I cannot wait to share with you my recent trip (October 12 - 15) in Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin and Bukidnon. It's the only time I got to see a beach after a year. My last trip (before this) was in February 2012 (Macau) and our itinerary there didn't really include chillin' by the beach. lol.
Our flight to Cagayan de Oro was booked a year ago via promo fare of, none other than, Cebu Pacific (Php1, 000+ / roundtrip)
Originally we're booked for September and in fact there were 5 people confirmed on this trip, but something came up in September and we thought of cancelling the trip already, good thing there had been some flight changes.
Now some people do not actually know this - but any MAJOR flight changes by the airline you can have the trip rebooked without a fee within 30 days from the original flight schedule, but on the same destination, so we had to rebook it in October.
Fast forward to October 12 2012...
Two of our colleagues had to cancel their ticket. Good thing another friend of ours was interested to buy one of the two tickets and come with us despite being there just last year. Thanks Mark!
Our flight was at 4am from Manila, that means we have to be at the airport as early as 2am. The flight was surprisingly on time. We arrived at the City of Golden Friendship - Cagayan de Oro at 5:20am.
Okay, we don't know what we were thinking at that time, but why the heck did we even take a jeepney going to.... I don't know! lol. We found ourselves in a gasoline station and from there we have decided to take a cab to bring us to Macabalan port. The travel time from the airport to the port was like 20-30 minutes.
(L-R from the top): At the CDO Airport, The Paras Beach Resort welcome necklace, My bed at the loft, The family room with loft, Port of Macabalan, View outside our room, Taking picture before take-off, Waiting for boarding with Val and Jaydee and again waiting for boarding with Mark. lol.
We arrived at Macabalan port at 6:00am. When we got there the ticket booth was still closed and since we're starving, we had to look for a place to eat. We saw some diners just across the port. It's not the usual diner we go to back in Manila as most of their food we saw there are new to our eyes and the only thing we recognised was the grilled pork. lol.
By the time we got back to the port the ticket booth has opened and lines were starting to build up. As of writing, there are only two (2) ferry schedules from CDO to Camiguin and vice-versa, (8:30am and 4:00pm) The one way ticket costs Php600 /per pax. Travel time is 2hrs.
Reminder: The ticket booth closes 30mins before the departure time. Make sure to be at the port as early as 7am to catch the first and only ferry to Camiguin in the morning.
I was really surprised that day, everything was running on time. The ferry left at 8:30am and arrived at the port of Benoni, Camiguin at 10:30am.
As soon as you got off the boat you'll be swarmed by tour guides or drivers at the exit to book you for the city tour or hotel. Some will be very persistent even though you tell them to leave you hastily. lol.
It really wasn't hard to negotiate with them though especially when I start to talk to them in their dialect. They speak ilonggo in Camiguin. Eversince I was a child, I have been introduced to this dialect as it is our household language, my mom happens to be ilongga/bisaya//muslim. lol. So, I am 1/4 of those. lol.
My friends and I had a quick meeting under the tree.. lol. We called the resort to ask a few of their services. So if we're going to take the city tour service of the resort it's gonna cost us Php3000+ same tourist spots but with an air-conditioned van, plus Php800 to pick us up at the port, whereas at the port we were offered Php1,700 and then eventually went down to Php1,500 (Php375 each) same tourist spots but with a non-airconditioned multi-cab. The driver even offered to bring us to the hotel without extra charge, just to leave our things, when it was supposed to be an extra Php400. So you go guess which one we took. lol.
The multi-cab wasn't so bad actually. The vehicle is so open, you get to see everything (360°) besides the weather wasn't so bad either, so we get to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine! The travel time from the port to the resort is 30-45mins. We told our guide that well just have our lunch at the resort and so he said he'll just wait for us outside. Wasn't that nice?! lol.
Checking-in to the Paras Beach Resort at 11:30am, we were greeted with some welcome drinks and necklace, really lovely! The room is definitely suited for a family, Family-loft (Php3,500/per night - Php875 each) - It has a loft, 2 queen size bed and one sofa bed, refrigerator, TV with cable and safety box. I had to check the bathroom to check if it has a tub. hahahah! Yeah, I have this thing with bath tubs okay! lol. And no, it has no bath tub, but it's fine as long as it is clean and has tons of tissues. lol.
(L-R from the top): Me and Val, Approaching Camiguin Island, Done with our lunch, Lunch is served, The resort's pool, Buttered veggies and Praws in batter, View from the Gazebo and the infinity-ish pool of the resort.
My friend had to call the room service to order our lunch and had it set up at the gazebo in front of our room. She ordered Camaro Rebosado (prawns in batter), Buttered Veggies and Pork Sinigang (tamarind based soup with pork and vegetables). A friend of ours who has been to this place before told us to try their fruit shakes, particularly the watermelon, so we ordered some.
While my friends unpacked their things, I was outside admiring the view - Bluish-white sky and clouds are scattered, green bermuda grass, and sort of 5 shades of blue I can see in the ocean. A fresh air is something you can barely experience now a days in Manila, and I can feel my lungs are thanking me for letting them experience a clean one in Camiguin. lol.
Our lunch at the gazebo was so fantastic. I cannot help admiring the view. The resort boasts a picturesque ocean view and infinity-ish pool. From the gazebo you can see the famous island in the area "White Island" and I cannot wait to share with you the pictures we got there.
We started our city tour as soon as we finished our meal. I'm so excited to share it with you but I had to make a part 2 of our day 1 as we did a lot of things that day. I'll shall post it as soon as I'm done. =)
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