Things to do in Camiguin
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Camiguin
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Amihan core: the roughest seas, the heaviest rain, the most ferry cancellations and a cloud covered volcano. Flexible travellers only.
The prime window: calmest seas, best visibility, most reliable Hibok-Hibok climbing, and rising heat by May.
Holy Week is a peak season: the Walkway pilgrimage fills Catarman and ferries and hotels strain. Book everything early or avoid by a week.
Habagat months: green, quiet and often workable in the mornings, with heavy showers and storm risk that can stop ferries for a day or two.
Lanzones month: the harvest and the festival fill the island. Transitional weather worth the risk; book transport and rooms weeks ahead.
A pleasant, quieter shoulder month after the festival, with seas often still workable and some storm risk remaining.
The amihan builds and the Christmas peak fills what boats and rooms the weather leaves available. Plan with buffers or avoid.
What's on
- Lanzones Festival Usually the third week of October, with pre festival events a few days before
The 47th edition in Mambajao: street dancing, float parade, trade fair, food bazaar and an eat all you can lanzones contest.
- Holy Week Walkway Pilgrimage Holy Week, dates set by Easter
Thousands climb the Walkway to the Old Volcano in Catarman; the island's deepest observance and a peak travel week.
- All Saints at the Sunken Cemetery 1 November
Families lay wreaths at the shore in Bonbon for the dead of old Catarman; witness respectfully from a distance.
Best things to do in Camiguin
White Island
A bare white sandbar facing the volcanoes, perfect for two hours at dawn low tide and hostile by noon with no shade.
Mantigue Island
A forested islet with a protected sanctuary, gentle beach entry, shade, and sea turtles on calm morning snorkels.
Sunken Cemetery
A great white cross marks the cemetery drowned by the 1871 eruption, best at sunset and stranger still underwater.
Gui-ob Church Ruins
Thick coral stone walls and a bell tower left by the 1871 eruption, a quiet half hour that gives the island its history.
Katibawasan Falls
A single seventy metre plunge into a cold boulder ringed pool, the most accessible waterfall on the island.
Tuasan Falls
A jungle enclosed fall and natural rock pool on the west side, wilder and far quieter than Katibawasan.
Ardent Hot Spring
Terraced volcanic soaking pools in a forest garden at the foot of Hibok-Hibok, at their best after dark.
Sto. Niño Cold Spring
A large, strikingly clear and genuinely cold spring pool in a family park, the best cheap afternoon in Camiguin.
Where to stay in Camiguin
Mambajao north coast: Agoho, Yumbing and town
first trips, boats, dining and the volcano trailhead
The airport, White Island terminal, most restaurants and Ardent Hot Spring are all in or beside this strip.
Mahinog east coast
full facility resort stays and Mantigue days
Home to Nouveau Resort and close to Benoni port, the Mantigue jump-off and Katunggan Park.
Catarman west coast
quiet, sunsets and a second visit
The springs, falls, ruins and Sunken Cemetery are on this coast, but every boat trip starts with a drive north.
Think twice about
- Guinsiliban and Sagay as a short trip base
Friendly small towns, but every headline sight then needs a long ride. Base in Mambajao on a first trip.
- A same day ferry to flight connection in the amihan months
Crossings are cancelled in rough seas, most often December to February. Sleep the night before a flight off the island.
Best restaurants in Camiguin
Guerrera
Fine Asian street food from an open kitchen in a rice paddy by the sea, the one dinner to build an evening around.
Casa Roca Inn
A family inn restaurant cooking Filipino and international standards properly in a garden in Naasag.
Luna Ristorante
Proper pizzas and pastas in a warm family room, the standing break from a week of grilled fish and rice.
Northern Lights Restaurant
The dependable traveller default, a wide international menu where divers and long stay visitors actually eat.
Josh + Luke Restaurant
A polished garden restaurant at Bintana sa Paraiso, a quiet scenic meal away from the Yumbing strip.
Peninsular Kape Art
Coffee, all day breakfasts and local art in a plant filled room, the island's best slow morning stop.
CheckPoint Food Camiguin
A local favourite eatery for silog breakfasts and grilled Filipino comfort food at local prices in Yumbing.
Hayahay Cafe
Smoothie bowls, fresh shakes and light vegetarian friendly food, the diver's light lunch in Bug-ong.
Outdoor things to do in Camiguin
Mount Hibok-Hibok
A hard, permit and guide only climb of an active volcano, with a mossy crater and a summit view over three seas.
Coraya Divers Camiguin
Small group diving to some twenty one volcanic sites, macro muck, coral gardens and Mantigue day trips, usually alone.
KURMA Freedive Camiguin
A recognised freediving school in warm, deep, clear water minutes from shore, from first course to coached training.
Taguines Lagoon
Calm enclosed water for kayaks and paddleboards by the port, the rough sea fallback for families.
Best hotels in Camiguin
Nouveau Resort
The island's largest full facility resort, with big pools and a spa, the safe top end choice for families and groups.
Balai sa Baibai
The best run small resort on the island, a boutique beach house with a strong kitchen and Coraya Divers on site.
SomeWhere Else Boutique Resort
A tiny design led hideaway of individual houses in lush grounds, selling privacy and personality over facilities.
Paras Beach Resort
The long running default in Yumbing, moments from the White Island boats, with a pool and sunset facing grounds.
UNWND Boutique Hotel Camiguin
A styled, social boutique hotel with a pool deck and a lively bar, the liveliest base on a quiet island.
Tongatok Cliff Resort
A small cliffside resort on the sunset west coast, quiet gardens and a pool above the Bohol Sea.
GV Hotel Camiguin
A clean, simple, well run budget hotel in town, the right base for scooter tourers and divers on a budget.
KURMA Eco Beach Lodge
The divers and freedivers lodge by the sea, dorms and simple rooms where solo travellers stop being solo.
Is Camiguin expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₱1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₱3,800 a person |
| Splurge | ₱8,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Mount Hibok-Hibok: a few days ahead
- Coraya Divers Camiguin: a few days ahead
- KURMA Freedive Camiguin: a few days ahead
- Nouveau Resort: weeks ahead
- Balai sa Baibai: weeks ahead
- SomeWhere Else Boutique Resort: weeks ahead
- Paras Beach Resort: a few days ahead
- UNWND Boutique Hotel Camiguin: a few days ahead
- Book flights, Holy Week and Lanzones Festival rooms, Balai sa Baibai and SomeWhere Else in season, and dive or freedive courses in peak months.
- Arrange boats, multicabs, Hibok-Hibok permits and most restaurant tables on the island, a day ahead, so plans can follow the weather.
- Register for the Isle Visit Camiguin visitor QR before reaching the port.
Is Camiguin safe?
- Hibok-Hibok is an active volcano: check the PHIVOLCS alert level, obey closures, and climb only with a permit and a guide.
- Respect boatmen who cancel for weather, wear the life vest in chop, and take water and shade seriously on White Island.
- Most visitor injuries are scooter injuries; if you do not ride at home, take the multicab instead.
- The hospital in Mambajao is small and serious cases transfer to Cagayan de Oro, weather permitting; carry evacuation insurance. Emergency number 911.
Camiguin travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Saving White Island or Mantigue for the last day and losing it to weather.
- Arriving with no cash on a festival weekend when the island's few ATMs can all be empty at once.
- Expecting nightlife, shopping or a beach club on an island that goes to sleep early.
- Paying a port tout for a tour before hearing your own resort's price for the same multicab and boats.
Getting around Camiguin: public transport and more
- The circumferential road loops the island in about 64 kilometres; scooter for the licensed, multicab with driver for groups.
- Ferries run Balingoan to Benoni in about one hour, with other services to Guinsiliban and Balbagon, and a daily Balbagon to Jagna, Bohol sailing.
- Cebgo flies Cebu to Camiguin in about fifty minutes, one to two flights a day on a small aircraft with tight baggage limits.
- Agree motorela and habal-habal fares before you ride; there are no meters.
Who Camiguin suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Camiguin your trip
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