stop was the Stations of the Cross. We had to climb the hill to see all fourteen stations, but we only managed to reach the fifth! Haha. Wobbly legs. And unhealthy lungs. We just gave up!
The next site was a refreshing stop. Literally. Doris and Jay took a dip in the cold waters of the Katibawasan Falls but I wasn't brave enough to join them. I was content to watch the water drop from 250 feet up down into the rock pool, warm and dry under my shawl. :)
After that cold stop, we tried the Ardent Hot Spring as well, but it was just too crowded, you couldn't find a place to sit in any of the many pools in the resort. Tough luck for us.
And thus our island tour ended. But not our day. We hied off to Paras Beach Resort to watch the sun go down. And what a lovely sunset it was.
A fiery sunset on the island they say was born of fire. A perfect end to our stay on Camiguin Island.
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