16/04/2021
Exploring Camiguin White Island and Ardent Hot Spring: Camiguin is situated in region 10 the Nothern part of Mindanao. It is known as volcanic island " Born of fire" because of the presence of 7 volcanoes found in the area. Due to volcanic eruptions and land movements it has created a spectacular natural wonders and historal places like the Old Ruins of San Roque Church, Convent and Belfry of Bonbon, Catarman, the sunken cemetery, old volcano slope known as Via Cruzes, old centennial houses and a lot more.
This island is also rich in natural resources like hot and cold natural springs, majestic waterfalls, patches of grey- black and white beaches, blue ridge mountains and exotic marine life. It is also one of the best diving spot in the world. In fact it has been identified as no.7 worlds best diving spots and top 25 tourist destinations in the Philippines by the Department of Tourism.
How to Get There: From Manila take a plane to Cagayan de Oro Airport. From there take a taxi or van to Agora market. Then take a bus bound to Butuan and tell the conductor to drop you at Balingoan Port, this will take almost 2 hrs drive. From Balingoan Port, take a ferry going to Benoni Port, travel time is 1 hr more or less. Once in Benoni Port take van or multicab to your desired destination. The fare for multicab is only 30.00. In our part we take a plane straight to Butuan City my hometown, and we stayed there for one week before we went to Camiguin. From Butuan we had our private van in going to Balingoan Port and it takes 3 hrs drive before we reached the Port. We then rode a ferry going to Benoni Port it took almost 1 hour before we reached the port of Benoni.
Then headed to Mambajao . We looked for a private resort and rented a house for 2 nights and 3 days stay.
A birthday celebration of my niece here in Camiguin. We ordered lechon from one of the locals here, and mind you the whole lechon (more or less 35 kls) cost only 5k a lot cheaper compared to the price of lechon in Manila. And its very tasty, and crunchy. The stunning white island is only 10 minutes ride by boat from our resort. We went there at around 4pm but still the heat of the sun was so intense. This island is uninhabited, no structures and no trees its bare island with only a stretch of white powdery sand, crystal clear water and a backdrop of Mount Hibok hibok and Mount Vulcan. Don't forget to bring hats and sunglasses for safety and of course sunblock. We only stayed there for two hours The sun almost edged down the horizon when our boatman returned to fetch us. While sailing back to our resort I couldn't help but stared back and admire this wonderful island, how I wish I could stay longer here. I will probably be back here in the future.
Day 2 of our stay in Camiguin we headed to one of the marvelous hot spring in town, the Ardent resort. It is situated in Esperanza, Tagdo Mambajao Camiguin. It is a natural hot spring heated by Mt Hibok Hibok, an active volcano here in Camiguin. It has six natural pools with different water temperature up to 40 degrees celsius. You can choose which pool that suits your standards. I tried the warmest pool, it gives soothing and calming effect on me as it relieves my body pains especially back pain, but I didn't stay long in it as it feels really warm. If you wish to stay overnight there are lots of rooms to choose from. There are also picnic huts and tables and family huts for day trip
After three days of stay in this wonderful island, we packed up and bade goodbye to the owner of the resort who had been very accomodating to us.We went to Mambajao market and bought some dried fish and squid and travel back to my hometown (Butuan City). We had a great time here. I cherished every hours and days that we spent in this beautiful island of Camiguin.
