Goodbye first quarter of the year and hello April !
April is my month! My dad and my mom's sister and family from abroad came to visit for summer vacation and first on our list was to visit Camotes Island . We are a big family of 26 people (and more since others were not able to join) so it was a much-awaited family reunion.
We needed to drive to Danao seaport in Cebu and take the boat which was a 2-hour ride to Consuelo, Camotes island. The ticket costs 320php or 5.87 USD for the airconditioned seats. We rented 2 houses with 3 bedrooms each and had a lovely sea view. With the rental, comes free transportation (2 jeepneys) that can tour us around the peaceful island.
On our first day, we enjoyed the beach, watched the sunset, prepared dinner, got drunk, and sang our hearts out in a Karaoke session until midnight.
On the second day, we were scheduled to have the tour so we had to wake up early despite the hangover and exhaustion. 😅
Check out the beautiful places we visited!
This was the place we stayed which is located in Taliwangbas, Esperanza, San Francisco, Camotes.
Activities:
We watched the beautiful sunset. This was our view from outside the house while we were enjoying our afternoon snacks.
For dinner, we had some barbeque.
The kids enjoyed nightswimming.
and until midnight, we sang our favorite karaoke songs.
Heaven Cave
Heaven cave didn't work well with my claustrophobic uncle. It had tiny passages and you can have a difficulty breathing due to limited air flow. It was quite an exercise climbing up and down as we go further inside the cave. It was just a pretty short walk though but we still had fun looking at the rock formations and the saying hi to the bats passing by. lol
Paraiso Cave
What I like here is their beautiful garden. They also have a playground for the kids and rooms or cottages for rent. Their cave is just like a big swimming pool, cold and clear water at around 5 feet deep. It was small compared to Heaven cave. I asked the staff if we can go further but she said it wasn't allowed and no one tried going in the small hole leading deeper inside the cave.
Timubo Cave
This was the last cave we visited and the entrance to the cave was pretty hidden. It was also 5-6 feet deep. Some of my little cousins bought life jackets but thankfully they also provide life jackets inside the cave so those who don't know how to swim can enjoy floating in the cave. Good thing we came a bit early before the other tourists arrived. We were able to explore and enjoy it by ourselves and we stayed for almost an hour. Majority of my relatives said that this was for sure the most recommended cave to visit compared to the previous two caves (which you can skip if you ever come to Camotes).
Mangodlong Rock Resort
This was a nice resort where we can kayak, paddleboard, snorkel or play beach games in their wide sandbar. The rock formation on the beach has waterslides however, when we got there it was low tide so we weren't allowed to use it. I enjoyed my mango shake, perfect for the hot sunny day and some pizza after.
Santiago White Beach
This is a public beach located on the south of the island and when we got there we were just in time for the sunset. My little cousins played with the fine sand, building sandcastles.
Lake Danao Park
We had a quick stop over at lake Danao hoping for some activities, however, it was pretty packed. They have a zipline but the queue was long and we didn't have time since we have other places to visit. They have a mini zoo where we saw monkeys, rabbits, a big yellow snake, and a variety of birds.
Tulang Diot Islet
On the third day, we spent half of the day at Tulang Diot islet which was just a quick 5-10 minute boat ride from Tulang Dako beach. It was a white sand paradise, my favorite part of the tour. We were grateful for the beautiful sunny day, clear blue water that was as clear as the skies, and white fine sand beneath our feet. It seemed like the island was exclusive for us as there were not many people at that time. Good thing we came early (before Holy Week) or else we wouldn't be able to enjoy this all to ourselves. 🤣
It is soooo beautiful! 😍
Some things to consider when staying there:
- Don't bring your work/school tasks there. There is a weak cellular signal and wifi connection so it can be hard to comfortably surf on the net as you'd have to find a good spot to get a stronger signal. I mean, you are on a beautiful island, might as well rest your eyes from the screen and enjoy nature!
- Bring mosquito repellant lotion for obvious reasons.
- If you plan to stay in Esperanza or the same house mentioned in the link below for a few days, it's important to visit their big market and buy enough food and groceries for your entire stay. This is because the market is far away from the house and it would be difficult to travel back and forth to buy food every day.
- Bring garbage bags and clean as you go. When we went to Tulang Diot Islet, they didn't have trash bins there and we were instructed to bring our garbage back to the mainland.
- Don't forget sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats! Especially if you plan to go in April since it can get really hot and sunny.
If you wish to go to Camotes, you can check this out for the house rates and tours: Beach Stayhouse for Rent
Til next time! Byerssss! 😚
SHANNA JEN
Welcome to Chill with Shanna. Shanna is a life enthusiast and a wanderer. She is easy going, spontaneous and want to challenge herself by testing her limits. She aspires to be an effective storyteller and content creator. She is in pursuit of fulfilling her purpose, living a good life and ticking adventures off her bucketlist.
She is a Speech-Language Pathologist and AXA Financial Advisor by profession.
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