The Sunken Cemtery - Bonbon, Catarman, Camiguin

It was always been in my list to visit the sunken cemetery. Personally I want to see the place and experience what others say about the feeling of eerie when in this place. Mostly visitors who visited this place filled with enchantment. To our dismay the place couldn’t be explored because of the bad weather condition so we couldn’t be transported by the boat. What we did was just enjoyed the sight of the place. Took pictures and talked with the locals.

Sunken cemetery is located in Bonbon, Catarman, which was the result of the volcanic eruption of Mount Vulcan (Old Volcano) that was happened in 1870s. The whole capital of Camiguin, including the cemetery sunk under the sea during that destructive volcanic eruption. Part of the sunken land and the grave stones were still visible during the low tide, but in 1948 the Mount Vulcan erupted again made the whole area deeper. The gravestones can still be thru diving. That’s why today Sunken Cemetery is considered as one of the most interesting diving sites in the Philippines.

In 1982 the Provincial Government of Camiguin erected a huge cross to mark the site of the sunken graves of their ancestors. From then on it was called the “Sunken Cemetery”.

The history of the sunken cemetery is definitely tragic. It’s the way the people of Camiguin valued this historic site and its heritage that show the kind of people they are. This incident truly defines the people’s courage, resilience and faith to survive the challenges of time. 

Too many things to do in Camiguin, take time and plan.

Borawan Island in Padre Burgoz, Quezon

Our boatmen arrived 10:05am in Puting Buhangin Island to transfer us to the second Island Borawan. It is the most famous among the three islands in the package tour we took. Borawan Island has stunning limestone rocks like of that in Palawan and long stretch of shoreline. My first impression right away was wow, this island is stunning. I told the boatmen that they could have just called this island by the old name. Because yes the limestone cliffs are like of that in Palawan but the sand is far from of that in Boracay. But of course it’s for marketing purposes, easy name recall, Borawan, to attract more tourists because it has two in one view of Palawan and Boracay. According to the boatmen the old name of this island was Escalero.

In this island is where the campers usually camp because it has better facilities than two islands, Puting Bahangin and Dampalitan islands. Our tour guide told us that there is a hotel project in the island to be erected soon. More developments coming up to this island.

The entrance fee is 80.00 pesos per head. Since that is already included in the package we didn’t pay, but we had no cottage reserved for us because we were supposed to stay overnight in here. We opted to camp in Puting Buhangin instead. My sister's blanket served us our picnic mat. No plan to stay longer because we still had one island to visit. Just have our lunch and proceed to explore the island.

We were in awe seeing all the wonderful spots. Taking pictures every corner of the island. We had fun in taking wacky pictures literally had frolicking activity.

My sister and I did snorkeling again. Watching the fishes swimming with us. It was fun. Although the water is not crystal clear. On the right side the shoreline is long, white sand. Beautiful view. Even it was so hot we explored this side of the island. We were lucky when we were there just few tourists. Perfect to enjoy the island. I observed some did cliff diving, trekking and kayaking.

I noticed one thing in common in Puting Buhangin and Borawan, the bathroom (comfort room) has fee. It is disgusting why have to pay for the usage of the bathroom when it should be included in the amenities. What if the tourist would just pee or poop anywhere? That’s for hygienic purposes it should be free. Come on there is already an entrance fee. The worst thing every time one would pee one should pay 10.00 pesos although one can pay 50.00 pesos for unlimited pee. For pooping 20.00. Funny it was my first time to do island hopping with a fee in using the bathroom. Only in Quezon Province.

Tourism Board of Padre Burgos should look into it that’s for hygienic purposes. Our ocean is not a huge bathroom.

This island has too much room for improvement and with proper care of the tourists; this will be surely a hit to the adventurers, especially for the people from the provinces nearby. 

Puting Buhangin also known as Kuwebang Lampas-Pagbilao, Quezon Province

Front Beach

Our first destination for our Borawa-Dampalitan-Puting Buhangin Islands Adventure was the Puting Buhangin also known as Kuwebang Lampas. Among the three islands the finest sand is in this Island, Puting Buhangin or White Beach. This island has a cave called Kuwebang Lampas because the mountain made of limestone with a huge hole, which makes it looks like a cave. Kuweba in English means cave and Lampas means through. The passage has been formed by waves. That’s why during high tide visitors should be careful because it is almost covered by the water.

Front Beach

The view coming from the cave is stunning, very panoramic. On the right side there is another short stretch of shoreline, white sand too. We tried to reach that area, as we were walking we saw crabs, fishes, shells, the marine ecosystem is so rich and half way I saw a sea snake (walo-walo) crawling near a crab. I got scared that we decided to come back to the cave.

Kuwebang Lampas

Right Side of Kuwebang Lampas

On the side of the island facing the Pagbilao point of entry, the shoreline is different, it’s rocky. If you would come from this entry the trail is rocky and muddy. You have to trek. The light house can be seen from this side. My friend and I went to this side but we went back to the camp site because it was already getting dark, but she asked our other friend to come with her and they explored this side of the island. Some tourists coming from Pagbilao, this is their point of entry. But in our case we took the tour coming Padre Burgos that's why we dropped off the front beach.

While we were resting on the sand we saw a cat climbing the coconut tree. So we took picture of it. Nice cat knows how to climb with style.

One of our companions said that he knows how to eat sea urchin because when he was in Bohol he was taught how to clean and eat it. Our group decided to get some sea urchins, the good thing in this island the tourists can go fishing and collect some sea shells without fee. We saw some had fishing rods, catching fish. Eating the sea urchins was a challenge for each of us; all of them said that the taste was like of oyster. I cheated didn't try it, maybe someday I could.

The water is crystal clear that we could see the sand clearly. We enjoyed snorkeling because too many fish and they were literally swimming with us.

We spent the night in here; the tents were included in the entrance and overnight fee of 180.00 pesos per head. We were 7 and we got 3 tents, the zipper of the one we got was broken. I called the attention of the caretaker he said he would look for another one and we should not get worry because during the night he would transfer our tents to the open cottages. But sad to say he didn’t do what he said, the lesson you should bring your own tent. I covered the tent with a shawl. It's good the island is safe although in the middle of of the night the rain fell. Stargazing and endless talking were the activities of us during the night. 

In this island it’s a real survivor way of living. The grills for barbecue and stove for cooking are on the ground. The bathrooms are just two, one for boys and one for girls, no lights and not so clean. They have makeshift shower room made of coconut leaves without roof, the flooring is the weeds. Using the bathroom one has to pay 10.00 pesos for urinating and 20.00 for pooping.  No free water for rinsing, one container of water not purified is 50.00 pesos. That’s why before you go to this island better bring your own water, what we did was we used the purified water that we brought. Purified water is 55.00 pesos in Vista Playa, asked your boatmen to buy some for you. At night there were mosquitoes because there is a swamp in the middle of the island where mangroves are. Don’t forget to bring your own lights/rechargeable lamps for there is no electricity, extra batteries for gadgets and camera, mosquito repellent and sunblock cream too. The irony was that the signal of the smart telecommunication company (3G) in this island was strong that we could do live streaming and video calling, different from Manila. 
Have Fun and Enjoy your stay in this island.

Borawan-Dampalitan-Puting Buhangin (Kuwebang Lampas) Islands Adventure Quezon Province

All of us in the group were ready to embrace the adventure in this part of the province, like survivors do. At that time it was low tide so we walked few meters to the boat and we noticed a lot of starfish in the hallow sand, there were little fish, crabs, blue jellyfish too.

Our boatmen suggested that we should take kuwebang lampas first and spend the night in there because it’s a nice place, not crowded. We told them we can do that since they know more the place than us. Not so crowded place so that we can enjoy our stay. It was more or less than hour trip to kuwebang lampas. Along the way we were enjoying the scenery. I noticed the islet with two stones so I asked the tour guide what was the name of that islet, she said that is Mag-asawang bato (couple stone). It is a nice location for pictorials.

As we were approaching the kuwebang lampas  we were all in awe. Beautiful Island with white pristine sand. I couldn’t wait to reach the Island. LOL I wanted to jump right there and then. The water was clear and I could see from the boat the sea urchins, crabs, and fishes swimming even in a hallow water. We stayed the night in this island. This island is good for  snorkeling, diving, swimming, trekking and other fun water activities.

The following morning our boatmen arrived transferred us to Borawan Island. The island has its own beauty, stunning view, long shore line, white sand. We stayed there for a lunch. The water in here is not as clear like in Kuwebang Lampas. Although we still swam with fishes.

Around 2:00pm our boatmen came again to transfer us to Dampalitan Island. Another Island with Agoho trees, white pristine sand too although with broken corals. Fishes can be seen even in a hallow water. There are live seashells that can be collected by the seashore.

This adventure was a real adventure. Those who are going to take this tour, bear in mind that there is no electricity in the island. Solar charger for your gadgets if you have it will be of great help. Extra batteries are badly needed to capture every moment. Cooking stove for camping will be beneficial. Mosquito repellant and sunblock cream are a must. Bring Shawl, Malong, thin long sleeve clothes or anything that can cover you from the sun light

White Beach, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro – Perfect Get Away

We left Manila very early (2:00am) so that we can reach Batangas Port early, but the bus was flat tire so we have to wait for another bus. The 8:00 am ferry was the one we rode. As we sailing we were with other tourists, foreigners and locals. We were enjoying because of the fresh air, nice view plus the anticipations of what were store for us. I was with my co-workers and friends. The islets are nice we could see tourist exploring them. When we reached the White Beach, lots of local were offering us hotels and resorts, where we can stay. They were all warm and nice to talk to. We stayed in Delgado Resort and Restaurant; the management allowed us to rent one cottage for 4 persons. They’re very accommodating. We slept and ate, before 3:00 pm we went out and look for tour guides to accompany us to falls. A Mangyan and a Muslim were our tour guides. They were very jolly but shy. We asked them how long will take us to the falls and they said an hour will do. My gosh, it took us for 2 hours, to reach the falls. But you know the trek was rewarding because the luscious vegetations, warm people. Along the way we passed by a mangyan community, an indigenous group. They are fun loving and nice to talk to. Our tour guides’ houses are in that community so when we returned from the falls, they gave us young coconuts, Buko, very refreshing. They accompanied us to the wet market to buy some foods.

At night we did swimming while the tourists were having massage on the shore. The bars were full of people, drinking and singing. Early in the morning we did swimming, snorkeling and wacky picture taking.

In this place you can do island hopping, diving, snorkeling, banana boat riding, kayaking, camping, trekking and a whole lot more. While riding a ferry on our way home, we saw whales doing tricks. It’s the perfect get away very near from the Metropolis, easy to access.