Camotes, situated right at the very center of the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines, is an island filled with adventures just waiting to be experienced. I'm going to share with you my fun-filled two-day escapade to the island that cost me around USD40 only.
CAVES
I highly recommend that when you go to Camotes, you must visit its caves. There are a lot of them scattered around the island and some are small and easy to enter, others have underground pools, one is very spacious, and there are even caves closed to the public because you need an experienced guide to help you descend through it.
I was able to visit some of the caves and they were quite easy to enter and descend.
ADVENTURES
I went to Camotes with a friend to shake the blues away. We wanted to spend our weekend just to have fun and relax because both of us were going through some stuff. We didn't really plan for our trip. We only took note of the schedules of the boats that would take us to and from the island. I also booked us a really cheap accommodation (~USD16) that was located right in the very middle of the island.
We decided to just get a local guide and bring us around the island and that was exactly what happened. We moved from one adventure to another without really expecting anything.
When we arrived at the lake, I noticed there were very few tourists around. I immediately wanted to ride a kayak and go around the lake. But I also saw there were newly constructed parts of the lake. There was a zip line towards the other side of the lake! I've never tried going on a zip line before and I was giddy with excitement and fear.
My friend went in first and that immediately helped with my confidence. If my friend could do it, so could I, right? But when the harnesses were being attached, I suddenly felt the need for someone to cheer me on. What if I fall into the water? Good thing the guys preparing me for the zip line looked really calm and composed.
And zipped I went! It was very different than what I thought it would be. I thought I was going to go really fast and just feel the wind on my face. But no, I was actually slow. And that gave me time to savor the view while traveling through the zip line.
I was calm. But as I neared the other side of the lake, my fear came back. The instructions that the guys at the platform gave me were to keep my head to the side or I'll bang my face against the harness when reaching the other side. But I landed safely.
We took a boat to get back to the other side and I was getting really pumped about getting a kayak. When we got back to the other side, my friend and I each got a kayak and returned to the water immediately.
It was a bright and sunny day and I left my sunglasses in my bag. I remember squinting through the brightness as I paddled through the lake. I didn't want to tire out my arms so I just let the lake take me to where it wanted to take me. I just relaxed on the boat and enjoyed the view. We paddled for a while towards the west side of the lake. We were the only ones on the lake! Eventually, we had to go back near the jetty because the person-in-charge told us not to go out of his sight.
I knew I was going to get sunburnt but it was worth it. I would have stayed longer on the lake if we didn't have other places to go to.
TULANG DIOT (SMALL ISLAND)
We had to leave Lake Danao for our next destination. It was Tulang Diot, a small island located on the northwest of Camotes. We had to take a small boat to get there but it was very near. As we approached the island, I thought that if I was a skilled swimmer, I could probably just swim my way towards it.
When we reached the island, I was captivated! The sand was so white and the beach waters were crystal clear. After finding a good spot to put our things, my friend and I immediately took to the waters.
After spending a good deal of time swimming around, we went back to the beach and looked for a store that sold beer. We were able to get a bottle at a quite expensive price but it was understandable because the island was far from the main distributors.
We sat under the shade of a tree and just enjoyed our beer with the view of the beach and the music from the speakers I brought with me. It was what we came for in Camotes—to relax on the beach and simmer our thoughts in alcohol in the hopes of healing our aching hearts.
We didn't set any time as to how long we were staying on the island. We wanted to take our time. It was to be the last destination for our first day. We strolled to the other parts of the island and found this rocky area overlooking the beach and the main island of Camotes. We took a lot of pictures before returning to the beach to swim again.
When we felt like we had spent enough time on the island. We decided to head back and check in to the place we were staying for the night. We went to the island's market to buy food. I was really tired that after having dinner, I immediately went to sleep.
BUSAY FALLS
The next day, our guide took us to Busay Falls on the eastern part of the island. The word 'busay' actually means waterfalls in Cebuano, so there are several other waterfalls and places in the country with the same name. To get to the falls, we had to trek for some time. It felt good to be surrounded by trees after spending a lot of time inside caves and on the waters.
When I arrived at the destination, I was a bit disappointed. The falls was underwhelming but what caught my eyes was the pool under it. It looked quite deep and inviting. And you can climb up the falls and jump into the water! The adrenaline junkie in me was again giddy with excitement. My friend and I took turns jumping into the cold water.
There were other tourists with us and it was fun seeing other people jump into the water as well. The place was lively and loud because there were kids who were also enjoying their weekend at the falls.
BUHO ROCK CLIFF DIVING
Our next destination was a cliff diving spot called Buho Rock. I've been there before and you only every go there for one reason, cliff diving! Some of the tourists we saw from Busay Falls were also there.
There was a small crowd gathered near the diving board and people were just waiting who would go next. There was another diving board at a higher elevation but I've heard stories about tourists coming up bloody after diving from that height. So I was fine with staying with the crowd.
When it was our turn, I was really nervous. I think the first jump is always the scariest. But after I jumped into the water, adrenaline pumped me up and I immediately wanted to jump again.
Eventually, I got tired from the jumping and the swimming. My friend and I just watched the people dive into the water. Some did stunts like backflips. Some brave souls also tried diving from the higher board. They were OK but it still looked really scary.
SANTIAGO WHITE BEACH
Our adrenaline-high was coming down and it was already lunch time so we had to move on to our next destination. Our last stop was the famous Santiago White Beach in Poro. The water in the beach is really shallow and sadly, it was low tide when we got there. What greeted us was just a wide expanse of sand. We just strolled around the beach while we waited for the tide to return.
The water was still not that high for us to swim so we just enjoyed our last hours on the island by taking pictures. It was getting kind of dark and we had to go the port already to catch the last boat ride home.
CAMOTES SUNSET
When we arrived at the port, the last boat had been full of passengers already. We were told we'd have to wait and see if the shipping lines would offer a special trip. And so we waited. We were able to witness an amazing sunset as we got word that there was going to be a special trip for us.
It was a really nice way to end our trip. The sunset reminded me that there is beauty and peace in endings. And just like how we got another chance to go home, there's always hope in being able to move forward.
And that's it! I hope I was able to shine a good light again on Camotes as it is one of my favorite vacation spots in Cebu. I can't say that I was able to move forward completely from the things I was going through at the time after the trip. But it did help me slow down a bit and realize that I wasn't alone in my struggles.
I know it's been quite some time since I've posted. I've just been really busy with work and school. I kept waiting for a time to sit down and get into a state of flow to finish writing this post. But I realized that I don't have to spend 2 hours of my day to write. I just need to write a few words every day and let the whole article grow to completion.
I planned on posting twice a week since I started. I hope this post will give me the nudge to stay back on track. See you on the next post. Cheers!