Camiguin Island Trip: Summary and Budget

I didn’t spend a dime on this trip. Or maybe I did. I remember buying a piece of kiping, a local delicacy made from ground cassava, for P10, bottled water, and fresh buko juice. But other than that, I just enjoyed the 3-day 2-night tour without spending on anything.

This tour was a birthday gift to me from a not-so-poor friend who was with me on this trip. Thank God for generous friends!

Worry not, though, because I will still discuss in detail how much “damage” this will cause a weekend traveler if he or she does this tour exactly as we did. After all, most rates were displayed openly in every stop we had so read on!

Planning a Trip to Camiguin

I had always wanted to tour Camiguin. It had always been in my bucket list and boy was I glad that it finally happened for my birthday. My friend had the fantastic idea to treat me to Camiguin when Airphil Express had a P100 SALE for all of their domestic flights last year. My friend immediately booked two roundtrip flights to Cagayan de Oro! Although it was a P100 SALE, the cost per way per person was P679, including all taxes, fuel surcharges, and other fees. Still, it was a sweet, awesome deal.

The first thing we did was figure out how we would reach Camiguin from Cagayan de Oro. We could have taken a regular ferry at Balingoan Pier but since we had an early morning flight, we decided to just go the easy route and purchase tickets for the Paras Sea Cat (P550 each). As repeatedly mentioned in previous posts, Paras Sea Cat had stopped operations but another fastcraft replaced it using the same schedule and collecting the same fees.

Fastcraft Rates

On board Paras Sea Cat

My friend then booked a Superior Room (Amihan Room) at Paras Beach Resort for P2,500 per night. When I visited the resort’s official website recently, I believe the rates have gone higher since our trip.

Now that transportation and accommodations were settled, we were ready for the trip.

Day 1 – The Road to Camiguin and White Island

The sun was just about to rise when we landed at Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro. We took a cab to Macabalan Port, which was just within the city, and bought two tickets to Benoni Port in Camiguin. We grabbed a quick breakfast and boarded the fastcraft. After around 2 hours, we docked in Camiguin and was approached by a multicab driver who offered to take us to Paras Beach Resort for P250. We read online prior to the trip that this was the standard rate so I let my friend hire him even without any attempt to haggle.

Multicab!

Our room at Paras Beach Resort

On the way to the resort, the driver encouraged us to get his services for the tour. He explained that the standard rate was P1500 for a whole day tour, that Paras Beach Resort offers the same tour with fewer stops at a rate almost double, and that he was willing to bring it down to just P1200 if we would hire him again to take us back to the port for our trip back. Every single thing he said proved to be true and since he was very friendly, helpful, and kind, we agreed to hire him. Again, note that it was a multicab that could accommodate up to 10 people but there were only two of us. My point is, if you were a bigger group, then it will certainly be A LOT cheaper.

We checked in at Paras Beach Resort, settled down for 10 minutes, had lunch, and hopped onto a boat to White Island, a white sandbar lying just 10 minutes from the resort. We spent the entire afternoon just playing on the sand and swimming. At sundown, our boatman picked us up. Again, the boat can accommodate more people so it CAN still go lower.

Camiguin Island as viewed from White Island

Here are the more detailed accounts of our experiences:

• Planning a Camiguin Weekend Trip | Flights and Itinerary
• How to Get to Camiguin from Manila and Cagayan de Oro City
• Paras Beach Resort Review
• Embracing the Sun at White Island

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Extremely exhausted after the day trip to White Island, we stayed in the room and waited for dinner time. Unfortunately, we dozed off. When we woke up, it was already morning. We didn’t even have a chance to get dinner.

Day 2 – Camiguin Island Tour

Our multicab driver was already waiting for us outside the resort when we came out right after breakfast. Our first stop was Katibawasan Falls at the foot of Mt. Timpoong in Mambajao. After almost an hour of taking pictures and reflecting, we continued our tour. Here are all the places we visited:

• A Splash of Nature at Katibawasan Falls
• The Sunken Cemetery and the Walkway to the Old Volcano
• Rising from the Rubble — The Old Guiob Church Ruins
• Ardent Hibok-Hibok Spring Resort and Other Hot and Cold Springs in Camiguin

Katibawasan Falls

Old Guiob Church Ruins

Ardent Hibok-Hibok Hot Spring Resort

Our driver invited us to try Vjandep Pastel. We had not heard of this before so we were curious and when we had a taste of it, we fell in love with it and bought a couple of boxes. I also found myself across the street munching on some barbeque, isaw, and chicken liver. Just like the night before, our plan of swimming at the pool that evening went out the window as we fell asleep just minutes after hitting the bed supposedly just to take a quick rest.

Street food: Chicken Innards

Day 3 – Back to Cagayan de Oro

Our flight back to Manila was scheduled at about 3:30pm. Fearing that something might happen on the way back and we might miss our flight, we decided to just go straight to the port after breakfast and make our way back to Cagayan de Oro as soon as we could. Everything went exactly as expected. We took the regular ferry this time and arrived in Balingoan by lunch time. We climbed into a bus to Cagayan de Oro immediately and enjoyed the two-hour drive. We were able to catch our flight.

Budget and Expenses

Like I said, I didn’t spend much because this trip was a birthday gift to me. But here’s the breakdown of expenses had I paid for my half.

Transportation, Accommodations, and Tours

• P679 – Airphil Express roundtrip tickets to Cagayan de Oro (P100 SALE)
• P200 – Terminal fee at NAIA 3
• P60 – Cab fare to Macabalan Port
• P550 – Paras Sea Cat/OceanJet ticket to Camiguin
• P125 – Multicab to Resort from Benoni Port (P250 per multicab)
• P2500 – Superior Room at Paras Sea Cat (P2500 per night for 2 nights, divided by 2 pax)
• P200 – Boat ride to White Island and back (P400 per boat, can accommodate up to 8 pax)
• P600 – Island tour (P1200 per multicab, can accommodate up to 10 pax)
• P900 – Total food and drinks
• P250 – Multicab ride to the ro-ro port
• P135 – Ferry ticket
• P110 – Bus ride from Balingoan to Cagayan de Oro
• P60 – Taxi fare to Airport
• P30 – Lumbia Airport Terminal fee
• P6,399 – SUBTOTAL

• P20 – White Island Fee
• P5 – Walkway to the Old Volcano Envirenmental Fee
• P20 – Santo Nino Cold Spring entrance
• P15 – Life buoy rental at Santo Nino Cold Spring
• P20 – Soda Spring Swimming Pool
• P30 – Ardent Hot Spring Entrance Fee
• P15 – Katibawasan Falls Entrance Fee
• 125 – SUBTOTAL

That’s a total of PhP 6,524.

Hmmm. That’s pretty expensive for a weekend trip.

But hey, I cannot stress enough the fact that there were only two of us on this trip. Having more people on this trip will make a LOT of difference. For example, the boat to White Island can accommodate up to 8 people but we had to shoulder the whole boat cost because there were only two of us. The multicab, too, can also accommodate up to 10 people.

Just to prove a point, let’s assume that you are a group of 8 and you’ll do the exact same things that we did. Here’s how the breakdown will look like:

• P679 – Airphil Express roundtrip tickets to Cagayan de Oro (P100 SALE)
• P200 – Terminal fee at NAIA 3
• P30 – Cab fare to Macabalan Port
• P550 – Paras Sea Cat/OceanJet ticket to Camiguin
• P31 – Multicab to Resort from Benoni Port (P250 per multicab)
• P1500 – Superior Room at Paras Sea Cat (P2500 per room, 4 people per room, 1 extra bed)
• P50 – Boat ride to White Island and back (P400 per boat, can accommodate up to 8 pax)
• P150 – Island tour (P1200 per multicab, can accommodate up to 10 pax)
• P900 – Total food and drinks
• P31 – Multicab ride to the ro-ro port
• P135 – Ferry ticket
• P110 – Bus ride from Balingoan to Cagayan de Oro
• P30 – Taxi fare to Airport
• P30 – Lumbia Airport Terminal fee
• P125 – All entrance and environmental fees
• PhP 4,421 – TOTAL

That’s 35% cheaper. And you can still bring it a lot lower by choosing to stay at a less expensive resort or hotel or using cheaper modes of transportation.

Overall, I loved my weekend in Camiguin, the Island Born of Fire. It was special in many ways. Birthday or no birthday, treat or no treat, this trip was one of the most unforgettable that I have had.

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