Contributed by Ezaiplorer
The weather these days has been so hot, and sometimes it could stress us more especially when you are living/working in a busy and polluted city where fresh air is nowhere to be found because there are fewer trees (sad but true).
Thus, if you want to escape from the stressful city, why not go to some place where you can relax, breathe fresh air with no traffic and pollution. But what if you only have the weekend to do this? Well.. That is surely not a problem!
Buy a ticket, pack your things and head to Camotes Island! You read it right. In about 3 hours, you will reach and experience the life in the island, a total opposite in the city. Exciting, right?
Also read: 10 Places in Camotes Island You Shouldn’t Miss
Now, let us start our weekend escapade at Camotes Island! Sorry if this will be like a diary. You can follow our on the spot itinerary courtesy of Kuya Michael, our driver for the tour.
We arrived at Consuelo Port at Camotes and we were picked up by Kuya Michael. He then drove us to the resort we will be staying, Santiago Bay and Garden Resort. The resort is 20 minutes away from the port. After we checked in, we just rested for a while because our trip was so early. So we instructed Kuya to pick us up at 10.30am for the tour.
At 10am, we ate our second breakfast/snack/first lunch. We kept on eating the whole time.
Kuya was already waiting for us and then we started our island tour. He mentioned 6 tourist attractions that we will be visiting. Let us see if we all made it there.
Buho Rock
Our first stop is Buho Rock, an hour away from Santiago Bay. This is a public beach that is perfect for cliff diving aside from swimming, snorkelling and having a picnic. The entrance is ₱20.
Baywalk
A few minutes from Buho Rock is Bantayan’s Baywalk. It is just like the baywalk from other places.
For lovebirds out there who want to spend some quiet and alone time
Timubo Cave
After a photo op at the Baywalk, we travelled for 25 minutes to get to Timubo Cave. A cave which has a grotto and a pool-like inside where visitors can swim all they want in the cold water. Just wear some slippers so you won’t hurt your feet with the stones beneath. You can also offer a little prayer to Mama Mary at the grotto. Your things may be left at the side near the grotto. Before reaching the main entrance, you need to pay ₱5, then the entrance fee at the cave is ₱20.
Bakhaw Beach
After the cold swimming time, we then headed to Lake Danao. But, our driver is so kind enough to offer us a side trip at Bakhaw Beach (10 mins from Timubo cave). If I am not wrong, this beach is newly bought and will be developed soon. For now, anyone can freely swim, take a picture, and have a sunbathing at this white sand beach. Grab the chance.
Lake Danao
Our next stop is Lake Danao, 10 minutes from Bakhaw Beach. In this place, you can do kayaking, boating, horseback riding, and a photo shoot. The entrance is ₱15.
But before doing one of these activities, we decided to eat our 2nd lunch/snack.
So, we decided to dine at Kanlingiw Garden and Pool. Aside from having a munch here, you can also swim at their infinity pool for ₱100.
Burp!🍴🍚🍝🍗 And we were full and ready to ride. 😋
What we tried is kayaking in their wide, brown lake. It costs ₱50 each, either your having the single or double kayak and that is for 30 minutes or until you get tired.
After a couple of minutes, we went back to the docking area because we (actually, my boyfriend) were tired of rowing. The paddle is so heavy.
A must when you visit Lake Danao
Paraiso Cave
When we were done with the picture taking, we departed for Paraiso Cave. After 15 minutes, we reached this new cave. Compare to Timubo Cave, the entrance here is ₱25.00, there is a beautiful landscape (a garden) where you can stay and relax, the cave has a cold and deeper level of water, and it is small and not crowded.
Mangodlong Rock Resort
Our last stop is the Mangodlong Rock Resort, 20 minutes from Paraiso Cave. There is no entrance fee if you are staying in Santiago Bay Garden and Resort. Definitely, what you can see here is a white sand beach, a swimming pool and cottages built at the top of the rock. You can play volleyball here because they have a wide shoreline. This place is perfect also for sunset lovers like me.
It is almost SunsetBut before it will be the actual sunset, we decided to go to Santiago White Beach (the public beach situated near the resort we were staying at) to catch the sunset there.
I stopped for a while at the adjacent beach of Mangodlong Rock Resort, the Mangodlong Paradise Beach Resort. It is the newest and I think the most expensive resort in the island. This is owned by Kimwa (owner of Jomalia Shipping). Actually, you can see its beach when you are in Mangodlong Rock Resort.
Once we arrived at Santiago White Beach, we paid Kuya Michael (₱600) and instructed him to pick us up at 12nn in the resort the next day.
Finally, we explored the beach.
Unfortunately, the sunset is in the other side of the island and cannot be viewed in Santiago White Beach. Yet, the view here is still mesmerising!
Few minutes walk from here is the resort we were staying at, the Santiago Bay Garden & Resort. We went back to the resort to take a bath and got some rest. The tour was really tiring because of the travel on the rough roads and it’s really hot.
But everything is worth it. With the beautiful places (2 caves in a day), fun activities (cliff diving, swimming in the beach and caves, kayaking, picture taking), full tummy (4 meals already) and new friends, definitely, no regrets, full of gratitude, happiness and appreciation and worth recommending to others.
When we were charged, we agreed to have our dinner at Pito’s Sutukil. This is usually the place I read in the blog when I searched where to eat in the island.
However, we were not really satisfied with the quality of the foods. We even have leftovers.
Then, we headed back to the resort to rest. But when we were watching the TV, the lights, the TV and the aircon went off. That was brownout. The power went up after a few minutes then turned off again.
When the power finally went back, we then slept and called it a day. That ends our Day 1 at this beautiful island. Will post Day 2 soon, a day of swimming, eating and being left by the ship.
Also read: Can’t Help Falling in Love with Cebu
Tips
- Book a roundtrip ticket ahead
- Choose a place to stay according to your desire, budget and comfort, and book earlier
- Contact someone from the island that can be your tour guide/driver
- Explore all tourist attractions
- Make friends either with the locals, tourists or both
- Bring sunblock and sunglasses
- Some areas do not have cellular phone signal
- You can bring tent and use it in Santiago White Beach
- Enjoy every moment like it is your first and last
- Leave nothing
- Take nothing but pictures
- Never forget to document everything as a souvenir
Also, just little requests for the officials — I hope they could repair the roads and provide something to avoid brownout because as per our driver, the brownout is every night.
