Ron Del Rosario

I’ve been away for a while. From Manila that is! My girlfriend invited me about 3 weeks ago to join her family’s October 31 – November 2 vacation to far, far, far Camiguin! The package was riding on a good promo, so we quickly took advantage of the rates and Cebu Pacific airline’s GoLite! Savings! Yehey!

Camiguin is a small island province about 3 hours (2 hours by car and 1 hour by ferry) away from Cagayan De Oro. There are 3 ways to get to Camiguin. The slowest route is by land and sea via the Roll-On/Roll-Off (RORO) and can take 3-4 days or even more depending on your driving and the ferry. Traveling by sea can also take up to 4 days, but all you have to do is sit tight and relax. The fastest and most expensive way is by plane. 1 hour and 30 minutes fast!

I was finally able to step on the newly opened NAIA Terminal 3 (officially opened last August 1, 2008)! Checking in quickly went by and we were all quietly seated by the departure gates.

While strolling through the terminal interior, I saw a Cinnabon shop! Too good to be true! Cinnabon! I quickly told my brain to forget that a Pecanbon costs about P160/piece and bought one with no regrets whatsoever! Yehey!

Departure announced, Engines started, slept for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Lumbia Airport and the Transit to the RORO port

Cagayan De Oro’s Lumbia Airport was surprisingly well-maintained for a domestic airport. It was clean and the facilities were well maintained. Way better than the Bacolod domestic airport! We also got to see some military aircraft parked and helicopters dancing around the airport’s plane parking.

We were met by Dr. Lino Batinga – a family friend of one of our companions and a veterinary doctor who owns the Batinga Veterinary Clinic in Cagayan De Oro city. He was our very generous host who helped us get around in his cool converted Izuzu D-Max! After stopping by Dr Lino’s house for some quick refreshments, we continued our 2 hour drive to the Balingoan RORO port to take us to Camiguin!

RORO Ride and the Fish Pen Gastronomic euphoria

The RORO ride was uneventful but peaceful. The RORO ride took about 2 hours from loading to unloading and the Sun totally roasted my skin! Boo!

We stopped by a nearby fresh seafood restaurant named “Fish Pen” which served, Doh, Fresh seafood! There were so many different fish breeds to choose from that I couldn’t remember even one! The prices were astronomical but it was all worth it! The crabs were huge and the Shrimp Sinigang (sour soup dish stewed with tamarind) was littered with shirmp! The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the Halo-Halo…  It wasn’t sweet at all! The fruits and sweet tubers weren’t sweet, and the milk wasn’t condensed. I guess that’s how the Camiguingnon’s like their Halo-Halo…

After the stomach stuffing, we checked in at the Paras Beach Resort and settled down for some well deserved rest and relaxation. While most of my companions geared up for a night dip at the Paras swimming pool, I just slept the night away. Hahaha!

The tour of Camiguin Island!

After a quick breakfast, we met up with Dr. Batinga again and his D-Max and started our whole day tour of Camiguin Island. The tour started started with us hiking the Via Cruzes slope of the Old Vulcan Daan, complete with Jesus’s 13 Stations of the Cross! I was so out of shape that I had to take several self-imposed rest breaks after each station! And I thought we were only going to swim! Argh!

About 1 hour (and gallons of sweat) later, we all reached the last station depicting Jesus’ Resurrection and some sweet views of the seaside including a scenic view of the Sunken Cemetery.

Our next stop was the Soda Swimming Pool. I don’t know why it’s called that, but maybe it’s sponsored by Coca Cola. They had banners all over the place. We didn’t stay long because the pool wasn’t too interesting and wasn’t fizzy… Hehehe.

Next up was the Katibawasan falls! Now this is interesting! It is one of the lesser waterfall of Camiguin and one of the best sights in the island. Katibawasan falls was one the places I really enjoyed! My companions and I swam in the super cool water and even came close to reaching the falls itself with the help of a rubber tube! Yeboy!

Our last stop for the day was the relaxing Ardent Springs. Sitting on top of Mt. Hibok Hibok, a still active volcano. The spring’s temperature is maintained at 39 degrees Celsius. Soothing! I was not able to take any pictures because I forgot to bring my bag with the camera! Huhuhu!

We stayed for about 1 hour bathing in the springs and headed back to Paras with stomachs grumbling and bodies smashed ready for the air conditioned rooms.

White Beach and return trip disaster!

To get to the White Beach, we took a 10 min boat ride from Paras Beach resort to the White beach sand bar. Demand was high so we set off early, 5:30am early! The White Sand beach was nothing spectacular. White, rocky and full of pebbles and shells. Not a very pleasing beach experience. Still, we took some pictures and enjoyed what the beach had to offer and quickly headed back to Paras.

Back in Paras we gorged yet again in another feeding frenzy! Breakfast Buffet! Yay! Sulit talaga P200 for the breakfast buffet! Hahaha!

10:30 am flew by quickly and we knew we were in trouble! The ferry back to Balingoan Port leaves at exactly 11 am and we still weren’t ready to leave! The ferry back was painfully slow and our drive back to Cagayan De Oro Lumbia Airport was so fast that I couldn’t sleep! Couple that with the thought of not making the 4:45 pm flight back raised everyone’s stress levels.

We arrived at Lumbia airport at exactly 4:15 pm, only to find out the the airplanes engines already started and the the check-in counter closed 30 min. early! NOOOOO!

With everyone spirits down, we resigned to the fact that we won’t be going home that day and readied our wallets for the hefty ticket re-booking costs…

Everyone got a flight back home the next day… Haaaay…

For the experience…