Camiguin
Seven Volcanoes On Two Hundred Square Kilometres More Per Square Kilometre Than Anywhere Else On Earth And A Cemetery Under The Sea · Mambajao, Camiguin
CAMIGUIN IS A SMALL ROUND ISLAND OFF NORTHERN MINDANAO WITH SEVEN VOLCANOES ON IT, which on roughly two hundred square kilometres gives it MORE VOLCANOES PER SQUARE KILOMETRE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON EARTH - the local line is that it was born of fire and it is not an exaggeration. THE SUNKEN CEMETERY IS THE IMAGE: A LARGE WHITE CROSS STANDING OUT OF THE SEA, marking a graveyard that went under when Mount Vulcan erupted in the 1870s and dropped part of the coast into the water. WHITE ISLAND IS A BARE CRESCENT SANDBAR OFF THE NORTH COAST WITH NO SHADE OF ANY KIND ON IT, which catches out everyone who stays past nine in the morning. THERE ARE COLD SPRINGS, HOT SPRINGS AND WATERFALLS within a single hour's drive of each other, and the whole island can be circled in a day. It is quiet, and it has stayed that way. The ferry from Balingoan is about an hour and runs frequently, which makes the island far easier to reach than its remote reputation suggests, and the ring road circles it in a day.
Camiguin Island, Northern Mindanao, Mambajao, Camiguin, Philippines
CAMIGUIN IS REACHED BY FERRY FROM BALINGOAN in Misamis Oriental, roughly an hour, with frequent daily sailings, or by a SMALL AIRPORT AT MAMBAJAO with few flights. THERE IS NO GATE ANYWHERE; the island is circled by hired motorbike, multicab or van in a day. INDIVIDUAL SITES CHARGE SMALL FEES - Katibawasan and Tuasan falls, Ardent hot springs, Sto Nino cold spring, and the boat out to WHITE ISLAND, which is a SANDBAR WITH NO SHADE AT ALL and is best before nine in the morning. THE SUNKEN CEMETERY is seen from the shore or by boat and is a GRAVEYARD, not a swimming spot. THE LANZONES FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER fills the island. Ferries are cancelled in rough weather and the typhoon season runs roughly June to November.