Summer on the island

At last summer is back!

Bright blue skies, a sea breeze, and nature abundantly green and fresh after all those weeks of grey sky, drizzle and night and days of heavy downpours. Climate change is real and not a hoax as some world leaders are saying.

Summer is back, there is no school anymore and Holy Week is just around the corner. And all this is changing life on the island.

Holy week is the start of the vacationing season for the Filipinos. In the week before Easter, Holy Week, everything is different. Banks are closed from Thursday till the Monday after Easter. 

You better prepare your cash because the ATM will be empty and nobody of the bank staff available to refill. Malls and grocery stores are closed on Thursday and Friday also. Even the market has less activity on those two days. Better get your provisions ahead.

You can imagine the face of many, first time foreign tourists….no cash in the ATM, stores closed and your credit cards are of no use.

The ferries from the mainland are overbooked, family cars packed up with people and students with their backpacks are everywhere. Once arriving on the island the trike drivers, jeepneys of all kind are doing a super business bringing all those people to the beach and mountain resorts.

Since two weeks there are extra flights to the island. Normally there is only one a day, now and till end of June Cebu Pacific is flying twice a day a from Friday till Monday to accommodate the tourists whom want to spend a weekend on the island.

What is attracting the visitors? Honestly, I don’t know. If you are not coming to the island for the slow pace of live, the simple live and the quietness you can only be here when you like snorkeling and diving.

You have to know that Camiguin, the island is in fact composed of 7 volcanoes. For me the most attractive spot of the island is the Hibok-Hibok Crater Lake. This really a must visit when you are on the island.

And there is also the Walkway to the old volcano and the Stations of the Cross. Every holy week and especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the devotees, locals of Camiguin, and tourists, are walking up the 8 kilometer path of Stations of the Cross. This activity is being observed as an expression of penitence (and believe me..it is!), and renewal of one’s spirit. One of the other reasons that the Island is full of tourists.

But next to the hikers and the devotees there are also the beach lovers. Beaches on the island are mostly of black sand, except one in Guinsaliban with white sand, being the ‘left-over’ of the multiple volcano eruptions that the island has known during history.

And there are of course the two off-shore spots where the volcano deposits didn’t had an effect. The ‘White Island’, in fact a sand bank, 1 kilometer out of the shore with no vegetation, no structures to hide for the burning sun. Tourist are attracted to this spot, mostly in the early morning (even from 5 am on…) to swim and to enjoy snorkeling.  But once the sun is high, they are all getting back very fast to the island to look for shelter and freshness.

The second ‘off shore spot’, and the one I prefer, is Mantigue island.

Once known as a fishing village, Mantigue Island Nature Park now offers a wonderful experience to locals and tourists who wants enjoy the clear waters and explore the small forest in the island.

Mantigue Island Natural Park is a clean area surrounded by glossy white powdery beaches with coral sand all over the place. The water is crystal clear which makes it easy for people to identify the hard, soft corals and sea weeds covering the island. You can go swimming, snorkeling or diving and there is that green mini-forest with natural grasses, plants and small trees in the middle of the small island.

If you want to visit this fantastic island, just wait till June! 

Everybody will be back to school and to work and the island is so peaceful!