Calmly Camotes

Camotes is a calm countryside with more than a hundred thousand number of people living in.

People thrive on farming and fishing.  But apart from these two main livelihoods, a number of people also depend on its tourism.

This is what every Camotes-anon should be proud of, their tourist spots.  A two-days' vacation would be enough if you want to experience the pristine beach and the enchanting caves.

How to get there:

Ride a jeepney from Hi-Way Mandaue to Danao port.  Just make sure you ask the driver to have you sent to Danao Port.  This ride costs 30 pesos a person.  It would take an hour's ride when you begin to start your journey early dawn --- no traffic and very few vehicles running in the streets.  I suggest you take off from the city at 4 am in the morning to catch the 5:30 am departure of the Ro-Ro boat.  There are only a few passengers on this trip.

Once you get to the port, the ticket will cost you Php 180.00 plus a terminal fee of Php 5.00 per head.  Travel time will be approximately two hours.

In the RoRo Boat

By the time we arrived, I purposely went to one store to order a cup of coffee before proceeding to the resort I booked.  This is to take some time to ask around some locals in the area on how to go about in the place, to get some ideas on the costs of the rides and the must-see places.

By the time I finished with my coffee, I went back to the parked multicabs, motorcycles, tricycles to try to get a good bargain.

The ride to Santiago Bay Garden And Resort will cost you Php 50.00.  We availed of the trike as there were only 3 of us in this trip.  Below is Jeffrey Pulvera.  He owns the tricycle that he is driving.  You can try contact him through this number: 09106471516 to strike a reasonable bargain if you would want to visit the place someday.  He also has a multicab, just in case you plan to go there with a bigger group.

Whoalah!  Our ride and will later turn out to be tour guide for the rest of the day.

I would later learn from this guy that drivers like them would try close a deal with tourists before they send them off to their resorts.  Deals would be whole day trips to the tourist attractions for a particular sum of money, depending on the areas you would like to visit.

MULTICABs

At Php 50.00 per head, these multicabs take you from the port to your resort destination, for a minimum of 6 people.  Muliticab drivers would talk you into buying out a trip of 5 destinations for one whole day for a sum of Php 1,500.00.  The most common places these drivers usually take you to are: Mangodlong Rock Resort, Paraiso Cave, Lake Danao, Timubo Cave and the Baywalk.

The price of the trip would go higher to Php 1,700 if you decide to explore Buho Cave as this cave is situated the farthest among the others.  You can also haggle for a lower price just in case you would opt to visit fewer places.

HABAL-HABALs

Still at Php 50.00 per head, a habal-habal could accommodate a ride of 1-2 persons (3 persons if small) from the port to your resort of destination.  The same as with the multicab drivers, they would try to talk you out to a deal of a day tour worth Php 500.00 for those same places that I have mentioned above.  It would go higher to Php 800.00 if you would include Buho Cave in the itinerary.  The only downside to choosing habal-habals is that, aside from the fact that it is quite dangerous, you have to pay for the gasoline of the scooter.

Note: a liter (coke bottle) of gasoline costs you Php 62.00 in Camotes.  People who sell gasoline by liter in the island procure the commodity outside of Camotes.

TRICYCLEs

The same with all the others, you can be taken from the port to your resort at Php 50.00 per head on a tricycle (minimum of 3 persons).  Tricycles offer Php 800.00 for their package tours.  It could go higher to Pho 1,000.00 if you include Buho Cave.  

Lucky enough for us, we were able to convince Kuya Jeffrey at the port to take us to the resort without us getting to close a package tour deal (considering there were many people haggling for him at that time).  By the time we got out of the port area, I asked him how much he is willing to price us for the said day tour.  He gave us Php 800.00 but I calmly asked if he could lower it down to Php 600.00.  In the end, we were able to agree at Php 700.00. 

And so all was set.  We started our day tour at 10:00 am in the morning after we checked in at Santiago Bay Garden and Island Resort.

Santiago Bay @ Low Tide

Santiago Bay @ High Tide (View from the Resort's Restaurant)

Another High Tide view from the resort.

Day Tour's First Stop: Mangodlong Rock Resort

At Php 20.00 entrance fee, you can marvel around this resort and use their swimming pool.  This entrance fee excludes the usage of cottages though.

The beach, although not a wide stretch, is well kept.  As the name suggests, there are parts of the waters with rocks, some of which the resort owners decided to build small huts for people to rest and short bridges for them to pass through.

Second Stop: Paraiso Cave

With Php 25.00 as entrance fee, you can spend as much time as you want in Paraiso Cave.  We were the only ones in the area at that time so the place was ours to enjoy.  Cutely landscaped in the outside, landscaped for safety in the inside.

Third Stop: Camotes' Baywalk

Since we took off from the city at dawn, by this time our tummies were already grumbling.  I asked kuya Jeffrey if we can proceed to have lunch first.  I told him if there's any place he could bring us where the food is decent on the stomach (and on our pockets), and so he brought us to Camotes' Baywalk.  For those whose budgets are tight, suggest you try out the place.  There are barbecue stalls and decent carenderias.  It's also just around the market place.

We decided to try out the barbecue stall that Kuya Jeffrey suggested and treated him for lunch too.

Goofing around while waiting for our food

Barbecue was great.  It is the rightmost stall when you are facing the barbecue stalls in the Baywalk.

The Baywalk

Market area.

Barbecue stall tables

One thing you'd also appreciate in Camotes is their roads, cemented / asphalted.

Fourth Stop: Timubo Cave

Timubo Cave is a bigger version of Paraiso Cave.  This is located in Barangay Sonog, San Francisco.  Entrance fee will cost you only Php 20.00 but it is advised to stay there for at most, 30 minutes only.  It will take a few meters before you can reach the natural pool from the mouth of the cave, and because of this, there is less ventilation or air.  Persons who have asthma or hypertension are even discouraged to get inside.
Well, I am asthmatic but I was able to bathe and get out of the cave alive.  Just take some precautions though.
The crystal clear water is around 6 feet deep and is very cool.
Enjoy taking pictures of the stalactites and stalagmites :)

Fifth Stop: Lake Danao

There is a legend of how this lake came about:

Anyway, entrance fee is only Php 15.00.  There are many activities you can enjoy in Lake Danao: from horseback riding, kayaking, having picnics and bathing in their pool.

Rates

And so we chose kayaking since it was very cheap, even if it resulted to our skins burnt. 

Kayaking, though easy, is very tiresome but nevertheless, we enjoyed!

FYI: the owners of Santiago Bay Garden and Resort, Mangodlong Rock Resort and the resort in Lake Danao are one and the same.

We finished touring at around 3 pm and headed back to Santiago Garden Bay.  Kuya Jeffrey was also kind enough to arrange us a ride going back to the pier the next day for the same price.

By the time we arrived, we went directly to their infinity pool.

At 5 pm, we decided to stop and prepare ourselves for dinner.  

We tried the carenderias outside the resort, just by the sea shore.  I previously learned that the food in the resort is expensive and not delicious.

Dinner @ Nena's Grill

Garlic Butter Shrimps @ Php 80.00
(it's bigger than the shrimp paste or hipon in Cebu)

Sinigang @ Php 80.00

The other carenderias beside Nena's

By the time we were done with dinner, we went back to our room and instantly dozed off.

In the morning, we again headed to the stretch of carenderias for breakfast and tried the one beside Nena's:

Pito's Sutokil (sugba + towa + kilaw)

Their SiLog meals are also affordable, ranging from Php 60.00 to Php 80.00, paired with one beverage.

After satisfying our stomachs, we decided to try the fine sand and clear waters of Santiago Bay.  The only downside: too much seaweeds washed ashore.  This will need constant cleaning during low tides.

After the beach, we went back to our favorite infinity pool located near the reception area to enjoy it one last time before heading back home.

At around 10 am, we started to prepare and pack our belongings.  We were done by 11 am, and decided to eat light snacks in the resort's restaurant.  At Php 140.00, their clubhouse sandwich is not that bad at all.  It was even enough for 3 persons.

By 12 noon, our ride came to fetch us to send us to the pier for the 1:00 pm ferry ride back to Danao.

Time so say bye-bye to Camotes.

The RoRo that would ferry you from Danao to Camotes

 For sure, one would like to go back after having been there.

Cost of the Escapade:

Fare from Highway Mandaue to Danao Port (and back) - Php 60.00;

Roro Fare (back and forth) - Php 360.00;

Terminal Fee (back and forth) - Php 10.00;

Fare from Camotes Port to Resort (and back) - Php 100.00;

Day Tour (Trike) - Php 700.00;

Entrance Fees (Cave and Resort Tours) Total - Php 80.00;

Resort Accommodation - Php 1,000.00

All others:

Food - Php 500.00 (estimate);

Kayaking - Php 50.00

*** End of Escapade ***